Before You Know It
by Mikki Warner
Summary: AU Story! In this universe Invader Zim really is just a TV show. This is the story of how Invader Zim came to be, through Zim's life. Starting with his birth and carries on with family drama and humor as well as tragedy and precious moments. Pairings: ZIMxTak, RedxOC, TennxPurple, plus more. Rated: K-M
1. Prologue

**Title: Before You Know It**

**Rating: T (Just in case)**

**Summary: This is an AU story about how Invader Zim came to be. So really in this alternate universe Invader Zim is a TV show. This is mostly Zim centric considering he's the main character. It goes from the day of his birth to the day the show was cancelled and depending on how popular this story gets it might go even further than that.**

**Warning: It's different material than you're probably use to reading. Also the Invader Zim cast members have real names which I will list below as a guide for you. Since the characters in this story are really just actors they will be OOC considering that's probably not how they would act if IZ really was just a TV show.**

**Another thing: If you ever watched the film, 'Who Framed Rodger Rabbit', then that's the kind of universe they are in, where toons and humans get along and live together.**

**Please note: This is my first Invader Zim story as well as the first story I ever typed on my iPad, so if it's out of format . . . Blame the iPad.**

**And one more thing, I thought it would make the s**

**So without further ado heres ... Our story tons more interesting if I put the main character and his family growing up in a different country. You know. Because I can!**

**Full name:**

**ZIM . . . Zeiden Izac Macale Jr. (Hint, hint, look at his initials!)**

**Red . . . Red Elias Macale**

**Dib . . . Dillon Eli Baker**

**Gaz . . . Gazelle Marie LeRoy**

**Purple . . . Peter Lee Kinley**

**Zee . . . Zannah Urdith Macale**

**Tenn . . . Tenn Harlee Macale**

**Membrane . . . Eli Baker**

**In case you haven't noticed, Red, Zee, Tenn, and ZIM are related. And Dib and Gaz are not but Professor Membrane (Mr. Baker) and Dillon are.**

**The students name will remain the same (or at least most of them will) just so their is less confusion. But you folks are smart. You'll catch on quick. I will have little to no OCs in the future chapters. (cause personally I hate OCs, they always take over the story.)**

**Now bare with me here as we embark on the crazy adventure of a life called ZIM's life!**

**Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure you already know that I do not own the series nor will I ever.**

**Onwards!**

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><p>Darwin, Australia January 31, 1988<p>

"But I have no idea how to raise a smeet!" Red wiped away his tears as he looked down at his dying mother. Her belly was huge! Obviously pregnant. Obviously in labor.

"You have to be strong, Red. For your sisters, for your brother." The dying woman said calmly. Red shook.

"I can't do it mom! I'm only 19!"

"You can do it, Red. And you will. Once this smeet gets cut out of me I want you to make me a promise."

"Anything mother,"

"Raise him like we raised you. Love him like we loved you." Red's mother put a weak hand on his shoulder. "Name him after your father. In honor of him." Red nodded and sobbed.

"Miss. Macale?" A man in a white lab coat stood in the door way of the hospital room. "It's time for the caesarean section." The man said sadly. She nodded and looked back at her first born.

"The smeet inside me should be healthy. Doctors said he had a 95 percent chance of making it. The only problem is he is gonna be small. Very small. But that's what happens to premature smeets." She said.

"I don't want you to go, mum!" Red wailed. "Why did cancer have to overcome you!"

"Life throws many curve balls, hon. We just have to be prepared to catch them. I love you, Red. Here," she pulled off her wedding ring and handed it to the red-eyed Irken toon. "I probably won't even make it through the C-section. If your father ever returns home give him this. If he doesn't return then keep it's a memento." Red nodded again. He bent down and gave his mom one last kiss on the forehead. "Promise me you'll be the best big brother known to this world."

"I promise mom. I won't let you down." And with that, the doctors wheeled her away for the birth of a new life and a new story.

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><p><strong>Wow What an incredibly short first chapter.<strong>

**I promise the next chapters will be longer!  
><strong>

**So Folks! What ya think so far?**


	2. 5 Years Later

5 Years Later

March 21, 1993

Alice Springs, Australia

"Reeeeeed!" Red's head snapped up from his homework. He rubbed his eyes and groaned as the all to familiar Aussie accented-voice got closer. "Red!" A tiny Irken, no taller than your knee, came bounding in the home office clutching his forearm.

Red stood up and scooped the child in his strong yet gentle arms. "What did'ya do now, ZIM?" Red asked his younger brother using his favorite nickname.

"The viper! It bit me!" ZIM whined.

"Zeiden Macale, What did I say about going by the viper pit!"

"Can't help it, you wanted to move us to the outback where all the dangerous animals are!" Red rolled his eyes and brought him to the kitchen and set him down on the counter.

"Well like I said before, once I'm done with school we'll travel everywhere. And you will be coming with me."

"Doing what?" Zeiden said as he winced as Red began to disinfect the bite.

"Well I'm sure all research scientists love help collecting data and samples."

"You're not a scientist yet though."

"But I will be. And when I am we can travel all of Australia. Maybe even the world!"

"Ooo. Fun. When are you gonna be done?" Red cocked a brow as he did the math in his head and wrapped the bandage around his brothers arm.

"Let's see," He puckered his lips. "I started when I was 21 and it requires 4 years of college so in about one year, maybe even less considering that I could graduate early because of my awesome grades." Now ZIM rolled his eyes.

"Oh don't be so modest!" Red laughed and set Zeiden on the floor.

"And when Zannah goes to school to become an anesthesiologist like she's dreamed of then we will be making some big monies! We'll be making over 750 thousand a year!"

"I like monies! It buys me nice things." Zeiden said cutely.

"It sure does. Like that joey I got you for your birthday and you never play with."

"I wanted a wallaroo, Red!"

"They're the same things!"

"Nuh-uh! Wallaroos' don't grow that big!"

"Why would you want a wallaroo over a kangaroo anyway?"

"Oh my gosh! Are you two still fighting about the joey?" Tenn asked walking into the kitchen.

"Why yes! Yes we are! And I'm winning!" ZIM said happily. Red rolled his eyes before picking Zeiden up by his ankle and holding him upside down. "Ack! Red! Put ZIM down!"

"No," Red said while playfully swinging him back and forth. Zeiden squealed.

"Red! Release! Puh-leez!" Now ZIM's head was turning a dark green color from the blood rushing to his head.

"I'll let you go." Red said but started walking to the back door, brother in hand. "Later." Red opened the door and ZIM seemed to know what was going to happen.

"No! No, no, no, no! Not today, Red! I'm sorry! I like my kangaroo! I love him! Let me go!"

"Too late you already hurt my feelings." Red snickered as he walked up to the swamp in their backyard. He dangled ZIM over the murky water for a little bit so he could show his little brother what was going to happen.

"Eep! Zannah! Help me! Tenn? Red wont let-ah!" Splash! Red burst into a loud jovial laugh as he watched his 5 year old brother surface with mud and algae on his head and hanging from his antenna. ZIM growled. "Why?" He shouted dramatically. Red continued to laugh. "Laugh now, putrid stink-beast of a brother! But let it be known that- Ah!" Red howled with laughter again as he pushed his little brother back into the smelly water.

"Oh ZIM, you're too easy- Hey!" Red suddenly felt himself be pushed into the water next to ZIM. He wiped his face with his arm and looked up to see his attacker.

"There, now you're both wet and stinky." Tenn said with a grin. She turned on her heal and retreated back into the three story house whom they inherited from their deceased grandparents as well as their fortunes.

"What a little tard." Red said. He looked at ZIM who was fuming at him. "What! We're both in here, aren't we?"

"Have you even checked for crocs before you plunged me in?" Red frowned.

"Oh yeah."

"Oh yeah!" ZIM said mocking him and threw a mud ball at his face. Red ducked just in time and stood up and picked up his little brother too.

"Let's go get cleaned up for dinner. Zannah is making meat pies with pavlova for desert."

"I like food!"

"Yes but you're body sure doesn't show it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well you're skinny and short. Need I say more?" Red inquired. The youngest Macale sibling crossed his arms.

"Can't help that."

"Oh I know you can't. You know I love you, bro."

"Yeah, feelings mutual." Red opened the door and stepped in the house dripping brown water all over the white tile floor.

"Red and Zeiden Macale! What in the name of Irk did you boys do?" Zannah asked

furiously.

"We were messing around, that's all." Red answered innocently. Zannah scowled at her brothers.

"Go! Go get yourselves cleaned up! The maid just mopped today and you're thanking her by tracking in. Take your clothes off outside and rinse yourselves with the hose! Now!"

"Geez, Zee! Lighten up!" Red called and did as she said.

"You're 7 years older than her and you're letting her push you around like that? Sad."

"Shush, Zei-Zei. You know I can easily throw you into the croc infested swamp again, right?" ZIM shut his mouth and looked at Red.

"Once is enough, thank you." ZIM raised his arms and let Red peel off his shirt. He then bent down and pulled down his trousers leaving him in his red and black checkered

boxers. ZIM walked to the side of the house and turned on the hose and sprayed

himself down.

"Yikes! Gah! That's cold!"

"Let me see that." Red said taking the hose away from ZIM and backed his little brother to the corner of the house. He put his thumb over the nozzle so the water would come out with greater pressure. Red then started spraying his brother mercilessly with the icy water shooting out of the hose.

"Ahhhhhh! Red! Stop!" ZIM screamed at the top of his lungs as Red laughed like a mad man. This went on for another 5 seconds before Red realized they were getting awkward looks from their neighbors. He turned off the water and stood there returning their stares, then he decided to go inside knowing that it was more awkward being the person wet and naked then watching the person wet and naked.

"C'mon, ZIM." Red beckoned. The brothers walked in together and closed the door.

"Boys? Are you two done?" Zannah yelled from the kitchen.

"Yeah, we'll be ready in a minute!" Red replied. He turned to ZIM. "I have the day off

tomorrow." ZIM smiled.

"What did'ya have planned?"

"You'll see, mate. You'll see."

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><p><strong>So yeah, little side note. This story doesn't have one huge plot. Nope! It has several plots scattered around it. So this is like ZIM's early childhood and it will go from there. Now correct me if I'm wrong but your life doesn't have one big plot either now does it? No! So really it's kind of one of those fics where it has several mini-stories compacted into one.<strong>

**Anyways, I hope you like it so far. It's fun writing it that's for dang sure!**


	3. Brother Bonding

**BTW** **In this story Irken's don't need PAK's. Only on the show.**

**Also, I suck at the metric measuring system so I am gonna do standard instead. **

**Fun fact: I named Tallest Purple (Peder, pronounced Peter) after my grandpa and Dib (Dillon) after my cousin, only he spells it Dylan.**

**Personal: I spent my weekend in Detroit for the High school State Championship. My school, Zeeland West (3 hours west of Detroit), went to Ford Field, where the Lions play, for the playoffs. I got in for free cause I'm in the band (colorguard) so that gave me access to the field and tunnel. It was amazing, especially the half time show where I got to do my thang! **

**Know what's even greater? We won! It was a blow out for our team scoring 45 to 7!**

**Something about ZIM in this story you all should know, I gave him a few health problems to make the story a bit more dramatic. If you have and are very sensitive when it comes to these certain health problems, please let it be known that I'm not trying to offend anyone! In fact my sister has fainting spells and dizziness. I love you guys too mush to make fun of you!  
><strong>

**So anyway here's your new chapter. Once again I apologize if it's out of format. Enjoy!**

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><p>Zeiden looked at his older brother with a smile on his face. It was a bright, sunny, hot day in the outback. Perfect weather to screw around with wildlife. Red looked down at his brother in the passenger seat of their topless, tan Jeep Wrangler and returned the adorable smile.<p>

"Got any idea what you wanna do first?" Red asked over the rushing wind. Zeiden puckered his lips in thought.

"Well, I kinda wanted to drive to the first location." Red scoffed.

"Zeiden, you're five. No way I'm gonna let you drive my baby."

"It's not your baby, It's grandpa's!" Red raised a brow.

"Grandpa's dead, Junior. Besides, you wouldn't be able to reach the pedals." Zeiden frowned knowing he lost also because he hated being called Junior.

"Don't call me that,"

"Why not? You should be honored to be named after dad."

"You mean the father I never met? Yeah, I'm so honored!" The youngest sibling said.

"He couldn't stay, ZIM, you know that. He was called for duty as soon as mom was pregnant with you." Zeiden adjusted his seat belt so it didn't hit his face. The second brother lost himself in thought.

"What happened to him?" ZIM finally asked. Red furrowed his brows.

"I'm leaning heavily towards POW."

"What did he look like?" Red chuckled.

"Why the sudden curiosity?" ZIM shrugged.

"I wanna know my roots." Red paused for a moment as if trying to remember his father.

"He was quite tall. He stood at like . . . 5 feet, 8 inches."

"That's only a couple more inches than you." Red nodded.

"He had Zee's eyes. Or rather Zee has his eyes. Minus the eyelashes, Zee's eyes look exactly like his. He had our facial structure," Red said, motioning to Zeiden and his own faces. "His antenna were long like ours and had thick stalks."

"What about mum?"

"You and Tenn look so much like her. Tenn more than you, but other than that, it's pretty close." Zeiden smiled. "If you were like a foot taller you and Tenn could be mistaken for twins." ZIM crossed his arms.

"I'll grow you'll see." Red cringed. Zeiden's doctor told him that he wouldn't grow more than 3 feet tall 4.5 at the most. Zeiden literally drew the short end of the height stick in their family. Red knew his younger brother was very sensitive about his height. He knew this because of all the neighborhood kids taunting him for his 'vertically impaired body' as ZIM calls it.

Deciding to get off the subject to avoid the wrath of his short brother, Red said, "When I'm finished with college I can finally start homeschooling you." ZIM shuddered.

"Ugh! Learning! No thanks, I can already speak 3 languages, play 5 instruments, and know all the basics of math, science, and have general knowledge of Aussie history."

"Oh ZIM, don't you wanna do something with your life? Cause I don't think playing the didgeridoo and announcing all your songs in Irken or Aboriginal for a living will get you too far."

"Whatever. We almost there?"

"You never told me where you wanted to go."

"The falls."

"Good choice." Red reached an arm over and petted ZIM's head. Right between the antenna. ZIM leaned into the touch. He liked the gentle caress whether his sisters did it to him or his brother he didn't care, it felt good. "Did you take your medications this morning?" Zeiden did a sharp intake of breath.

"Shoot!" Red sighed.

"Zeiden what if you have one of your spells out here? I don't have the equipment to help you."

"I'm sorry, Red. I forgot." Red's eyes narrowed in concern.

"I don't want you fainting on me out here. So take it easy today."

"Alright." ZIM said. He tended to have epileptic seizures when he didn't take his pills, that or he would pass out. This started happening the day he was conceived. The seizures were hereditary. He got it from his low blood pressure from mother's side but it goes through the male's DNA. His grandpa, before he passed, had low blood sugar. Red doesn't have it because he was a healthy smeet, ZIM, on the other hand, was premature and weak as a smeet. So he was stuck with the fainting spells and seizures. Red finally pulled over to the side of the road.

"We're here." He spoke quietly pulling off to the side of the road. He pulled the keys out of the ignition and walked to the edge of the road where there was an overhang of trees and bushes. The two walked through the forest with anticipation of what they were about to see. A distant thundering sound could be heard and the air was getting moister. After about 5 minutes of walking the brothers came to a clearing.

Before them, a utterly gorgeous scene. A 50 foot tall waterfall with crisp, green, vegetation surrounding it. The sun touched the water's mist in such a way it left behind a brilliant, vivid rainbow. The water's roar was intense as it came crashing down to the rocks and deep pond beneath. Red looked down at Zeiden.

This was their waterfall. Their private spot. Where they could play, swim, and have the best brother bonding time they know. No one knew about their hidden paradise except them. Not even Tenn and Zannah knew about it. It was too far off the road and uncharted territory. And since the waterfall was uncharted that meant they could name it whatever they wanted. After discovering the waterfall a year ago they decided to name it, Secret Cascades, for two reasons. One, it was secretive, two, it had beautiful cascades running down it.

"You wanna play King of the Falls?" Zeiden asked his older brother. Red smirked.

"You know I always win," He said taking off his shirt. ZIM followed in his actions.

"You don't know that!"

"Last time we played the score was 5 to 0. And you ended up with a mild concussion, and it wasn't even my fault!"

"The rocks were slippery!" Zeiden defended himself. "And you're taller and older and stronger! But I've been working out so now I think I can take you." He pulled down his pants. He wore dark blue swim trunks that went to the knee. They had a cute little Irken symbol on the thigh in red. They were exactly like Red's but his were red and had a white symbol. And let's not forget the fact that his are triple the size of Zeiden's.

"C'mere." Red beckoned ZIM to follow him to the base of the waterfall. He did as told. "Hold on." Red said bending down and picking up ZIM under his arms and put him on his hip. The younger wrapped his small arms around Red's neck as he started to climb the rocks. It seems dangerous but the climb wasn't that strenuous. Plus there were plenty on ledges to cling to.

Good thing ZIM weighed no more than 28 pounds. Zannah even claimed him 3 pounds underweight. Red snickered. Zannah should be a nutritionist, not an anesthesiologist. She is having second thoughts and is considering becoming a doctor instead.

Red finally pulled himself to the very top of the fall with ZIM shouting something about a girl he met the other day to him over the thunder of the rapids.

". . . and I forget her name but she was pretty. She kinda looked like Alexa from next door but with blonde hair instead of brunette. Taylor! Her name was Taylor. Yeah, she just moved in down the street-"

"Zeiden!" Red interrupted his rambling.

"Wha-?"

"You talk too much." Red stated. ZIM slid off of his back.

"I thought you'd be used to that by now." He said crossing his arms. Red smiled and rolled his eyes. He loved his younger brother to death but he couldn't keep his mouth shut for more than 10 seconds.

Red walked to the edge where the narrow stream ran off the cliff. The water sprayed him as he got closer. The older brother closed his eyes as if taking in the cool freshwater mist. He stood there for a moment until he felt his body lurch forward. Red suddenly found himself plunged into freezing and deep water. He started swimming toward the surface. Once emerged from the depths he only felt water pelting his head from above. He swam from underneath the waterfall and looked up only to find his 5 year old brother looking over the ledge laughing his tiny little butt off.

"Zeiden Izac Macale Junior!" The red-eyed Irken shouted from below.

"1 to 0! I _am _the king!" ZIM howled from on top. Red scowled and swam to the water's bank.

"You're a king that's about to assassinated." Red growled to himself climbing up the rocks again. "Or at least grounded." He got to the top and glared at ZIM. "Got anything to say?" ZIM nodded.

"You're all wet."

"Gee, I wonder how that happened." Red started to stalk slowly towards ZIM.

"What are you doing?" ZIM asked, scared.

"Getting even." Was all Red said. He lunged towards ZIM with mighty speed. ZIM squealed as he was grabbed by the sides and thrown over the edge as well. "1 to 1! You better share your throne, mate!" He cheered with his mild Aussie-Irken accent more than prominent than it was before. Zeiden surfaced and glared up the rocks. Not once was he able to beat his older brother at something.

An hour later, after running and messing around with each other they finally tired out. The two sat by the waters edge in conversation.

"It's almost noon. Would you like to go get something to eat?" Red asked. ZIM nodded.

"Sounds good." He said getting up and making their way back to their jeep. Once they settled in and Red started the vehicle to go into town he spiked up another conversation.

"I got a phone call yesterday from the head scientist of the TIS."

TIS stood for the Toon Institute of Science. Red's school and a toon only school. ZIM furrowed a brow.

"What did they want?"

"They said I have to go into a meeting on Monday. They said I could have a chance to graduate early."

"So you won't have to school for another year?"

"Right and I'll have a guaranteed job once I graduate. But I have to take an exam and essay in order to do that."

"Oo. Fun." ZIM said sarcastically.

"Yeah, if you like 500 question exams and 1000 word essays."

"Are you gonna do it?" Red shrugged.

"I might. I need to come up with 90 dollars to take it." ZIM scoffed.

"You need to pay to take a test?"

"Well if you want to graduate early, yes, you do. I have to pass with a 85 percent or higher. And the test is hard, very hard." ZIM brushed a hand in the air.

"You'll do fine."

"Yeah, right."

"You will! Zee told me you graduated high school with a 5.0 from all the AP and honors classes you took!"

"Way to make me sound like a nerd."

"Better a nerd than an idiot." Red smiled. He may be 5, but he was probably the wisest in the family. ZIM didn't know that though. Red patted his head.

"Where do'ya want to go?"

"Overlanders!" Red wrinkled his brow.

"You've got expensive taste."

"That could be partially your fault. You raised me like that." The rest of the ride was mostly spent in silence besides the occasional comment or question. It wasn't until they got to the restaurant when they talked like old friends. Which they were.

ZIM rested in his big plush bed. Not being able to sleep from the adrenaline rush he got earlier from confronting a huge 8 foot long crocodile.

'Note to self;' he thought. 'Never touch a crocs snout when it's sleeping.' He couldn't help but giggle at himself. After lunch he and red decided to go wild life taunting. Meaning, they got to annoy big and potentially dangerous animals, like the crazy boys they were. But after nearly loosing his hand, ZIM decided to call it quits.

Light suddenly started to flood the side of his bed as his bedroom door slowly crept open.

"Zei-Zei?" Red's voice was heard. He peaked his head through the door. ZIM groaned.

"Uh?" Red walked in the room to the bedside. He crouched down so he could see his brother's face.

"I'm gonna be working late tomorrow and I have that meeting along with some evening classes." ZIM frowned. Red worked as a biologist's apprentice in some lab across town. His job consisted of cleaning up the lab and assisting in complex experiments as well as researching new formulas. ZIM really hated when he had to work. He'd much rather have Red home than away all the time. But like his older brother said, when he becomes a research scientist he would take Zeiden with him as they travel around everywhere.

"That means I'm gonna be stuck with the girls."

"Zee has to work too tomorrow." Her job wasn't as complicated as Red's. She was a nurse's assistant at a local nursing home. All she had to do was cheer up old people and tie their shoes … or something. "It'll be just you and Tenn."

ZIM rolled his eyes. That girl could be ruthless. Whenever the two youngest played around it would usual end in a wrestling match which would end up giving ZIM a black and and giving Tenn a punishment of being grounded for a week. Don't get them wrong, they tend to get along. Tenn is 11 years older than him, therefore much more mature and slow to anger. But if ZIM bugs her enough, she'd make it so he'd wish he never had a 16 year old sister.

Being the youngest sucked.

Red saw ZIM's expression and gave him a smile. "Don't worry, I made sure she wouldn't tease you tomorrow."

"Oh yeah? How?"

"Red has his ways." The oldest brother said, mocking ZIM when he talks in third person. ZIM hit Red lightly on the leg. Red chuckled and bent down further and pressed his lips against ZIM's forehead. "G'night, mate."

"G'night."


	4. Surprise Guest

**I can imagine some of you folks are getting kinda confused. So this is a chapter with more info on the Irken body.**

**When my gets off topic it usually does that only to fill you in with some additional information.  
><strong>

**Also here are the ages of the characters.**

**Red, 24 DOB: March 21, 1969**

**Zannah, 17.5 DOB: September 5, 1976**

**Tenn, 16 DOB: April 24, 1977**

**Zeiden, 5 DOB: January 31, 1988 (I'm not sure if you guys could pronounce his name or not so i took the liberty of breaking it down. Zeiden (Zay-Dan) Izac (EE-Zake) Macale (Just as it's spelled.) The reason its pronounced and spelled so funny is because it's of Irken origin. Get it?)  
><strong>

**And now we have a surprise character showing up in this chapter and another one in the next chapter! **

**Onwards with da story!**

* * *

><p><strong>September 2, 1993<strong>

**5 Months Later**

". . . It was the hardest test I ever taken! I was so nervous I didn't get any sleep the night prior, mostly because I stayed up studying. But it paid off cause I finished in less than 2 and a half hours and got a 91 percent." Red bragged to his family and friends. They were in the backyard of their house celebrating Red's early graduation.

ZIM was getting tired of hearing the story so he wandered off with some neighborhood kids. Truth be told, Zeiden would much rather hang out with older people. Human's skill and brain development was a lot slower than an Irken's. Irkens not only developed quickly they also have more mental capacity they also have no need to go to the bathroom because of their almost lethal stomach acid breaks down food till they are nothing more than a gas bubble which results in belching. And most of them were flawlessly skinny and don't sweat unless sick. And since they rarely sweat they never get skin blemishes. But with every good thing there comes a bad thing. Irkens tend to get sick more often and have a slower immune system. And they don't grow that tall either. Probably 5 feet as an average height for an adult. But on the bright side, 1 Irken year is equivalent to 9.8 human years. They live for a very long time.

"Hey, Z!" ZIM whipped around to see who called him. An Irken girl slightly taller than him. He beamed when he saw her. His friend from Paddington, London. She was only one year older than him.

"Tak?" Was all he could say before he was choked off by a bone crushing hug. "Ack! Mmnh!"

"Oh Zeiden! I missed you so much! I haven't seen you in 4 months!" The purple-eyed female exclaimed pressing his face into her chest. Takayla Griffon, probably the craziest girl he knew. Red looked up from talking to his buddies to watch ZIM in his current predicament. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Tak! I … camt breeve!" ZIM's voice was muffled and strained. Tak loosened her grip on him but he remained in her arms. She kissed his cheek. Tak and her parents were close family friends. They helped Red with raising Zannah, Tenn, and himself when Red had gotten custody of them after their mother died. Tak's father worked as a social worker back in London and her mother was an accountant.

"Red invited me and my parents to his graduation. We're very proud of him." ZIM tried to pry himself out of her grasp.

"I'm proud of him too." He said managing to get out of her embrace. But as soon as he was out she took a hold of his hand. He could have sworn he heard Red snicker in the background. ZIM cleared his throat nervously. "How's London?" Tak curled her lips in distaste.

"Dreary, bleak, rainy. Same old, same old." She said with her own distinct accent. "We're gonna stay in Australia for a month for a long vacation. That means we can hang out everyday before you go traveling with Red!" She squealed at the thought of getting to see ZIM everyday for the next month. She hugged him again. ZIM groaned. He liked Tak, but not the same way Tak liked him. She ran finger down his antenna. This sent shivers down his spine. Usually only relatives, dating and/or married couples did that. He pulled his head away in a weak attempt for her to stop touching him. Now he was sure Red was laughing at him, if the nasally-sounding cackle was any indication.

"Ace." ZIM said sarcastically. Tak continued to pepper him hugs and kisses until Red finally stepped between the two.

"Uh, hey ZIM how 'bout you go and get more ice. We're running low." ZIM has never been more up to a task.

"Sure thing. Hooroo." He quickly said to Tak before dashing off.

"Wait! What's that mean? Do you need help?" ZIM denied her request for help and made his way into the kitchen.

'Gah. I love her like a friend! Why can't she understand that?' He thought to himself as Zannah walked into the kitchen. ZIM turned around quickly away from the freezer and nearly bumped into her.

"Hey kiddo, you look slightly disgruntled." Zee said making the last word sound funnier than normal. She liked to do that with certain words. "Is it cause Tak's here? I thought you liked her."

"I do but she's kinda clingy … plus she likes me more than just a friend. She admitted that last time we met 4 months ago."

"She has her faults, but keep in mind that you do too."

"Probably not as much as her." ZIM mumbled. Zee shook her head.

"She's clingy but you're annoying, she's temperamental and you're just … mental."

"Hey! Not cool, mate!" ZIM said rather loudly. Zee shrugged.

"Just be kind to her, Z. That's all I ask."

"Yeah, okay."

"Because Red just invited her and her family to stay the night."

"What!" ZIM exclaimed in more of a statement than a question.

...

"…So when he approached me I thought he was going to ask me to dance. But it turned out he just wanted more punch from the snack bar."

"Uh-huh."

"Not that I would have danced with him anyway. He was not cute!"

"Uh-huh."

"I shouldn't have sat next to the snack bar. Everyone was dropping food all over the floor."

"Uh-huh."

"So I was stepping in the food every time I got up."

"Uh-huh." ZIM continued to half listen to Tak's rambling. It was 11:45 at night and she would not shut up.

ZIM groaned and stuffed his face into his pillow on the ground. Red told him to sleep on the floor and give Tak his bed. He didn't know why she couldn't sleep in the spare room with her parents.

"I was wondering if you'd like to do something tomorrow with me. We could go into town and we can go shopping and we can go-"

"Yes, Tak. That sounds wonderful." ZIM said exasperatedly.

"Soooo, it's a date?" Tak asked hopefully.

"Yeah, sure whatever." He said not really hearing her. He yelped as he felt someone crushing him. Tak jumped off the bed and onto his back to give him one of her famous death hugs.

"Oh we're gonna have so much fun tomorrow!" ZIM gasped for breath.

"Yeah … release ple- … ease!" He grunted. Tak hopped back onto his bed.

"Night, Junior." She said excitedly. Tak knew he got bothered by that title. ZIM rolled his eyes.

'What have I gotten myself into?'

The next day Tak woke up early. She slid off the deep blue and white silk sheets and nearly stepped on ZIM. She bent down to get closer to the sleeping boy.

"Zei-Zei?" She whispered. "Hey." She poked the side of his face that wasn't buried in his pillow. "Zimmy? ZIM? Z?" She started to get annoyed. She must of forgotten he was a heavy sleeper. "Zeiden Izac Macale Junior! I will not be ignored!" She yelled in his antenna. He jumped a foot in the air as he let out a startled scream. Tak giggled at his little show.

"Holy Dooley!" ZIM exclaimed, then he cursed in Irken when he saw it was just Tak. Tak whacked him upside the head as she speaks Irken as well.

"Watch your language." ZIM rubbed his head.

"What do you want?"

"I want to get up and begin our day." ZIM looked at his clock on the night stand.

"It's 7 AM! I tend to sleep till noon!" Tak scowled.

"Sleep is good for you, but too much sleep, that's bad." ZIM ignored her and tried to settle back in to his makeshift bed on the floor. This made Tak frown even further. She grabbed his sheet and yanked it off his body. ZIM still ignored her. She then whipped the pillow out from underneath his head. He still had no response. Tak grinned evilly as she had a plan. She left the room for a minute and came back with a cup of freezing water and a cup of flour. "Here's your last call to wake up now, or prepare for humiliation." She threatened. Nothing. She smiled. Tak then dumped the icy water on him making him screech in surprise then threw the flour on him which stuck to his now wet body.

"Tak!"

"What?" She asked innocently. The bedroom door slowly crept open and a tired looking Red peaked his head in. He took one look at the messy, ZIM covered in white goo, and the laughing Tak before shaking his head and closing the door again.

ZIM growled. "I'm gonna go take a shower. And don't try to follow me in there!" Tak snickered.

"Don't forget to wash your back!" She called after him. ZIM cursed in their native tongue again as he made his way to his bathroom.

An hour later both Tak and ZIM were ready to get on with their day. The duo bounded down the steps and into the kitchen. There Red and Mr. Griffon were talking about his plans for his future job while sharing coffee.

"Hey mate," Red said as he pulled his younger brother in for a hug. "Heard you had quite the rude awakening."

"You have no idea." Zeiden mumbled into his brother.

"ZIM and I are gonna go in town today." Tak said. Her dad raised a brow.

"By yourself?"

"That or maybe with a few more friends." ZIM said. Tak shook her head.

"No, it's just gonna be us."

"I don't like the idea of a 5 and 6 year old going into town by themselves." Red countered.

"Me either!" ZIM agreed quickly.

"I'll go see if Tenn or Zee will go with you." Red said. "Oh if you take Tenn you can go birthday shopping for Zee." Tak looked like she was getting mad. Maybe because now the two of them wouldn't get to be alone. Not that ZIM cared, he was still in the, 'Girls are icky' stage.

"Yeah go get Tenn!" ZIM exclaimed. Tak grabbed his arm and pulled him to her so she could whisper in his antenna.

"What are you doing? I thought it was gonna be just us." ZIM feigned being upset.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I totally forgot!" Tak growled. ZIM curled the corner of his mouth downwards. This was going to be a long day, no, month.

...

"She's not staying for the entire month is she?" Zeiden asked his sibling closest to his age. He was wrapping Zee's present he got for her when he spent the day with Tak and Tenn. It was a Bach sheet music book for the viola. One of Zee's passions. She was good too. Heck, they were all musically inclined. Red could jam on the drums, guitar and bass, as could ZIM, Red was currently teaching him how to play piano and they all could sing and dance. Tenn shrugged.

"I heard she was staying in a hotel with her parents." ZIM sighed with relief.

"Thank Irk." Tenn glanced at her little sibling.

"You don't like her?"

"It's not that I don't like her. It's just that she annoys me with her constant clinging and caressing my antenna and pinching my cheeks, and I'm _not_ talking about my facial cheeks here!" He said putting emphasize on the, 'not'. Tenn stared at ZIM with a skeptical look. She couldn't help but smile at his quirkiness.

"So? She obviously likes you. Who could blame her?" Tenn said bending down and pinching ZIM's cheeks. The ones on his face. "You are just the most adorable little guy in the world!" She teased. ZIM swatted her hands away.

"You're just saying that because we look alike." He grumbled. "You shoulda seen her today at the music store! She kept wanting to hold my hand and she put her arms around my waist and grabbing my-"

"Hey Tenn! Zimmy!" Tak said skipping into the kitchen. She gave ZIM a quick pat on the shoulder. ZIM inwardly groaned as he heard Tenn chuckle.

"You need something?" He asked politely. Tak shook her head.

"Just wanted to see my boy friend." ZIM did a sharp intake of breath and turned purple in between his eyes and on his cheeks, the Irken equivalent to blushing. His antenna perked up a bit as he heard the words flow from her mouth. Tak seemed to see his uneasiness and did a quick edit of what she just said. "I mean, my friend who just so happens to be of the male gender." She said awkwardly. Tenn burst into a fit of laughter.

"You guys are so cute!" She exclaimed walking out of the room. "I'll leave you two alone." She added.

"No! No need to leave! Really! I like your company!" ZIM called after her. He sighed as the door to his room closed. He looked back at Tak. She was really smart, but it was funny how clueless she was when it came to their relationship.

"So," Tak got up and walked to the trembling short Irken. "What do you wanna do?" She put her arms around his neck. He resisted the feeling of shuttering.

"Crawl in my bed and sleep." He said nervously. ZIM suddenly felt a sharp, and not to mention painful, smack across his face. "Ow! Why? What was that for?" Tak crossed her arms.

"I'm not sleeping with you!"

"Wha- what? Huh? Th-that's not what I was-! . . . No!" ZIM stammered growing a deeper color of purple. His heart was pounding hard in his chest. "I-I . . . It's not . . . That wasn't-"

"How 'bout we dance instead? Do you ballroom?" She butted in.

"Ballroom?"

"Yes, ballroom! A waltz! We do it all the time in England! Here let me teach you!" She said taking a step closer. She put her arms around his neck again. "Normally girls only dance with taller gentlemen but Ill make an exception in your case." ZIM tried to move away from her but she kept getting closer. "Put your left arm around my waist." ZIM looked at her funny but nevertheless did as told. She then rested her right hand on his shoulder. "Now clasp your remaining hand with mine." They did. "Good, now follow my lead." She said taking a step toward him. "Our bodies have to be touching, silly boy."

"Tak, I don't waltz." She ignored his comment and took a step to the left with her left, ZIM following. She started to gracefully sway back and forth and took steps in various directions as ZIM stumbled after her. "Tak, this isn't fun for me." The purple-eyed female frowned.

"I always thought of you as open-minded."

"I am. But this is just . . ." His voice trailed off as he looked in her glossy eyes. He could see his reflection in those mysterious eyes. Something inside him suddenly snapped. His stomach felt weird. "Um . . . Your eyes are big." He said stupidly. She cocked a brow. "That's a good thing!" He said quickly. She smiled. They stood there in each others arms for a long time before Tak cleared her throat.

"Zeiden," She started. ZIM cringed. Her tone was serious and monotone, plus she used his birth name. That was unordinary of her. "I know you don't like me the way I like you but I just want you to know you'll grow out of it and one of these days you'll come around and finally ask me to be your girlfriend." She said quickly. With that she kissed him between his eyes and dashed out of his room. ZIM stood there stunned. He wiped where he was kissed and shook his head.

"Forward, isn't she?" He asked to no one in particular.


	5. Missing Her Already

**Please note! Red and Purple in this fic., they dont have those abnormal shaped bodies. They have a typical Irken stature.** **Think of them in the years as elite soldiers. That's their body build.**

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><p><strong>One Month Later<strong>

**October 2, 1993**

Red tried to escape Tak's vice-like grip as his younger siblings sniggered in a safe place. "I love you Red! Be careful! It's a dangerous country out there! Watch my Zei-Zei for me!" She pulled him down to her level and kissed his cheek. Red placed a hand on her shoulder and peeled her off of him.

"Don't worry, I always watch him. If I didn't he probably would have killed himself a long time ago." Tak ran to Zee and Tenn next.

"You two are like sisters to me!" She said. "I'll miss you!"

"Yeah, I guess I'll miss you too." Tenn said. Tak gave them huge, crushing, hugs and then ran off to ZIM next.

'Crap.' He thought to himself. She looked at him straight in the eye.

"I'll miss you most." She gently took his hand in hers and smiled down at him. "Try working on a growth spurt you're gone, 'Kay?" She said and kissed his cheek. ZIM rolled his eyes.

"I'll try." ZIM said. He stood still for a second before hugging her but broke away after a brief moment. Tak was shocked. Usually she was the one hugging him. Maybe he was warming up to her. She beamed and scooped him up in a tight embrace lifting him up a foot in the air. "Ah! Tak! No! Put ZIM down!" Tak giggled a bit but nevertheless respected his wishes … sorta. Instead of setting him down she dropped him expecting him to land on his feet rather than on his rear.

"Opps, sorry, Zei-Zei." Tak said sheepishly and offered a hand to help him up. He took it and got up. Tak started brushing the dust off his pants but ZIM turned away from her.

"I can do it," He said patting his behind to rid the grass and dirt. ZIM was in a mostly good mood, unlike the past two weeks were he was getting really irritable and hot-tempered. Tak was getting on his nerves. At long last he and his siblings were moving out. Red got his research science job and Zee is taking online college courses in the medical field. She graduated high school early just like Red graduated college. Tenn is taking her junior year of high school online too through some sort of homeschooling system. ZIM was still considered too young to start school according to the Australian-Irken Education Board.

For the next year and a half Red was going on an 'Outback Expedition' as he called it. His job was to doc every new thing he discovers and research it. Which means they got to travel to a lot of destinations to 'discover' and 'explore' new things. That should be fun, right?

After that expedition the head scientist at the company Red works for wants him to go to the United States and collect data there. Something about comparing and contrasting the weather and climate and animals as well as water and junk. Stuff ZIM, personally, did not care about. All he knew is that they were gonna eventually move to the city of Silver Lake in northern U.S. right on the shore of one of the Great Lakes. There, Zee was promised a job once she graduated and Red was gonna do some marine biology research. ZIM forgot exactly where it was but he didn't need to worry about it now.

"Tak, Honey?" Mrs. Griffon called for her daughter. They were flying back into London today.

"Yes, mum?"

"It's time to go, sweetheart, we'll miss our flight."

"That means stop snogging your boyfriend and come!" Her dad translated. ZIM smacked his forehead.

"Not her boyfriend." He mumbled. 'And what the heck does snogging mean?' he thought to himself.

Tak ran to the car and with one last wave she closed the door and they pulled out of the white concrete drive way. ZIM was somewhat sad to see her go but also relieved. She made him promise to call her often and repeatedly said, 'Be careful, don't do anything stupid.' Since when does he do stupid things? ZIM scoffed at that thought. Actually, he does stupid things all the time. Red even said he lacked the common sense most Irkens possessed. But he was a special Irken. He was different from the others because of his stupidity and shortness, his way of phrasing things, his lack of modesty, the way he comes up with asinine ideas and follows through with them, the way he talks in third-person, his random evil laugh he likes to cackle for no reason, his … ZIM-ness, and he was proud of it. That was another thing, his pride, he was too prideful than what was clinically healthy. So proud he couldn't see past it his look at his flaws. But that made him, ZIM. It is an odd personality he bares but he's not afraid to show it off.

"Hey, ZIM! Why don't you Start packing?" Red called from the front door. "We're leaving on Monday!" ZIM cocked a brow.

'What day is it, today?' He asked himself. 'Thursday!'

"Meh, I have time." He said lazily.

"Zeiden." Red said a little more sternly now. The short Irken rolled his eyes and walked to the door.

"Fine," He mumbled. Last time he disobeyed his brother it ended in a sore backside and a week long grounding. Now he knows whenever Red tells him to not sneak out to hang with friends, he better not do it. He walked past his brother who was holding the door open for him and bounded up the stairs to his room to pack his belongings.

They weren't gonna sell the house because they weren't technically moving. But he still had to pack all his clothes and some bed sheets and his pillow. The research science headquarters bought Red an RV for his expedition. It was currently in the back yard. It was big and black. It kinda looked like a semi-truck. The headquarters also hired an assistant scientist for the expedition after being informed that Red was gonna be collecting information alone on the research expedition. The assistant was from Canada, his name was Peder or something, but he preferred to be called Purple. Coincidence that the two scientist are named after colors? All ZIM knew about Peder was that he came from Montreal, and he looked exactly like Red. Except his purple eyes made an obvious difference.

ZIM sat on his bed with a sigh. He reached under his pillow and piled out a journal Tak had given him before she left. She told him to write entry's every day or at least twice a week so when they meet again she could read everything he did. ZIM opened the journal to the back of the cover. Tak wrote in neat penmanship,

_Zeiden,_

_I will miss you very much! I think the longest time we haven't seen each other was probably 6 months? Now we won't see each other for 18 months! That's too long in my opinion._

_Make sure you doc everything you do in this journal! _

_Just be careful when you're out there. Have fun. I love you!_

_Tak_

ZIM groaned. He was confused. He loved her like a friend but that day when they danced he started to feel something different toward her. ZIM shook his head. He was only 5. He should just enjoy childhood while he still had it. He shouldn't worry about girls yet. Red opened ZIM's bedroom door and walked over to his bed. He cocked a brow at the tiny Irken sitting on his bed.

"What did I tell you to do?" Red said getting on his hands and knees and looking under the bed for something.

"I was gonna pack but I got sidetracked."

"With what?" Red asked pulling out a large red suitcase.

"This." ZIM held up the journal. Red looked up briefly before looking back down at the suitcase and opening it.

"Tak gave it to you?" He asked. ZIM nodded but realized Red couldn't see that because his eyes were on the empty suitcase.

"Yes." He set the journal down and slid off the bed next to Red.

"What for?" ZIM shrugged.

"She wanted me to doc everything I did." Red cooed at that.

"Aw, she's worried about you. Not that I blame her. You're a handful!"

"Thanks, Red!" ZIM exclaimed, sarcastically. Red chuckled and stood up walking over to ZIM's closet. He started to pull out everything from the walk-in and placing it in the large suitcase.

"Go get your boxers from the dresser." ZIM did as he was told, grabbing as much as he could with his short arms and tiny hands. "Did you feed your joey today?" Red asked. ZIM thought for a moment.

"Nope," He said promptly and threw his belongings in the open case. "We're gonna have to give him up aren't we?" Red nodded slowly. ZIM sighed.

"Sorry, Z. But no one will be home to take care of him and he'll just get in the way if we bring him." ZIM nodded in understanding.

"How 'bout a koala? They're small and can be kept in a cage!" ZIM asked excitedly. Red raised a hairless brow at the sudden mood swing. Koalas were without a doubt ZIM's favorite outback animal if his stuffed koala collection and pajamas were any indication. Red sighed.

"Why? They spend 75 percent of their time sleeping and they are nocturnal. Plus theyre like Tasmanian devils. They're mean."

"So? I can change that." ZIM said stubbornly. Red frowned. "Please?" Red looked away from his brother knowing that he was pulling off the cutest puppy-dog eyes in the world. Just one look at the big, hot pink, glossy, eyes would bring a grown man to his knees.

"I'll think about it, Zei-Zei." Red finally responded. 'Not a chance.' ZIM beamed. It wasn't necessarily a victory but it was close. Now all he had to do was some major kissing up to his older brother.

"Hey Red?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever been to the States?" Red shook his head.

"No, I never even left the country, except for one family vacation to New Zealand long before you were born." ZIM laid himself down on the carpet.

"Are you excited about moving?" ZIM asked. Red shrugged.

"I am for the most part. I'm gonna miss the down-under though."

"I will too." ZIM agreed. He yawned, tiredly. "Good thing we have more than a year to say goodbye. But it's not like we won't ever see our native country again." Red nodded in agreement. He then noticed his little brother's lack of energy.

"How much sleep you got last night?"

"Plenty, my blood pressure is just very low right now." ZIM said, casually. Red rose and picked ZIM up and rested him on his hip.

"Let's get something to eat before you faint." Red said walking out of the room and down the stairs. "Did you remember to take your pill this morning?"

"… No." The younger Macale brother said timidly. Red frowned.

"You're very forgetful, you know that?" ZIM nodded, 'Yeah'. Once downstairs Red proceeded to start making supper. "How does roasted roo sound?" The youngest nodded again.

"We haven't had roo in awhile."

"That's 'cuz we had English visitors who prefer tea and buttered scones." Red said in a nasally, voice with a really bad British accent. ZIM giggled. Red already had a nasally voice so he sounded extra ridiculous when he changed it.

ZIM thought back to Tak. Yesterday they went swimming in the river behind the house, after they checked for crocs of course. They threw mud at each other and dunked the other under water. ZIM had good times with Tak in the past month. Just then the youngest brother was stricken with sadness. He won't see her for 18 months. It finally sunk in and he realized how much he was gonna miss her. ZIM cleared his throat.

"Um . . . Red?"

"Eh?"

"Do you have the Griffon's phone number?"

"Yes I do. Why? Missing your girlfriend already?" ZIM frowned.

"Not my girlfriend." He muttered. "I just wanna call and check in every once in awhile you know?"

"I'll give it to you after supper. For now just lie down and take it easy. Drink a glass of orange juice. That might bring your blood pressure up a bit." Zeiden nodded and did just that. But when he rested on the couch he soon felt himself drift into a light sleep. Nothing like a nap before supper.

* * *

><p><strong>If you guys have any questions feel free to ask. i tend to leave out important bits of information.<strong>


	6. Sweet 6

**Before you read: Irkens have very advanced computers and equipment compared to the humans in this story. Also I planned on having an actual planet Irk in this story that they will eventually visit using their Irken technology.**

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><p><strong>Four Months Later<strong>

**January 31, 1994**

The sun streamed through the window of the RV right over ZIM's bed. The little Irken stirred in his sleep as he heard someone open the door to his personal quarters.

"Ready?" He heard someone say? He was too groggy to process who it was. "Now!" Suddenly an enormous weight was applied to his body along with a loud shout.

"Happy birthday, Zei-Zei!" ZIM screamed and tried to sit up but was being pinned down by four figures all bigger and older than him.

"How does it feel to be six years old?" Tenn asked.

"Bonzer! Now please get off ZIM!" The siblings got off him but remained by his side. ZIM's heart was still pounding in his chest from the early morning adrenaline rush. "Thanks heaps." He noticed the assistant scientist was in his room too with a wicked smile on his face. Before he could do anything else he was suddenly hoisted in the air by the muscular yet lean Irken. "Ack! Purple noooo!" ZIM cried. The tall purple-eyed assistant didn't respond until they got to the living room area.

"It's your birthday so you get the honor of being waited on, hand and foot." Purple said plopping the small Irken on the couch. "We're also having a … barbie tonight to celebrate your sixth year of existence." He said in his thick Canadian accent. ZIM's brow

furrowed.

"Who are you inviting? All my mates are still living in Alice Springs." He said.

The five of them were currently living in uncharted territory in northern Australia. Hours and hours away from their former town. The only good thing, though, was that they were twenty-five minutes away from the Drysdale River which leads off right into the Timor Sea, part of the Indian Ocean. That means they could go surfing whenever they wanted.

"Didn't you make friends in Kalumburu? You've been hanging out with the kids in that town for a few weeks now." ZIM paused for a second as Red spoke.

"Oh yeah." Everyday since they arrived in the area, ZIM visited the town and made more and more friends every time he went. He even was invited to stay the night at one his new friends house. Red warned him though, that he couldn't get too attached to his friends because of the fact they travel to different locations every month. "When is the barbie then?"

"Well we have to work till 3 today so how about 4 so we can get ready and set up?" Purple asked. ZIM nodded his approvingly. He really liked Purple. He was turning out to be Red's bestest-besty-best friend of the bestest best kind, as his brother and Purple called it, and a second brother for ZIM. In fact, they were so close, ZIM and Red

introduces him to their other friends as their other brother from another mother. Purple was slightly younger than Red, being almost exactly a month apart.

"When the barbie starts we were thinking about going surfing and you could teach me how to stay _on_ the board." Purple said. "Then we can have a picnic on the beach and after that, we thought we'd start a fire and you can open your gifts." ZIM smiled and turned to a clock resting on a stand by the couch.

"It's 9. You guys should be getting to work." Purple and Red looked at each other with a frown.

"I don't think he wants us here, Pur." Red said, sadly. ZIM rolled his eyes.

"I don't think so either." Purple sniffed and put his head down as if upset.

"Let's go, Purple-Nurple. We don't need him!" Red exclaimed linking his arm onto

Purple's.

"Yes, let's!" Purple agreed. The two turned on their heals and strutted out of the RV with their noses in the air. Zee shook her head.

"Those boys." She mumbled under her breath. "What would you like for breakfast,

Zimmy?" The youngest looked at her and shrugged.

"I'm not picky." He got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen to see what they had. Zee gently pushed him out of the kitchen.

"Go play with Tenn as I get breakfast ready." ZIM cocked a brow.

"She's taking her classes right now." He pointed to his sister sitting on the floor with an Irken laptop on her lap and with special Irken antenna buds on so she could hear the course. Zee shrugged.

"Then do something else. I'll try to be quick. I was gonna bring you into town once brekkie is done so you can invite your mates."

"'Kay." ZIM mumbled. He went to his room to change out of his pajamas into blue, stonewashed jeans and a blue, grey and white plaid flannel button up which he buttoned up to his chest and left the top three unbuttoned and then rolled up his cuffs. He remembered Tak telling him that she liked that style on him. It made him look … _handsome_. The young Irken looked at his bed and saw his stuffed koala, whom he named Nioka after his Aboriginal-Irken mother, sitting upright on his pillow. ZIM snatched it then pulled on his black converse and exited his room.

"Aw. Look at our lil' Zei-Zei playing with his stuffed animals again. How cute." Tenn declared looking up from her school work. Zee peaked her head from the kitchen and smiled.

"So he likes to cuddle? Big deal. Give 'im a break, it's his birthday after all." ZIM returned her smile and sat on the couch and looked at his stuffed bear. Red gave it to him when he was three, after learning his mothers name and her cause of death he decided to name it after her in honor of her. Of course at the time he felt guilty that she died, blaming it on himself instead of the cancer. She _did_ die when giving birth to him.

ZIM sat next to Tenn looking over her shoulder to see her typing something into a

questionnaire.

"What doin'?" He asked casually.

"Quiz." She said simply not looking at him. "Shh. Trying to concentrate."

"What's the quiz about?"

"It's on calculous and it's hard so please be quite." Tenn said slightly annoyed. She got better controlling her temper over the years because ZIM liked to test you a lot.

"What's calc-" ZIM was cut off by Tenn shooting him a sharp glare. He gave her a sheepish grin. She took a deep breath before talking again.

"I wasn't supposed to give you this till tonight, but I think it'll keep you occupied until then so …" She stood up and went to her room. ZIM followed her. She lifted her bed to the storage compartment underneath and pulled out a beautifully decorated wooden boomerang with several Aboriginal drawings on it of a kangaroo and koala and a snake. It also had his name engraved on the bottom side in Irken characters. On the left of his name it showed the Irken Empire symbol and on the right of his name it had the Aboriginal symbol of a star. Zeiden was an Irken name and it meant star. How appropriate that Tenn would give him a picture of a star on his boomerang.

"You got me a boomer?" ZIM exclaimed. Tenn smiled.

"Thought you'd like it. It's made out of Tasmanian Blue Gum wood and stained with timber oil." ZIM took the weapon in his hands and examined it closely. It must have been expensive considering the quality of the wood and craftsmanship.

"How much was it?" He asked her. Tenn shook her head.

"Not telling cause it doesn't matter. I will only tell you that you are worth tons more than that ol' thing. Now go play." She gave him a quick kiss on his forehead and went back to her work. He ran out of the RV yelling.

"Thank you, Tenn! I love you with all my butt! I'm gonna go kill a wombat now!" Tenn snickered and shook her head at his antics. 'I love you with all my butt' was their little thing they said to each other. Little Zeiden once said that phrase to her and claimed that the butt was bigger than the heart so he should love her more than just the size of his heart, hence their saying, 'I love you with all my butt'. It was the biggest muscle in the body. Zannah peeked her head in the living room with a questioning look on her face.

"What's he doin'?"

"He's going on a hunt."

"Alone? Tenn he's not the … brightest kid. You should go with him." Tenn waved her off.

"He'll be fine. He'll probably get side-tracked anyway." Outside with ZIM we can see him by the ocean side staring at a small seal. A juvenile by the looks of it. The little Irken couldn't resist the temptation.

"Now I know I was hunting for a wombat but seals are more fun." He wondered briefly why the seal was alone. They usually traveled in pods. While finding a lone seal was rare it wasn't impossible. ZIM cocked a brow. "That's a Cape Fur sea lion. It must've swam here all the way from South Africa." ZIM stared at the beast for a long time. Now he couldn't kill it. Not after the poor thing traveled all this way. Instead ZIM ran back to the RV to get his camera and scrap book. Red would love to hear about his discovery of a Cape fur seal. He took a quick snap with his camera and started logging what he saw.

_Species: Cape Fur Seal_

_Location: Northern Australia, Uncharted territory_

_Age: Juvenile_

_Gender:_

ZIM looked up. It looked like a bull to him. He wrote that down.

_Male_

_Current activities: Resting on a rock. _

_Other Notes: It's staring at me intensely as if it's guarding it's territory. It's also making weird clicking noises with it's mouth. _

ZIM closed his document book. He'd put the picture of the creature in later. The youngest Macale got up after awhile of staring at the majestic creature and decided to tell his sisters. What an amazing discovery he made today.

**Later That Day**

Zeiden held back a cringe as his Vortian friend, Ike, screamed happy birthday in his antenna. It was finally 4 o'clock and his brothers and sisters and friends were all gathered around on the beach celebrating his sixth birthday.

Ike shoved something in his stomach. He failed to grab it as Ike let go too early. It fell to the ground but ZIM picked it up quickly and looked at it. A present. The Irken smiled.

"Thanks Ike. I'll open it later." He said happily. Usually when he received gifts it was to be opened immediately. The Vortian slapped him on the back as a sign of friendship. It hurt, but the symbolism of it meant well. ZIM put the decorated box with his others that he started to collect by the snack table. Purple and Red came out of the RV with their swim suits on. All his friends arrived with theirs already on. It seemed that he was the only one who isn't wearing his yet.

"Hey dawg! Go gets yo' swim swammers on and hang ten wit us, bro!" Purple said in a really bad impersonation of a ghetto American. Red snickered as he pulled out several surfboards and skid boards from the bottom storage of the mobile home.

"Roughly translated: Hey ZIM! Go get your swimsuit on and come surfing with us … brother." Red said. ZIM chuckled and hopped into the RV. He went to his room and got his black swim suit with white lei flowers on it and put it on.

"'Kay. I'm ready!" ZIM announced stepping out.

"Good for you!" Red handed him his fire orange short board with aqua blue letters on it spelling out his initials with his name's symbol of a star on the nose of the board. The star has a big circle and six littler circles surrounding it. ZIM took his board. It was much taller than him. Zee gave it to him for his birthday last year. She tried to get the smallest one for him but couldn't find one his size. ZIM really didn't mind having a big board. He liked his. He had three, one was cracked in the side from running into a reef the other was to light and would sink whenever he stood on it, the only useable board was the orange one.

Red gave Purple a plain royal blue longboard with the brand, 'ISLE' on it in black. Purple took it unsure on how to hold it. Red's board matched his eyes almost perfectly. He had it custom made to fit him and he used tinsel to spray paint the word, 'Djanaba', which is Aboriginal for 'Laughter', in a sky blue color. 'Laughter' was the word several Aboriganl people used to describe him. He made people laugh and he laughed himself. It was, in a sense, an appropriate word choice on his behalf.

"Let's go." Red led the way to the beach where the party guests were already swimming and having a good time in the late afternoon sun. "Whoa," Red whispered. "The waves are huge today and it's barely windy." He said as a 8 foot white capped wave crashed on the first sandbar. Red threw a bar of wax to ZIM who nonchalantly caught it with one hand and another was thrown to Purple who was caught off guard and failed to catch it and it fell to the sand below. Red rolled his eyes and tossed Purple his wax and wiped off the one with sand all over it.

"So … what do I do?" Purple asked. ZIM looked at his other brother from another mother.

"Wax the top then we'll give you sticky wax for traction." He instructed waxing his own board in circular motions. After waxing up the board with both waxes they were ready to surf. Red and Purple walked to the edge of the ocean. ZIM was still finishing up his waxing. Moments later, ZIM snapped his head back to the sea shore as he heard a shriek. He saw Red laughing with Purple in his arms.

"Don't put me down! Don't put me down! Don't put me down!" The purple-eyed Irken screeched over and over again. ZIM smacked his head. How did Purple expect to surf when he can't even swim. ZIM really couldn't blame him though. Purple was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. The only body of eater he knew was some river flowing by his city. He never surfed, let alone swam in it. It was too cold. ZIM shook his head at the thought of trying to surf in a river. It would be next to impossible.

Red finally started to wade out deeper and deeper till he got half way to the sand bar and dropped Purple into the clear water. Purple came up sputtering and cursing in Irken for the sake of all the young ears there. He must have forgotten that ZIM could speak Irken too. ZIM grabbed his older brothers surfboards and brought it out to them. Red took his gratefully as Purple took his quickly and scrambled to try to get on top of it.

The water at the half way point to the sandbar was up to ZIM's neck whereas it was up to Red and Purple's thighs. The youngest Macale swam back to the beach to retrieve his board. He looked back out to the sea just in time to see Purple clumsily fall from his board and splash into the water. Red was hysterical. ZIM shook his head disapprovingly again and walked out till he was waist deep. He climbed on his board and paddled to the other two. He sat on his board and Red sat on his own both watching Purple, once again, fail to get on the board.

"What do ya' think?" Red asked ZIM.

"I think he's a hopeless landlubber."

"I think so too."

"Gah! How did Shorty get on his board?" Purple exclaimed loudly pointing at ZIM.

"Shorty got abilities you didn't know he had." ZIM said mocking Purple's ghetto talk from earlier. Purple scoffed. After several more failed attempts Purple finally got on his board and sat on it as still as he possibly could. "Good for you! You now can sit on your board. Now can you stand?" ZIM asked standing on his board with ease and crossing his arms looking down at his other brother. Purple scowled at him.

"You are taunting me with your amazing stability and balance. Leave my sight and don't come back until you're less talented." ZIM looked at Red. He shrugged.

"Go ahead and catch a few waves. I'll stay here with the crotchety ol' lumberjack, Eh." Red said in a bad Canadian accent. Ever since Purple joined their expedition ZIM and Red liked to annoy him with stereotypes. The only downside was that Purple just shot back Aussie stereotypes back at them. And it was just stupid if they called each other with Irken insults considering they were all Irken.

"I'm not a lumberjack! And we don't always finish our sentences with, 'Eh?' ya know!" Purple shouted. Lumberjack was his newest insult nickname. ZIM smiled and paddled out further beyond the first sandbar then paddled all the way out to the second sandbar. That's where the best waves were at the moment.

The little Irken started to see and feel that a great deal of water started to pull back to the ocean. A sign a big wave was coming. ZIM looked out. In the distance he could see it. A huge wave. A growing wave. A perfect wave that he needed to take advantage of. He looked back quickly hoping Purple was taking notes. He paddled toward the surging wave that started to curl at the top. The plunging wave was ZIM's absolute favorite. He felt himself being pushed forward. ZIM stood on his board, knees bent, arms out for balance. The roar of the wave was intense in his antenna. He felt himself being pushed forward with lightning quick speed. Pretty soon the wave was curling over the small Irken and he was riding through it as if it were a tunnel. He saw the opening and aimed to get out of the tunnel before it collapsed on him.

Once he didn't get out in time and he had tons and tons of gallons of water crash down his his tiny body making him cut his head on the side on his board and his whole frame sore. He didn't want that, especially on his birthday. That would just stink.

ZIM was almost at the clearing now. When he exited he would show off, doing moves like the fishtail, maybe a few aerial moves just for the heck of it. ZIM finally made it to the opening. He looked briefly at the shore. Quite a few people were watching him. Even his brothers were watching from their place at the first sandbar. Maybe it was because he was the only one surfing at the moment. The youngest smiled.

'Time to kick it up a bit.' He thought to himself. He rode to the top of the wave and made his board leap into the air. He turned around in a 360 fashion and landed it back onto the same wave. Deciding that, that wasn't enough he fishtailed and finished with a frontside cutback as the wave started to die. Once the wave quit, ZIM made his way over to his brothers.

"Hope you saw that." He said to Purple. The Irken looked at him with a quizzical look on his face.

"Wha-? Saw what? I didn't see anything." He teased. Red slapped Purple's shoulder.

"He saw the whole thing. He kept saying things like, 'Jeez! That kid!' 'Man! How'd he do that'?" Purple put a hand over Red's mouth at he continued to list the things said. Red finally pulled the hand off and said. "How's it feel to get shown up by a 5 year old?"

"6 Red, I'm 6 since 10 o'clock this morning." ZIM reminded. The oldest brother waved him off.

"You ready to try yet?" Red asked his assistant. Purple's hairless brow furrowed upward.

"Eh … not really. I can barely sit on the board."

"That's okay, you can lay on your belly and ride the wave like that till you get used to it." ZIM said. "Just hold on to the nose of the board and keep your body in the center of the board." The little Irken took the safety string attached to Purple's board and attached told him to attach it to his ankle. "This is so your board doesn't get lost if you fall. There is quite a big current out there so it will be easier to loose a board … or maybe even a surfer." Red shot ZIM a glare as Purple got more and more frightened. "Oh, Uh. Just relax. You'll be fine." ZIM saw yet another big wave coming. "I'm gonna ride this wave to shore. Good luck, Purp."

"Don't talk to me. I'm in the zone." He said. His tongue hanging out of his mouth in concentration as he tried to shift so he was laying his stomach on the board. All he managed to do was capsize his board again.

"Yeah, you're in the zone all right." ZIM muttered as he road the wave to the shore. Zee met him at the water's edge.

"Good show, Zei-Zei. Hey, Tak called. She wished you a happy birthday and told me to tell you to call her back." ZIM beamed.

"I'll call her later." He said walking past her. He sat by Tenn who was listening to a song on her Irken music player and cellular device called an, 'Imp', and reading a Irken teen magazine.

"Your aerial was a little sloppy." She said without looking up from her reading. ZIM rolled his eyes and laid himself on the beach towel grabbing Tenn's bedazzled sunglasses and putting them on his own face.

"Whatever." He sighed and basked in the warm sun for a moment. He felt Tenn snatch her sunglasses back, he squinted and shut his eyes tighter as the sun nearly blinded him. "Owies." He said putting a hand over his eyes.

"Go get your own." Tenn suggested kicking a little bit of sand on his bare chest. ZIM groaned, sitting up and brushing the sand off him. He was still wet so it was sticking to him.

"I like your sparkly glasses." He said lying back down. "Imma work on my tan!" He exclaimed happily, closing his eyes and put his hands behind his head for support. Tenn rolled her eyes and went back to reading. Minutes later she heard quiet snoring emitting from her baby brothers slightly gaped mouth. She smiled deviously as a plan started to gnaw at her brain. Tenn quickly ran to get a bucket from one of ZIM's friends and filled it with icy ocean water along with some wet sand.

"Aw … it's heavy." She whispered to herself as she lifted the bucket. Tenn quickly made her way back to ZIM and readied herself to dunk it on him. "Get ready for another rude awakening lil' bro." She said to herself and dumped all the contents of the bucket onto him. The young Irken screeched in surprise causing a few awkward glares to look their way. Tenn laughed at his reaction.

"What was that for?" ZIM asked, yelling loudly.

"Sorry, Z. Couldn't resist. Your snoring annoys me." She actually found his light snoring kinda cute but she wouldn't tell him that. ZIM grumbled.

"I'm gonna go out again." He snatched up his surfboard and walked to his friends who were building a castle.

"You guys wanna go for a ride?" He asked Ike and a human friend of his nodded and gabbed their own boogie boards. They couldn't surf too well. And after seeing ZIM's little show from earlier they dare not challenge him.

**Night**

ZIM snuggled deeper into his blanket. His party guests were chilling by the fire now. It was dark and they just finished eating and were now waiting for ZIM to open his gifts. But ZIM was so tired he didn't think he'd have enough energy to open his eyes. He felt an arm wrap around him and cradled his small body. He knew immediately who it was.

"You look half dead, mate." Red stated.

"I'm just tired."

"You were surfing pretty intensely. I'm not surprised." ZIM yawned and stretched his legs back out.

"Yeah, I'm a pretty hardcore beach bum." He said and rested his head on Red's lap and curled himself up. The oldest brother stroked the youngster's antenna lovingly. ZIM felt an unintentional purr noise escape his lips. Irkens couldn't control the sounds that came out of them when the antenna was being touched.

"Hey! You gonna open your presents or not?" ZIM winced at the sudden loud noise. He snapped his eyes open to see Ike standing over him. Vortians could be very annoying. Especially young ones. ZIM moaned as he sat up. His leg muscles were on fire. He felt Ike drop something into his lap. He looked down and saw a lovely box decorated for the occasion.

"Thanks, mate." ZIM said taking the card off the top of the box and tearing the envelope. The card was pretty simple, it was a homemade one with pictures of koalas and kangaroos with Ike's name signed at the bottom. "Uh … thanks." He said staring at the poorly drawn animals. "I assure you, I am deeply flattered that you shared your artistic talent with me." Ike seemed very happy. He didn't pick up on sarcasm well. ZIM tore the wrapping paper off the present and opened the plain brown box. Inside it he saw tissue paper covering whatever his present was. He dug through the box some more until he felt a hard object. He pulled it out and saw it was a black jade necklace in the shape of a koala. ZIM smiled widely and put the necklace over his head. He admired the pendant for awhile till Ike shouted in his antenna.

"There's more! C'mon! Open!"

"Dude! Go to bed!" ZIM shouted back. That was a saying of his whenever he thought someone needed to calm down. Ike merely chuckled before quieting himself. ZIM continued to dig some more. The next thing he found was a kookaburra plush toy. Those were his favorite kinds of birds. After being informed that there was even more ZIM once again browsed through the box. A plush dingo and the extinct bird, kiwi, plush. Ike must have known he liked to snuggle, that would explain all the plushes.

"Thanks mate!" ZIM said giving his friend a fist pound. A young boy's equivalent to a hug.

"No problem." ZIM received many more gifts from his friends and family including another boomerang, not as good as Tenn's but it was the thought that counts, a skid board, Irken candy, a bullroarer, another smaller didgeridoo, a guitar that actually fit him, bongos for some reason and docking books for his discoveries he makes while living and traveling the outback. Once the party started to die down, ZIM gave his brothers and sisters each a big hug.

"Thanks you guys."

"You are very welcome," Purple said. "You have fun today?" ZIM nodded.

"Oh yeah. It was great."

"We're glad you thought so. It's getting late, we'll clean up. You just go to bed okay?" Red said. ZIM scoffed.

"Um. I'm 6 now. I'm practically an adult. I think my bed time should be extended to 11:30." ZIM said with a hint of attitude. Now Red scoffed.

"You won't legally be an Irken adult till you're 15." Red informed. ZIM groaned and stomped his foot in a playful manner.

"Nooooo …" He moaned loudly. "I don't wanna go to bed." Red raised a brow.

"Well then you can help clean up." ZIM thought for a moment and quit the childish act.

"Uh, nah. I'll just … go to bed." He said slinking away. "Night." He called as he stepped in the RV.

"Night." They called back.

* * *

><p><strong>So there's some more Irken knowledge for you. The legal age of an adult for an Irken is 15 years old Earth years. They can drive at the age of 10. They can smoke and drink at the age of 12. They live for an average of 500 years unless of course, just like the Macale's mother, die prematurely because of an illness or some other reason, It also depends on how healthy they are. <strong>

**So wow, yeah. This is like my longest chapter yet. I'm proud.  
><strong>

**Happy Reading, y'all! **


	7. Moving

**I just want to remind you, readers, that there _are _humans, toons, animals that talk and aliens in this story. Why? Why not, I say!**

**Also, the vehicles Red and Purple, Zee, and Tenn drive are Australian vehicles so the drivers seat is on the right. Just a note and an interesting fact! Oo! You, probably, just learned something! **

**Another reminder, just in case you forgot. Irkens in this story do NOT need PAKs to survive. The PAKs are just apart of the show's props.**

**I underlined this one because it's particularly important … not really, but this topic peeves me. I HATE OCS! There, I said. All caps and everything. The reason why I hate OCs is because they take over the story and they tend to be Mary-Sues. That's why I try to keep the number of OCs to a minimum in my stories. And some characters in this story who you think are ordinary OCs aren't really. In fact some will reappear in the show. Example, the Vortian, Ike, from ZIM's barbie last chapter will be (spoiler alert) Vortian Prisoner 777! Oo! Yeah, yeah. I know. Coolio!**

**One more thing about Irken anatomy! Irken pregnancies only last for six months! Because Irkens are so tiny when born they don't develop as much as humans do. They develop more outside the womb. (The only reason why I made up this rule is because I noticed I put Zee and Tenn's birthdays are too close together! Silly me! I could sworn they were one and a half years apart! Oh well.)**

**Haha! I lied! You get one more note. You pronounce Red's middle name like this, Elias (Eli: as if you're saying Elijah, then As after Eli.) Oh and I made a mistake on the pronunciation of ZIM's name. It's like ZAY-DEN not Zay-DAN! just putting that out there. and Zeiden I found out was a real name! But it's a surname not a first name from the Yiddish/Hebrew culture. But then in that culture it's pronounced ZIE- (rhymes with Die.) Dun (like dun, dun, dunnnn!)  
><strong>

**To my readers! I love you guys! I love everyone but I love you guys just a little bit more! Seriously the comments are so sweet they give me cavities. (Knee Slapper) Thank you! **

**Anyways, Enjoy!**

**8 Months Later **

**September 31, 1994 **

"Careful ZIM! If you fall then I'm gonna have to scrape up your remains with a shovel." A familiar high-pitched voice called from below. Purple's voice. Purple, Red, and ZIM were gathering samples of plants by a waterfall to study. ZIM currently on top of the tall fall. Red was docking ZIM's findings. And Purple was like the nervous mother waiting anxiously.

"I do this stuff all the time, Purp! Need not to worry!" ZIM called down. "I found some weird looking flower. Kinda like a cross breed of a lotus and a lily. There's only one do you want me to pick it or take a pict-AHH!" ZIM screamed as he slipped on a wet rock and went crashing down. He felt his elbow smack the stone hard. He groaned as he stood back up, relieved he didn't go over the fall. He heard Red and Purple laughing below.

"A-are you o-okay?" Red called in between gasps for air. ZIM peeked his over the falls edge with a scowl on his face.

"My elbow is more than likely shattered but I'll live! Thanks for your concern!" He said. "Jerks …"

"Eh … to answer your question, pick the flower so we can run some tests on it!" Red said. ZIM nodded and picked the peculiar-looking flower. "Careful on your way down, ZIM! It's very slippery as you probably just found out." ZIM grumbled. His elbow was throbbing. ZIM noticed blood soaking through the fabric and sliding down his arm. He rolled up his sleeve to see the damage. A long cut from his elbow down to midway of his forearm. Deep enough to gush out blood.

"Um, I'm bleeding pretty bad Red."

"Good thing Zee can stitch, huh?" ZIM did a sharp intake of breath. Last time Zee stitched him up, not only did it hurt like Irk, but it was too loose and fell out meaning she had to do it again. Of course she improved over time but he didn't want to take any chances.

"Can we go to a hospital instead?" ZIM asked as he climbed down the fall. "I'd feel more comfortable."

"Don't be a wimp." Red said. He was standing directly underneath ZIM to make sure that he'd catch his brother if he fell. ZIM saw him and kicked a stone down. The stone and some sand landed on his face. Red coughed and tried to get the sand out of his mouth and eyes. "Ack! Ugh … besides Z, we're in the Never Never parts of Australia. We're miles away from any hospital!" ZIM was finally close enough to the ground to jump off the steep cliff-like wall. He landed like a cat.

"Lets see the bloody mess." Purple said, getting on his knees so he's closer to his little OBFAM. Yes, they finally abbreviated, 'Other Brother From Another Mother'. And it was so much easier and faster to say. The purple-eyed Irken looked over the cut carefully. Purple sighed and reached into a bag they took with them whenever they went on little mini-ventures, as they called it. He grabbed some gauze, medical tape and rubbing alcohol along with some cotton swabs, and a small hand towel. "You gotta be more careful when you're helping us with things like this."

"I tried to, but it's very, very, very, _very_ slippery up there." ZIM moaned in pain as Purple pressed the towel against his wound. "I don't know how this happened. I didn't see no sharp rocks up there."

"Grammar." Purple mumbled. ZIM rolled his eyes. He's been told more than once to watch his grammar, punctuation and pronunciation of certain words and sentences. Purple even once went as far as to tell him to start taking online homeschooling like Tenn and Zee. Red only agreed. "This might sting a bit … a lot." He said quietly, putting the alcohol on a swab and gently cleaning the cut ZIM sustained. The youngest brother yelped in surprise as a burning, stinging sensation shot through his arm. He pulled his arm away quickly only to be snatched and held steadily again.

"Calm yourself, mate. You don't want to get infected do you?" Red asked not expecting an answer. Purple continued to disinfect the wound as Red kept ZIM as calm as possible. Once the cut was finally bandaged and properly dressed they headed back to the jeep to go home.

"Stupid rock. That fricken' hurt." ZIM mumbled to himself holding his injured elbow. "We going home?" He asked climbing in the backseat as Red and Purple took the front.

"Well yeah. You need stitches."

"Isn't it a bit early to quit work?"

"We're heading back out once you're stitched up." Purple said.

"Why cant I go out again?"

"Why do you think?" Red asked absentmindedly. He started the jeep and drove in the direction of their temporary camp area. They were currently living in the east coast of Australia, about 50 miles south of the coastal city, Dongara, studying the plants and animals there and comparing them to the plants and animals on the west coast.

ZIM slouched in his seat. Now Zee was gonna baby him for the rest of the day. She grew to pretty much believe that she was his mother over the past 6 and a half years. The young Irken held tightly to his arm. This was gonna suck.

**Later**

ZIM cried out in pain as the needle penetrated his skin. He was told to sit still while Zee stitched him up, but it was so hard. Every time the needle went in he either yelped, groaned, or cussed in Irken which resulted in a slap to the back of his head, courtesy of Tenn who was helping hold ZIM still.

"There," Zee said, finally. "All done! Take it easy for awhile okay? Why don't you go watch T.V. for a bit?" ZIM frowned. He could think of tons more fun things to do. Most involved his boomerang and finding that annoying kookaburra that kept waking him up at four in the morning.

"Fine," He mumbled, jumping off the table. "I'll be in Red's room." ZIM walked steadily to the older brother's room and settled himself in Red's bed and turned on the T.V. and flipped through the stations until he decided on Tiny Toon Adventures. He didn't know why, but ZIM really liked American cartoons. They were so much funnier. Maybe it was because Americans are crazy, but then again, so were Australians … humans in general. "Our scripts were reject, expect the unexpected …" ZIM mumbled with the theme song. ZIM liked the fact that life was not predictable. It kept him on his toes. Red told him a quote their mother said when she was in labor with ZIM, 'Life throws many curveballs, we just have to be prepared to catch them'. ZIM hung on those words of wisdom.

ZIM raised his antennas as the door to the room opened. Tenn poked her head in. "Hey, Zei-Zei."

"Yeeesshh?" He drawled.

"Red has huge news when he gets home from work."

"Something to do with his job, I'm assuming?"

"What else would it be?"

"Wombats are attacking New Zealand." ZIM said, staring blankly at the T.V. Tenn chuckled.

"Silly head, there are no wombats in New Zealand. No ZIM I think we might be moving soon."

"What? But his year and a half isn't up yet!" ZIM looked at her.

"I know, but the head scientist said that he had enough sufficient data from the outback and that Red and Purple can move along and do the next expedition in the States." ZIM's eyes widened.

"B-but . . . I-"

"We'll talk more later. Just stay still for now okay? I just wanted to give you a heads up." And with that Tenn left. ZIM curled his lips downward. They were moving?

**That Night**

"So," ZIM swallowed a lump in his throat as he looked down at his lap. He was sitting on Zee's lap in the small living room of their RV. "When are we moving?" Red frowned. He new ZIM would be upset about leaving the country so early.

"Next month. The plane is already booked and Mr. Walker had bought us a nice two story house on the lakeside." Mr. Walker was the the man who took care of the finances for the science headquarters Red and Purple worked for. ZIM sighed and leaned back and cuddled into Zee. "It's gonna be a new experience, ZIM."

"Yeah, Zei! It'll be fun! We'll be pretty close to Canada! Maybe I could go show you where I grew up!" Purple exclaimed.

"Oo! I always wanted to go to Canada! Maybe we could see what it's like to be a lumberjack and go moose tipping." Tenn said in a very nasally, high-pitched, voice with a Canadian accent twanging her speech. Purple rolled his eyes.

"Cute …"

"But I thought we had a couple more months until we left. This is very sudden." ZIM whined, ignoring his other brother and sisters argument..

"Life throws curveballs, Zeiden," Red said, winking.

"You just got to be prepared to catch them." ZIM finished.

**November 3, 1994**

ZIM leaned his head on the window of the plane. He sighed and looked out at the clouds hovering below them. Red put an arm around his little brother.

"I did some research on the place we are going to live. In the summer there's a place called the Silver Lake Sand Dunes that we could go to and ride quads and dirt bikes and sand rails through. It's supposed to be really fun. Would you like to go there when it's summer?" ZIM turned his head to Red.

"Hah! Like you'd let me ride a dirt bike there."

"I might. All you need is an ORV license."

"I have and ORV." ZIM said. Red smiled.

"Yes you do."

"Would you really let me ride?" ZIM asked hopefully. Red shrugged.

"Yes. As long as you stay within my sight and don't go in the bad lands."

"Passengers, please fasten your seat belts. We will be landing in ten minutes at Custer Airport in Detroit." The pilot said over the intercom. Red looked over at his younger brother and stroked his antenna.

"Excited?" He asked.

"Meh." ZIM said, weakly. "I can almost feel the temperature drop."

"It's a good thing our family runs really hot blood, huh?" Red said, nudging ZIM in the side. Purple leaned over the aisle to talk to the two.

"Believe me, if you think this temperature is cold, then you won't last a day in the winter." Purple said. The blood related brothers looked at him.

"Can't wait." Red muttered, puckering his lips. He felt someone kick the back of his seat. He groaned and turned his head. "What Tenn?"

"How long will it take to get to Silver Lake?" Red thought for a moment.

"Like … 4 hours. Why?"

"I've gotten motion sickness. I was just in the bathroom throwing up my slushy and burrito I had for lunch." ZIM wrinkled his nose.

"Ew, what color was it?" The youngest asked. Red swatted the back of his head. "Owies!" Tenn chuckled.

"Well, I guess we'll just stay the night in Detroit so you don't get sick in the car." The jet shook a bit as it shifted and started going down and down and down. ZIM could feel his antenna pop. He grabbed them and moaned as he rubbed them. The plane bounced as the wheels touched the ground and started to come to a slow halt.

"Ugh! What time is it? I think I have some serious jet lag!" ZIM said and reclined in his seat.

"Not surprised. There is a 13 hour time difference." Red stood up and opened the over-head storage compartment and pulled out several bags and tossed them at ZIM and Purple. "Come on, mates. We gotta get the rest of our bags and book a hotel cause whinny here can't take another 4 hours of being cramped up in a stuffy vehicle." Red said pointing at Tenn. She rolled her eyes but said nothing. As the family got off the plane ZIM nearly fell back as he felt a strong wind smack him hard. It was cold. So cold!

"Ahhhh." Purple breathed heavily. "I missed you lung freezing air!" He exclaimed. ZIM shook his head at his brother.

"This will take some getting used to." He muttered. Purple turned to him.

"Hey Zei-Zei, have you ever seen snow before?" ZIM's teeth chattered as more wind hit him.

"N-no." Purple smiled deviously. 'Oh Irk. What is that man thinking.'

**Next Day**

ZIM jumped out of the van he sat in for the last 4 hours and looked at his surroundings. He did liked Detroit, but he didn't like the noises of sirens all night long. That kept him up. It was worst than kookaburras back at home. The Macale's gawked at the house they were going to live in. A beautiful beach house. It was white and had a deck leading to lake Michigan. There was a stone path leading up to the patio in front of the house. Surrounding the stones was beach sand and grass.

"Huh. I'm sure it's tons more pretty in the summer." Red said. He was probably right. The trees were bare for the winter.

"It's prettyful now." Zee countered. "Just look at it! It's like the one we had in Red Rock when Zeiden was born."

"A two story with a basement! We'll have a lot of room." Red said. "It will be so much better than that cramped RV." ZIM cautiously stepped toward the home. The door was facing east towards the inland.

"I think … that I … should get the biggest room." ZIM said calmly. He slowly looked at his family as they stared back. "Good idea, Zeiden." He whispered to himself, loud enough for his siblings to hear too. Red scoffed.

"Um, I think the smallest here should have the smallest room." The others nodded in agreement.

"Pfft, whatever."

"How many rooms are there?"

"Like 5, I think. Plus a game room, living room, kitchen, dining room, and home office. A few bathrooms." Red walked up to the door and unlocked it with his copy of the key. The others followed. They entered the nice beach house and looked around. They found themselves in the foyer. Deeper into the house were stairs on their right leading up to the second level of the house where most the bedrooms were. The foyer lead to an empty living room with huge glass windows that overlooked the lake and dune leading down to the beach. The living room was next to the kitchen and dining room to their left. On the opposite side of the living area was a door to the basement.

"It's big." Zee said. Red nodded.

"That might change when we buy furniture for it." Red said. "Lets give ourselves a tour, eh?"

"Sure," Purple said, making his way toward the living room. "How many of the bathrooms have toilets in them?"

"All, I think. This house was built for a human family. Why do you ask?"

"Well maybe if we remove the toilets we'll have more room in the bathrooms."

"That's not a bad idea actually." Red considered the plan.

"Shouldn't we leave at least one toilet just in case we have human visitor?" Zee asked. ZIM rolled his eyes. The whole ride there from Detroit was filled with boring conversations and now he had to endure yet another one. He felt someone grab his hand. ZIM looked up and saw Tenn looking back at him.

"Let's go explore." She smiled at him. He returned the smile. Tenn and ZIM walked up the stairs to where all the bedrooms should be. When they climbed all 18 steps, ZIM counted, they saw a one-sided hallway with doors lining it on the left side. Tenn and ZIM peeked over the railing of the catwalk-type thing to see the three others in the living room directly below.

"I'm tempted to slide down the railing." ZIM said, eyeing the hand rail of the stairs. Red must've heard him because he looked up at his two younger siblings.

"Don't you dare, Zeiden Macale." He warned. ZIM pouted and looked back down at Red, Purple, and Zee.

"I won't hurt myself." ZIM said. Red glared at him.

"Tenn make sure your brother doesn't do anything stupid and hurt himself."

"Aye, aye, Sir Red! ZIM don't be a tard."

"ZIM's not a tard." ZIM muttered. Tenn picked him up and carried him. To the first door on the left. She opened it and entered. The two of them looked around. This room had hardwood flooring and a wall, opposite from the door's wall, made completely of windows. It gave a beautiful view of the Great Lake and beach. It also had a walk in closet and … was that a jacuzzi in the corner of the room?

"Cool beans!" ZIM exclaimed. Tenn set him down.

"Go see the other rooms." Tenn told him. "Red will probably assign you your room." ZIM groaned.

"Why would he do that?" He asked loudly. Tenn shrugged.

"Well knowing you, you'd probably choose a closet or the kitchen as your room." ZIM scoffed.

"I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid!" Tenn raised a brow.

"Doesn't dumb and stupid come hand in hand?" ZIM lifted his antenna then slicked them back flat against his head.

"Shush your noise making tubular device you call a mouth."

"Every time you talk you just make my point more and more."

"I'm am going to cry." ZIM said not really meaning it.

"Did you just say, 'I'm am'?" Tenn asked. ZIM stared at her for a very long time before doing something completely spontaneous and out there. He screamed and ran out of the room saying something about his grammar was perfectly fine, a crash followed his dramatic exit. "Yeah, that's something only ZIM would do." Tenn said to herself. She calmly walked out of the room to find her unstable brother. Red came up the stairs to see what the ruckus was all about.

"I heard ZIM scream." He said.

"Yup, he doesn't like it when you correct him."

"Well where did he go?"

"Irk if I know." Red groaned.

"Zeiden! ZIM! Get over yourself and c'mere! We're choosing our rooms now! ZIM?" Red walked down the hall a bit until he got to the last door in the hall that was slightly ajar. He opened the door all the way. He saw ZIM sniffing in the corner. He was holding his nose.

"Aww, Zeiden, did Tenn make you cry." ZIM looked up at Red with a questionable look on his face.

"No, but I did run into a door. Smacked my nose pretty hard." Irkens did have noses. You couldn't see them without a microscope because they were just little minuscule pores where the nose should be. Irken noses were not prominent by any means. Red snickered.

"Was that the crash we heard?" ZIM let go of his nose and looked at his hand covered in bluish-red Irken blood. It was gushing out of his pores. ZIM couldn't help but laugh at himself.

"Maybe I'm dumb _and _stupid." Red walked over to him and picked him up.

"Tenn I told you to watch him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid to hurt himself!" Red called.

"Is he hurt?" Tenn asked from a different room.

"Yes."

"Oops."

"Let's go get yourself cleaned up." ZIM smiled at his brother as they walked out.

**November 17, 1994**

ZIM woke up in his bed feeling really cold. He groaned as he opened one eye. The windows on the opposite side of the room revealed the outside to be very cloudy and … something white was falling from the sky. This made the young Irken curious. He got out of bed and ran to the window.

"Holy Irk! Is that ash?" He yelped.

"It's just snow, ZIM." Purple said. ZIM whirled around to face his brother. Purple was dressed in nothing but long plaid sleep pants. He was leaning against the doorway. ZIM then turned back out the window.

"Oh, duh." ZIM said meekly. He laughed nervously. "I was- I was just, Uh, reading a book on the holocaust last night and, ya' know, they, um, Nazis burned innocent people and the ash kinda looked like snow so everyone thought it was snow and they'd eat it not knowing that the 'snow' was coming from smoke stacks at a concentration camp-"

"ZIM! ZIM, you're rambling. And … I guess I understand." Purple said cutting him off. The violet eyed Irken walked into the room and scooped up the tinier one. "There was kind of a blizzard last night when you went to sleep so we don't have to work today. Oh and Red has some exciting news for you too." ZIM frowned. Exciting news usually meant boring news. They just said it was exciting to grab his attention and make him listen.

"Ace," ZIM mumbled. "Can't wait." Purple grinned at him. Purple kissed his little brothers temple and put him down.

"Dress warmly. And maybe later today, I can teach you how to snowboard!" Purple said, leaving the room. ZIM rolled his eyes.

'How hard could it be?'

**Later**

"Ack! Shit." Red yelled as he fell on his rear. Purple swatted his shoulder.

"Language. We got young antennas here." He said pointing at ZIM who was trying to latch his feet onto a snowboard he had just gotten. The three of them rode vehicles called snowmobiles five miles away from their house to a really big hill so they could snowboard. So far Red has been cussing up a storm because he could not find balance. ZIM couldn't even get the stupid board to stay on his feet. Purple was making fun of them. Maybe he was getting them back for making fun of him when he couldn't surf. ZIM huffed, adjusting his slim blue and orange Tigers jacket that he got in Detroit.

"Purp! I need help!" He finally said. The tall Irken looked at him.

"Keep trying, Z. You'll get it soon." ZIM stuck out his lower lip and made the most adorable face he could muster. It seemed to work on Purple. After awhile of staring at each other, Purple finally sighed and went over to help. Success.

"You little brat." He mumbled. ZIM just smiled cutely up at him.

"Uh, hey! Purp, you wanna help me get back up?" Red asked, mimicking, or trying to, ZIM's puppy face. Purple looked over his shoulder at his friend. He laughed when he saw Red's pathetic face and only helped him up because he looked so helpless.

"First and last time I'm helping you today, Reddy." He said, offering a hand which Red held onto gratefully.

"Whatever Purp, I will more than likely won't need your assist-" Red was cut off by a feminine voice from behind them.

"Excuse me," The two tall Irkens whirled around. Even ZIM seemed startled at the new voice. A woman stood behind them. A human woman with long red-ish, brunette hair and crystal blue eyes. "Um, I don't think I've ever seen you guys around here. You new?" she asked nervously. Red's heart fluttered.

"Yes, relatively new. I'm Red Macale-"

"I'm Peder Kinley!"

"I'm Zeiden Macale Junior!" ZIM called from sitting on the ground.

"Quiet ZIM. Uh, we moved in a few weeks ago." Red said. The woman smiled.

"Are you guys from Irk? Because it sounds like you just moved here from Australia?" Red cleared his throat.

"Yes well, we are Irkens but we were born and raised in Australia, yeah."

"I wasn't!" Purple cut in. Red waved him off. ZIM glanced at Purple. They shared a devious smile.

"He's from O' Canada! His home and native land! Or if you wanna be all fancy like and sing it in French it would go a little like this, 'Ô Canada! Terre de nos aïeux'," ZIM continued to sing on as Purple shook his head at the younger. Maybe he shouldn't have taught his little OBFAM how to speak French.

"I don't think I caught your name." Red changed the subject, giving the woman a heart warming smile.

"Leslie Strud."

"Strud Muffin!" ZIM called his voice muffled, he was still on the ground but this time laying down with his face in the snow. Purple probably pushed him like that in order to make him stop singing.

"Zeiden hush." Red hissed. Leslie chuckled.

"Aww, he's so cute. You're his father?"

"Brother." Leslie cooed.

"Aw, I wish my brother took me snowboarding when we were younger."

"Yeah, well I made a promise to my mom saying that I would take care of him by any means possible."

"Is your parents back in Australia or are they here?" Purple and ZIM quieted down, knowing this was a touchy subject for Red. Red took a deep breath.

"My father is a P.O.W. and my mother called home when Zeiden was born." Leslie's eyes widened and blushed a bit.

"I-I am so sorry, I won't talk about anymore, I'm very sorry."

"No! No, no, no. You didn't know. You're fine." Red said recovering from the question.

"So, um, I just came by to see if your little one would like anyone to play with. My daughter would just love to make new friends, and she's off for Thanksgiving break so …" Red's heart sunk when he heard the word daughter. ZIM jumped up, snowboard still bound to his feet.

"Heck fluckin' yeah! ZIM needs more friends!" The tiny Irken exclaimed. Leslie was shocked by this outburst and cracked up.

"He is not shy is he?" She asked.

"Not unless he wants to be." Purple stated, smacking ZIM hard upside the head at the really close swear word. The woman nodded.

"Mm, it's hard being a single mom and raising an adopted child. Maybe if she makes more friends it will be easier." Red nearly jumped with joy. Purple must've saw the excited look on his face cause he laughed and put a hand on his shoulder to make him calm down. Red composed himself.

"Yes, well, I know how you feel. I had to raise two kids and a smeet by the age of 19 with little to no help."

"Tak's parents helped you!" Red covered ZIM's mouth with his hand.

"Wow!" Leslie exclaimed. "That's amazing! And here I am feeling sorry for myself."

"I see chemistry," ZIM said in a intellectual voice to Purple as his brother and his new lady friend talked. "Two atoms are bonding. The two atoms are Red and Leslie, bonding means they are finding things they have in common … or something … was, what I just said, not insightful?" ZIM asked very proud of himself. Purple squinted one eye at him.

"Are you sure you're 6? You're talking as if you actually went to school." ZIM shrugged.

"I is a smarty pants." He said, he lost his balances and fell to his knees. When he looked back up he noticed Leslie was leaving and making her way down the hill to a house at the bottom. "Where is my future sister-in-law going?" ZIM asked. Purple playfully swatted his rear. Red had a dorky-looking smile on his face.

"She is nice." Red said, promptly. "She's getting her daughter and coming back to hang out some more, I also just found out her adopted daughter was from New Orleans, ZIM, isn't that great?" ZIM squinted at him. What a dweeb.

"How old is she?"

"The her daughter is half a year younger than you." ZIM beamed with anticipation. This mystery girl would be the first friend he made since he got to the states.

"Hey Zimmy, why don't you take a practice run on your board while you wait?" Purple asked.

"How 'bout you first, Mr. I Can Snowboard Like A Pro So I'm Gonna Make My Brothers Feel Jealous Of Me Cuz I Can Snowboard And Stuff!" ZIM said. The older Irkens looked at him as if he were crazy. Which he was.

"Umm, I think I will then." Purple said, he quickly latched his black and red snowboard to his feet and jumped up. "Take notes, Z!" ZIM looked up from eating a snowball he made, confused.

"Wha …?" Purple launched himself off the hill with intense power as he swerved trees and bushes and jumped in the air going down the hill, doing tricks all the way. ZIM feigned being impressed, faking 'Oo's and 'Ah's when really, deep down he really was impressed. ZIM and Red watched as Purple skidded to a stop at the bottom. He looked up the hill.

"Y'all see dat, dawg, Purple-Nurple shredded it up!" He yelled as he walked carefully back up the steep hill. Once at the top he saw ZIM making a snow angel and Red was still in a daze. Purple sighed. "You Macales just can't stand it when someone is better at something than you are, can you?" ZIM sat up and cocked a brow.

"What was that?" ZIM asked as if he didn't see a thing. Purple smirked and bent over and packed some snow into a tight ball and threw it at his face. ZIM cried out and held his abused nose. ZIM got ready to pounce on Purple until he saved himself by pointing down the hill at some people.

"Hey look, it's your new friend! Why don't you go greet 'er?" Purple asked standing ZIM up and pushing him down the hill. ZIM still had the snowboard attached to his feet but instead of using the board he slid all the way down on his stomach face first. When ZIM finally stopped he had snow all over him and some got down his jacket even. He looked over when he saw two shadows loom over him. It was Leslie and her adopted daughter.

"Are you okay?" Leslie asked, concerned. He stood up and brushed himself off.

"Yeah, I'm used to this kind of abuse." He said, nonchalantly. He looked at the new girl who was gawking at him. ZIM took note of the girl with purple hair. That was certainly an odd color for hair but not impossible, especially if you were a toon like she probably was. "Hi! I'm Zeiden! But you can call me ZIM! And you are?" The girl didn't respond and just continued to stare. "Um, is there something in my teeth?" ZIM asked covering his mouth. Leslie nudged the girl with purple hair.

"Gaz, this is the boy I told you about, he is new to the neighborhood." ZIM smiled widely.

"Why does he sound funny?" She whispered. ZIM's smile deflated and he suddenly felt self conscious. He sounded funny? _They_ sounded funny with their nasally voices and their silly phrases. Leslie glared at her daughter.

"That is very rude, say you're sorry." The girl looked at him and didn't say anything.

"But he does sound funny." She stated again. Now ZIM was flat out frowning.

"Gazelle!"

"A-Ha! Excusez-moi, I just recently moved here from Australia. So if you mean my accent sounds funny then that is understandable. But just remember, to me, you sound funny too." The purple-haired girl smiled at ZIM, he couldn't help but return the friendly smile. "So you are from New Orleans! Vous parlez français, oui?" The girl cocked a brow. ZIM shook his head. "Never mind." Leslie smiled. He was hitting it off pretty well.

"Hey, Hun? Where is your brother?" ZIM looked at her.

"Which one?"

"Your biological one."

"He is up the hill with my non-biological brother." Leslie chuckled and thanked him before walking up the hill. ZIM turned his attention back to his female companion.

"Gaz, is it? I like it, it's very … original." He said to her.

"Gazelle LeRoy Strud is my full name." She said. "What _are_ you?" She asked, pulling one of ZIM's antenna. The tiny Irken cried in pain at the rough touch. ZIM flicked his sensitive feelers away from the nosy human.

"I am Irken! Surely you have heard of the mighty Irken race!"

"I have. I hear they are very advanced and live for a very long time and have a awesome military." Gaz said. ZIM smiled. Why did she ask if she knew what he was. Maybe it was to make conversation.

"Heh, yeeeaaahhh . . ." ZIM drawled.

"So … ZIIIMMM." Gaz said, making his name sound weird, as if she didn't know how to pronounce it correctly. She was staring at his Tigers jacket. "Do you like baseball?" ZIM nodded vigorously.

"I used to play cricket all the time back in Oz. It's like the same thing..."

"But better." Gaz said.

**That Night**

"Purple said you had exciting news for me." ZIM said as the family sat down for supper. Red snapped out of his train of thought. He had a stupid look on his face so, obviously, he was thinking of Leslie.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Red cleared his throat and looked at his younger brother. "You're behind on school, ZIM. You should have started first grade last fall and you totally skipped kindergarden" ZIM scowled. He knew this conversation would eventually come.

"But, I'm so much more advanced and smart than those human kids! I have the intelligence of a seventh grader in a 6 years olds body!" Red groaned and rubbed his temples. He knew ZIM was gonna put up a fuss.

"Sorry, ZIM. I can either enroll you in public school or you can be home schooled like Tenn and Zee are right now." ZIM wrinkled his nose.

"No way am I going to public school! I'm not gonna let those humans hold me back." Red rolled his eyes.

"Prejudice, aren't ya?" Purple muttered.

"The other thing, ZIM, the Griffons are coming for to visit for nine days next week." Red reported. ZIM nearly doubled over. He hasn't seen Tak in almost a year! Maybe over a year! He only got to talk to her on the phone and through transmissions.

"Are you for cereal!" ZIM exclaimed. Tenn and Zee chuckled.

"Yay! ZIM gets to see his girlfriend!" Zee snickered. Purple shook his head.

"That ain't nothin'! You shoulda seen Red with his new lady friend today!" He said. Red shot him a glare.

"Shut up, Purp." ZIM perked up at the chance to annoy his brother.

"Oh yeah! Man! It was so pathetic! It's like he doesn't know how to flirt! I got a real kick outta him when he commented on Leslie's shoes asking if she was wearing UGGS and even went as far as asking if he could try them on." Zee turned to her older brother in disbelief. Red puckered his lips.

"And she let me, and they were _very _warm."

"Aww, Red has something for Leslie!" Purple sung. "I don't blame ya' bro. She is pretty."

"Don't be daft, Peder! Redward is too young to date!" ZIM said in a motherly tone.

"First of all he said nothing about dating, second, don't call me Redward." Red said.

"I'll call you whatever I want!"

"Oh will ya?" Red questioned.

"Yes! Redward! Redhead! Redwin, Red-… etcetera!" An evil look crossed Red's features.

"That's it!" He said getting up. He yanked ZIM out of his chair and held him by his ankle so he was dangling upside down. For a brief moment ZIM had Déjà Vu.

"Eep!" ZIM tried to make Red let go but with little success. "What are you doing?" ZIM felt himself being dropped. He was now on his back by the dining table. Red had him pinned and it looked like the older Irken was about to spit on him.

"Take back all those names. You know I hate them." Red said with a wicked grin.

"Nevah! Prepare for Zimpact!" ZIM shouted. He started to shake and thrash wildly from underneath Red. The others watched at ZIM's pathetic performance of escaping. Red stayed on with no problem and it looked like ZIM was about to explode from effort of trying to get him off. After a few more moments of that madness ZIM finally settled and gave up. Red stared at him with his mouth gaped. "Purple! Get this beast off me!" Purple shrugged and got out of his chair and lunged at Red making him topple over. Now the two oldest were wrestling on the ground now in a brotherly manner. They do this all the time.

"Boys! Stop! Careful, one of you will end up crying!" Zee shouted at the two in a tussle. ZIM suddenly jumped on his chair and declared loudly,

"We are a family! We do not fight each other! We love each other!" Red and Purple looked at him as well as Zee and Tenn. "You two," He pointed at Red and Purple. "Hug, kiss and makeup!"

"You sic'd him on me!" Red said, getting up from the ground and pointing at his other brother.

"That's how I assert my dominance. By telling people much older than me to do my bidding."

"You think you're dominate over us?" Purple inquired. The dining room got deathly silent as Red, Purple, Zee, and Tenn stared at ZIM with intense eyes. ZIM seemed to shrink a little.

"Eh … of course not! We're … equals. Uh, you guys have authority over me. Yeah … Is it hot in here? I feel cold." He said hopping off the table not really knowing what he'd just said.

"Now then," Zee sighed. "we got the craziness out of our systems, can we please have an adult conversation?"

"Can't." ZIM said bluntly.

"Why not?" Tenn asked.

"Cause you're only 17 and I'm 6." ZIM said, making a stupid face. "A-duh!" Tenn ignored him.

"ZIM, go to bed. This Leslie chick sounds nice. When do I get to meet her?" Zee asked.

"Depends." Red said. He had a great after noon with Leslie. It started off her teaching him how to snowboard then it turned into a snowball fight. Adults against kids. Kids were out numbered and out matched. Then she invited the three Irkens for coffee or hot chocolate. The only downside was that ZIM gotten into the coffee and was bouncing off the walls ever since.

"And I hear you made a new friend." Tenn said to ZIM.

"You heard right. Her name is, Gazelle. She thought I sounded funny. Something about my accent."

"Well you do have an authentic Aussie accent."

"Meh, she was probs just jealous of me then."

"Why would anyone be jealous of you?" Tenn asked. ZIM gave her a lopsided smile.

"Who wouldn't? I mean, look at me!" The four others did and rolled their eyes. He could be so arrogant sometimes. His siblings could easily accuse him of having megalomania.

"Uh-huh. Well changing the subject, when the Griffons come you better be on your best behavior! I can tell your opinion on girls are changing by the way you were looking at that Gaz, girl today." ZIM made a weird snorting sound and leaned back in his chair.

"She was looking at me funny too!"

"That's because you're an alien! These people don't see our kind a whole lot. No Earthlings do. They expect all Irkens to live on Irk."

"What? Why would Irkens live on Ir- oh. But we don't."

"My point exactly." Red said, taking a swig of his drink. Everyone stopped their conversations as they heard a knock at the front door. "Someone's here. ZIM, try to act normal. Purple, see to it that he does. Tenn and Zee, keep doing what you're doing." The Purple and ZIM saluted him as he went to the front door and answered it. It was Leslie and she was smiling widely. "Hey!" Red exclaimed.

"Hi, I came by to-"

"Leslie Strud-Muffin!" ZIM ran to the foyer and jumped on the woman to give her a hug. "What brings you here at such an odd hour? Did you have plans with my brother? Huh? Huh? Huh?" Leslie laughed as she held onto the tiny Irken. Red growled and grabbed ZIM by his sides.

"Zeiden! Purple, I told you to watch him!" Purple trotted to the front door and helped Red pry ZIM off the lady.

"I was eating a yummy taco." Purple grumbled, carrying ZIM back to the dining area. "C'mon you little hellion." Leslie just continued to chuckle.

"Your family is so cute." She said.

"Yes, well. They're also annoying." Red chuckled. "Gotta love them."

"I believe on of you left this on my counter at my house." Leslie said pulling an Irken brand cellular device out of her pocket. "Is it some type of cell phone? I looked at a few times and couldn't find out what it was because it's all foreign."

"It's an Irken communication device. It's kinda like a cell phone, just a bit more advanced. It's called and Imp." Red said taking it. "Thanks it's probably Purple's. He'd forget his antennas if they weren't attached." Leslie giggled and looked into Red's eyes. Red gazed back at her. "Um, would you like to come in?" Red asked.

"Thanks but I need to get back to little Gazzie. Maybe tomorrow we could hang out again?" Red nodded as Leslie shook his hand. She slipped something in the palm of his hand.

"I'd like that." He whispered. Leslie nodded back and turned on her heals and made her way back to her car. And with one final wave she got in and was gone. Red looked down and noticed she gave him a phone number and a sticky note. The oldest Macale was ecstatic. He spun around and sauntered back to the dining room where everyone was waiting for him. "Tenn would you like close with prayer?" Red asked with that same dorky smile he had on earlier.

"Uh, sure." Tenn said looking at Zee who just shrugged. Tenn started to pray but instead of listening, Red's mind wandered to the pretty woman he met that day. Life just threw a curveball named Leslie at him, and he caught it.

**One Week Later**

**November 24, 1994**

"Zeiden, oh my God!" A young female Irken screamed and ran over to her friend. ZIM opened his arms and caught her in an embrace.

"I missed you too, Tak." He said calmly. She pulled back for a moment to pepper him with sweet little kisses all over his face. Tak's parents and ZIM's siblings watched making cooing noises at the cute scene. ZIM didn't fight Tak like he normally would, but that was only because he hasn't seen her in over year. Longer than he expected not to see her.

"Remember that journal I gave you?" She asked. ZIM gave her a confused look but remember almost immediately.

"Oh yes! It's in my room. I filled out every page and even added some photos and drawings." Tak seemed to glow. She was so happy.

"So where is this Purple character you've been talking about over the transmissions?" ZIM almost forgot that Tak has never met his OBFAM brother before.

"Oh yeah, he's over there." ZIM said pointing toward the house. They could see Purple shaking Mr. Griffon's hand as Mrs. Griffon kissed Red on his cheeks and asked if he had grown when they were gone.

"Whoa! He looks like he could be Red's twin! Except he has purple eyes. But other than that, same facial structure, height, and body build. That's crazy!" ZIM shrugged.

"That was my first reaction of him too." He said. "I made a new friend while here. Maybe you'll get to meet her today cuz Red invited Leslie over for dinner cuz he forgot you guys were coming today but he didn't want to cancel her cuz he likes her." Tak squinted an eye at him.

"Do you have onomatomania?" She asked. ZIM tilted his head not understanding.

"Eh?"

"The irresistible desire to repeat a certain word? Example, 'cuz'." Tak said. ZIM scoffed.

"A-heh. I only said, 'cuz' three times. Or four if you're counting this sentence too." ZIM pointed out. Tak raised an eye ridge.

"Whatever, and who's Leslie?"

"One of Red's lady friends who lives about five miles away. She's a single mom with a really cute daughter named, Ga-" ZIM cut himself off when he saw Tak's death glare. "Gabs! She's a … uh. Puppy! Little springer spaniel! Leslie likes to call her, her daughter." It wasn't entirely a lie. They did have a springer spaniel, but it's name was Todo. Tak smiled.

"Can't wait to meet them." She said, walking past him. "Why don't you show me around your new home, Eh?" She said and stopped for a brief moment to introduce herself to Purple.

"Yeah, sure." ZIM muttered. That was too close.

**Later**

The Macales, Griffons and Strud along with the one Kinley and LeRoy were all in the dining room area of the Macale's abode sharing a nice meal of homemade Thai food that Zee and Mrs. Griffon prepared.

Currently Tak was giving Gaz hard looks. Tak fought her for the seat next to ZIM. Gaz merely shrugged and let her have the seat on ZIM's left while Red was on his right. Gaz was now sitting across from ZIM and ignoring the evil looks casted her way by the purple-eyed female. ZIM was just glad Gaz wasn't that _into _him and was playing it cool. Cooler than how Tak was taking it. The adults were having a conversation where the younger kids couldn't put in any input. Mostly because they had no idea what they were talking about. Typical.

"So ZIM," Tak drawled his name out. "What have you been up to whilst we were apart?" ZIM looked at her.

"Um, I wrote pretty much every interesting thing in that journal you gave me."

"So then tell me about the things you didn't write." ZIM thought a moment.

"Uh, well, I made new friends." He pointed to Gaz. "We obviously left Australia. Oh, on the way here we had a mini vacation in the Caribbean! Of course it was not a planned vacation because our flight was cancelled for the night due to fog." Tak's eyes were watching ZIM harshly which made him uncomfortable. "What were you up to?"

"Thinking about you."

"The whole time?" Tak raised the ridge of her right eye.

"Yes, is that weird?" ZIM saw her hard look and gulped but shook his head.

"Not at all." Gaz looked at Tak then at ZIM with her squinty eyes. She almost laughed. ZIM was like Tak's little bitch. She thought.

"Good." Tak smiled and rubbed his thigh with her hand. ZIM tensed. She was getting very touchy ever since he introduced her to Gaz. Gaz just shook her head and continued to eat.

"What are you doing to his leg?" Gaz asked loudly to Tak. The adults turned their heads to look at ZIM and Tak. ZIM groaned. Red looked under the table and saw Tak's hand on his little brothers inner thigh. He gave Tak a look that told her get her hand away from there. She did.

"Gaz, please quiet down." Leslie said.

"But she was touching him." She said. Tak's parents looked at her with curious looks.

"Um, I … Uh." ZIM started. He quickly looked around for something to change the awkward subject. Finally Purple jumped in to rescue him.

"You guys ever try extreme snowboarding?"

"Like down a mountain?" Gaz asked.

"It's like wake boarding but on snow." ZIM almost jumped at the idea. He loved wake boarding behind his grandpa's boat before he died.

"That sounds awesome." Said Gaz. Leslie looked nervous at the idea.

"I'm up for it." ZIM said, cooly. Red had the same expression as Leslie.

"Eh, I dunno. You could get hurt, Z? You have a knack for getting injured, you know." Red said. ZIM frowned.

"Aww, C'mon!" ZIM pouted. Red always gave in to his pout. The oldest Irken sighed.

"I guess. But I'll drive and we're going no faster than 15 miles per hour."

"Only 15?" Maybe if he milked this long enough, Red would give him more freedom.

"Take it or leave it." Darn. Oh well, at least he's still going wake boarding … snowboarding? Snow waking? Whatever it's called. Tak looked at him.

"Can you even Snowboard? Let alone wake surf?" ZIM nodded.

"I've been practicing for a week now. Purple said I'm a natural pro." Purple shrugged.

"He's got strong legs and terrific balance. He should be in the Irken Olympics." Red shuddered.

"Irken olympics is hardcore. The training is like training for the U.S. Marines, and the actual competition is dangerous."

"Lighten up. Let the boy have some fun." Purple said eyes half closed.

"The boy is young and … not very bright." Red whispered the last part to Purple. ZIM heard this.

"Wow! Rudeness!" He declared. Gaz giggled. Red smiled at his little brother.

"Sorry bro. Just trying to protect ya'."

"By insulting me? Good job!" ZIM rolled his eyes as Gaz's giggles got louder. "Why don't you let Purple drive me around so I can school you on the do's and dont's of snow waking." Red furrowed an eye brow ridge.

"Snow waking?"

"What else would we call it because, 'Snowboarding while being pulled by a motorized vehicle' would get a little redundant after awhile, don't cha think?"

"Don't you need wakes to do any type of wake boarding?"

"The wakes would be the tire tracks, duh!"

"So are you challenging me to a competition?" Red asked, squinting an eye. ZIM crossed his arms and sat up as straight as possible. An intergalactic pose of showing superiority.

"Maybe I am." Red smirked.

"You're on little mate!" Red and ZIM clasped hands and shook. Purple sighed.

"Why does everything have to be a competition with you Macales? I'm telling you, enjoying the sport would be so much more fun." ZIM and Red ignored him as they darted off to get their snow gear and snowboards ready. "And they don't even listen. Shocker." He stood up and helped clear the table. Why did he have to open his mouth?

**Later That Night**

There was a fresh puffy blanket of snow on the ground. It wasn't too deep and it wasn't too shallow. Around 3 to 6 inches. Soft flakes continued to gently fall from the sky as a party of Irkens and Humans made their way to an empty field by using big trucks and snowmobiles. The gang got out or off the vehicles and looked around at their spot.

"This is a perfect area." Purple said. He started hooking up the wakeboard rope and handles the Macales had laying around in their garage right next to their grandfather's boat, to the pylon of the snow machine. Red decided he'd let ZIM have the liberty of going first just so he could use ZIM's wakes by using them as makeshift jumps. Not that ZIM knew that. He just thought his big bro was being nice.

Once ZIM got the bindings on his feet tightened he prepared himself. He hadn't wake boarded since he left Australia. And he never wake boarded on land before.

"Now each of you will get 10 minutes to impress the spectators." Purple informed them motioning to their friends. "They will judge you guys by using the scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest possible. Now, Les, is the clock ready?" Leslie held up her cell phone and nodded.

"Yuppers."

"'Kay ZIM, you're up first." Purple motioned for him to get behind the snowmobile and hold on to the rope. Purple revved up the engine and went forward a little till there was no slack on the rope. "Hit it, Les!" He shouted over the engine. Leslie hit the button that made the stop watch start it's countdown. Purple started by going slowly and gradually accelerating.

_'Okay, I need to keep my knees bent, lean back, and remember the snow is denser than water which means I'll need to have a stronger hold.' _ZIM thought to himself. He always went through a mental check list whenever he was in a competition or doing something for the first time. ZIM allowed himself to be pulled around for a bit before he did any tricks. Just to get the hang of it and so he wouldn't fall right off the bat. The judges would deduct points if that happened.

ZIM saw Purple was about to make a hard left so he wouldn't hit a bank of snow, which means ZIM would whip out and he would hit the bank right on. Perfect for his first trick. He hit the deep snow and jumped a good 4 feet in the air. He grabbed the nose of his board with one hand had the handles in the other and did a 180. He landed it kinda sloppily but he didn't fall. That is good. Now his sides switched. Good thing he's ambidextrous or he would have a problem. He could hear a few cheers from the sidelines but ignored them as he prepared his next move. He was about to his a snowmobile rut and was gonna do an aerial move. He hit the wake and jumped a lot higher than he did on the snowbank. He twisted twice in the air before, this time, gracefully landing and doing a perez on the far outside of the snow wakes.

"Stump!" Someone yelled. It might have been Zee. ZIM saw the stump Zee was talking about. ZIM tried avoiding it but hit another bank and landed on it and toppled over hitting his head on the piece of tree in process. He let go of the handle and let himself slide to a stop on his back.

"Ooh …" ZIM groaned. He rubbed the back of his head by his right antenna where he was hit and looked at his hand. His reddish-greenish-blue blood covered his hand. Before he knew it Purple was at his side.

"Sorry, Zei-Zei. I didn't see the stump in time." That was when Purple noticed the blood staining the snow. "Red was right when he said you were prone to injury. Stay right there, ZIM, you might have sustained a concussion." Purple said gently pushing ZIM down into laying position. The older Irken took off his coat and put it underneath ZIM's head.

"I think it's okay, Purp. Just a scratch." ZIM slurred trying to sit up only to be pushed back down and held there.

"We don't know that yet." Purple said, calmly. "Hey, Red! M'ere!" Tak was already dashing across the field. She knelt beside ZIM and started to yell at him for scaring her.

"Tak, I'm fine I promise!" He tried sitting up again but Tak kept holding him down.

"Zeiden! If you knew you weren't able to-"

"Tak it's okay!"

"No it isn't! You're hurt!"

"I'm … prone to injury." ZIM said meekly.

"You see! You should be more careful! Play sports that won't hurt you!"

"Stop shouting! You're hurting my antenna!" ZIM shouted stumbling over his words. He opened his eyes but couldn't see anything.

"See you're sensitive to sound! You have been concussed!"

"All Irkens have sensitive antennas!"

"Both of you be quiet!" Red shouted over them, walking over. "Where did you get hit?" ZIM sat up and groaned. He had a massive headache when he was in sitting position. He fell back to laying on his back again.

"My head, by my antenna." ZIM was weak now. "I think." His head was throbbing, he could feel his antenna twitching unintentionally, and it felt like something was gnawing at his eyes from the inside. His vision started getting blurry and the pain intensified. "I think my 10 minutes are up, Red. It's your turn." Red smiled and picked up his little brother. Purple put his coat back on. It was stained where ZIM leaked his blood on it but the violet-eyed Irken didn't seem to care.

"I don't think we should finish this compet-"

"C'mon! You either compete or you forfeit!" Red shook his head.

"Nah, we should get you to a hospital." He carried ZIM back to the vehicles and layer him in the bed of the truck. "Hey, Les, know any hospitals around here?" She nodded.

"Oo. Uh, the closets ones I can think of are in Manistee or Muskegon." She informed.

"Red! I wanna see you shred up the snow with your not as awesome skills as mine but still quite awesome . . . skills!" ZIM exclaimed. The young Irken thought for a bit. "Did that make sense? I'm kinda disoriented at the moment." Red chuckled and stroked ZIM's antenna.

"Fine, you stay right here though." Red looked around.

"Tak, where did your parents go?" He asked noticing their car was gone.

"They left already. Went to the hotel. I'm staying the night with you, remember?" Red nodded.

"Right." He gave ZIM's head one last loving pat and told Purple to start the snow machine again as he got his snowboard on his feet. Once ready Red gave Purple the thumbs up and off they went. Red immediately decided to show ZIM up by doing an aerial move, a barrel roll then the next move was a osmosis. One of Red's favorites. He did all the tricks and stunts like a pro. After many minutes of hard-to-master moves ZIM scoffed.

"Hah! Show off." He muttered. Tak was gonna smack him upside the head but remembered his current condition. Instead she just pinched his leg. Red was about to jump again but he lost his grip on the handle and decided that he should just end it there. He did a 540 degree turn while doing a front flip, almost landing it but fell on his knees. He was never to good with flips. Tenn though. She was a professional. Red got up and looked triumphantly to his little audience. They all cheered except for ZIM who was holding his head in pain at the loud noise.

"10 all the way!" Leslie exclaimed. Gaz only grunted in reply. He was showing off for Leslie. Totally obvious.

"I coulda done better." ZIM insisted, still holding his area of pain. Red and Purple walked over to them, or rather, Red was more like stumbling. Maybe he hurt his knee.

"That was great!" Leslie said.

"Aw, stop." Red said, modestly.

" No! Really, that was terrific!" Leslie said. ZIM huffed, loudly. Leslie looked at him.

"You did great too, Hun." She said to him quickly.

"Well, thank you." ZIM lied down in the truck's bed again. "Congrats, Red for your _fabulous_ win." Red knelt by him.

"You ready to go to the hospital now?" ZIM shook his head.

"It's getting dark."

"So? Hospitals are open 24/7." ZIM moaned in pain.

"I just want to go to bed after I get stoned with ibuprofen or vicodin."

"Yeah right. Like I'm gonna let you use those drugs. Especially vicodin. Last time you used that you were more demented and delusional than a high native American hippie."

"I remember that. He thought he was a Vortain and his name was Bert."

"I was watching Sesame Street while hanging out with Ike before I took that stuff." ZIM muttered remembering his Australian friend and their tradition of watching that show on week days. It was weird for kids their age to be watching things like that but, then again, they _were _weird kids and they liked making fun of it.

"Understandable." Purple said, walking up from behind them. "I found this in the snow." He said, setting a purple sock on the bed of the truck. "I thought it was … pretty." He said, nonchalantly.

"What's a sock doing out in the middle of a field?"

"Wouldn't know. Are we leaving now?" Red nodded.

"Why don't you take the girls and go home. Me and Leslie-"

"Leslie and I." ZIM said weakly.

"-are gonna take this little accident waiting to happen to the hospital to see if he has any serious problems." Red said.

"Silly Red! We already know he has serious problems!" Purple said childishly. Red started to act like a kid too.

"Oh you! You is so funny! What are you doing being an assistant scientist? You should have your own stand up comedy show!"

"Errrbody be sayin' that to me!" Purple giggled and walked back to his snowmobile. He suddenly snapped out of his playful manner an gave orders to Zee to gather Tenn, Gaz, and Tak up and get in the truck and go home.

"C'mon, lil' mate." Red picked ZIM up as if he were and infant. "We're taking the car to the hospit-able." Red mispronounced the word on purpose. ZIM moaned in reply. His injury was just now taking a toll on him.

"Why what happened?" The little Irken asked. Red looked down at him.

"Huh. Uh … you hit your head, remember?"

"When?"

"Like half an hour ago." Red said. He turned to Leslie. "We better hurry." He walked to the car and opened the door and rested ZIM down in the backseat. "Hang in there." ZIM didn't respond, he just snuggled down. Red got in the drivers seat as Les got in the passenger seat.

"When you pull out take a left then the next street we see take a right." She said. Red nodded.

"Where are we going?" ZIM's voice was slurred and quiet.

"To the hospital ZIM."

"Why?" Red groaned. He knew he shouldn't of let ZIM wake snow, or whatever he called it. He was supposed to watch him and keep him safe like he promised his mother six and a half years ago.

"You're hurt, sweetheart." Leslie answered for Red.

"How?" Red almost snickered. ZIM was gonna be out of it for awhile.

"Snowboarding accident."

"I can snowboard?" His voice sounded a little excited.

"Not really, considering you just got hurt." Red said turning right onto a deserted street.

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

"Who is that?" ZIM sat up and pointed to Leslie.

"I'm Leslie, dear. Your friend."

"Nuh-Uh! Since when?" ZIM sounded even more excited. He liked making friends. The Irken flopped back down.

"Since a week ago." She said.

"You're pretty." ZIM mumbled. Leslie chuckled.

"Thank you, Hun. You're pretty cute yourself." ZIM made a chirping noise and didn't say anything after that. They rode in silence for a little bit before the two adults heard soft snoring in the backseat. Red sighed.

"If he's snoring that also means he's drooling. I'm gonna have to clean that when we get home." He said. Les smiled.

"You're the best older brother I ever met." Red blushed.

"Naww. Not the best."

"No! I'm serious! Your siblings love you so much! And Purple does too. You are great." Red blushed harder.

"Thanks. You're a pretty good role model yourself, ya know."

"You really think so?" Red nodded.

"Oh yes." The two went quiet for a little bit. "He spoke for both of us when he said that." Leslie looked at Red.

"Said what?"

"When ZIM said you were pretty. You are. That wasn't just his potential concussion talking." Leslie beamed. Something inside her fluttered.

"I-I … Thank you. That means a lot to me." They shared a smile. Red turned his attention back to the road ahead of him. He pretty much just admitted his feelings toward her and now he was feeling nervous. Red's eyes widened as he felt a pair of lips on his cheek. He looked to his left. Leslie was looking out the window again. Probably embarrassed. Red placed a hand on her leg and gave a soft squeeze.

"I like you, Red." She muttered. Red felt sky high.

"The feeling's mutual." He said, softly. They looked into each others eyes, smiling again for a long moment before a small, slurred and annoyed voice interrupted.

"Where are we going?"

**2 Hours Later **

"He's suffering from a mildly-severe concussion." A female doctor, with the name of Murrey, said to Red and Leslie. ZIM was currently resting on a bed. He needed six stitches. "I'll fill out a prescription for him. He needs to take these pills until he stops having headaches when he wakes up in the morning. He will need a lot of bed rest, drink lots of water, and no physical activities, which I know will be hard for him. I can tell Irkens are very active. Some symptoms he may have are: confusion, headache, vomiting, nausea, fever, blurred vision, loss of short-term memory, and perseverating."

"Perseverating is like repeated something over and over again, right?" Red asked. The doctor nodded. "What if he does that anyway?"

"Then he might be an onomatomaniac." Red almost laughed. Tak said something like that to him earlier. The three turned when they heard ZIM groan.

"I feel sick." He said. "Do mind if I vomit here? It would add some color to this plain white room." Red snorted as did Leslie. The doctor quickly ran to get a waste basket before he did puke. When she came back with the trash can in hand she set it by his bed.

"I'd appreciate if you'd at least try to aim for the garbage disposal." Doctor Murrey said picking up the little Irken and held him over the bin. ZIM felt something rise in his throat. He lurched the contents of his stomach in the waste basket. The doctor was rubbing his back to comfort him. He could sworn he heard Leslie say something about his barf being a blue tinted color. When ZIM was done he looked down. Score! He didn't miss! But his vomit was starting to burn through the bin and was making sizzling noises. Irken stomach acid was powerful stuff. That's why they would puke only liquid and nothing too solid. Their food disintegrated when it came into contact with their acidic squeedily-spooch as it was called. A weird name sure, but they had different names for all their organs than the humans. Like on Irk, there hearts were called, 'tomds'.

Doctor Murrey sat him on Red's lap as she cleaned his mess. "Come back in a week for a check up." She said and left the room. ZIM rested his head back against Red's chest.

"Well, we better get back." Leslie said.

"Go back where?" ZIM asked.

"Home." Red answered. He gave his little brother a warm smile and got up. "Lets go."

**1 More Hour Later **

Red sat on the couch in his living room and relaxed. Gaz and Tak seemed to be getting along a bit better. It seemed they had a lot of things in common. Like the fact that they both like video games and listen to the same music. The two girls were upstairs. Gaz was also spending the night now. When Red, Leslie, and ZIM got home, Red put ZIM to bed and Leslie put the two girls to bed in a separate room so ZIM could get his sleep. Red opened his eyes when he heard light foot steps coming down the stairs. Expecting it to be Leslie, he was slightly disappointed to see it was Purple.

"Hey, Purp. I thought you went to bed." Purple scoffed.

"I am in bed." He said. Red cocked a brow.

"No you're not." Purple and Red stared awkwardly at each other before Purple retreated back upstairs and Leslie came down. She sat by him and sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. He rested his own head on hers.

"This is nice." Red finally said.

"Uh huh." They sat like that for a some time.

"How's your knee?" Leslie asked.

"It just hurts. Probably pulled something. I'll be fine." They sat in silence for a bit longer. "Les?"

"Hmm?" Red picked up her chin in his hand so they could see the other. Red leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. She smiled.

"Is that all you got?" She said, quite smugly. Red frowned.

"What do you mea-" He was cut off by Leslie pushing him down and smashing their lips together. "Mmmhh." Red moaned. He let her tongue invade his mouth as she lied on top him. "Controlling, aren't ya?" He asked between their enclosed lips. She didn't answer but continued to grope his chest and stroke his antenna. This made the Irken shake with pleasure. Red's own hands traveled up her back and pressed her closer to him. After several seconds they broke apart and stared deeply into each others eyes. Leslie gave Red another kiss and sat up. A blush was apparent on her face. Feeling his own face he supposed there was one on his cheeks too.

"I never done anything like that before. Who knew my first kiss would be with an alien?" She said. Red stayed lying down.

"I never thought I'd get together with a human." He said. Leslie bent down for another round but was stopped by a booming voice.

"And just _what _do you think you kids are doing?" Purple asked coming down the steps. He deepened his voice to sound threatening but all he sounded like was an overprotective father. Anything for a laugh, with that guy. "Ma'am, I'm sorry but I think it's time for you to go." He pointed Leslie to the door. Leslie stood up and chuckled.

"Sure thing, Pur." She said, giving him a hug and walked to the door. "I'll be back at noon to pick up Gaz." She said. And with that she closed the door.

"As for you young man! I can't _buh-lieve_ what I saw! Get up, boy, and face me when I'm talking to you!" Red rolled his eyes. "Go to your room and think about what you've done, you naughty, naughty, boy, you!" Red got up and made his way to the stairs. He felt a sharp slap to his rear end. He whirled around to face Purple who was now holding his hand in pain. "Gah! That hurt." Red smirked.

"Glutes of steal, baby." Red said, smacking his own butt twice and bounded up the stairs.

"Yeah, you better run away! Hell hath no fury like Peder when he's lacking sleep, Eh?" Purple called after him. When he heard Red's bed room door close, he sat on the couch and turned on the tube. "Hockey time."

**Well, wow! I figured you guys would like long a chapter so here you go! Quite eventful huh? They leave Australia, move to the United States, Red found a girl, Tak arrives again, ZIM got a concussion and Purple likes hockey!**

**Also, truth is. I typed this chapter a long time ago! I'm actually in the middle of writing chapter nine! I'm just too lazy to update. Please smack me if you think I'm slacking off.**

**I hoped you like it, and there is a HUGE surprise in the next chapter so stay tuned!**


	8. Irk

**When the Macales travel to Irk everything they say is in Irken. Not English! They don't speak English on Irk. Get it? Good! You guys is so smart! ;) Unlike your author... :(**

**I made the Macales Messianic Jewish! Any objections? No? Good!**

* * *

><p><strong>Tuesday November 25, 1994<strong>

**The Next Day 9:30 AM**

ZIM woke up with a headache the size of Irk itself. And Irk was _huge_. About half the size of earth's sun. The tiny Irken half stumbled half fell out of his cozy bed and was about to walk down stairs but he kept falling. He was too lightheaded to stand up. So instead of walking out he resorted to crawling.

"What are you doing, Junior?" ZIM looked up to see his sister, Zee, at the door looking at him curiously. She must've just woken up too cause she was only in a bed time t-shirt and teal booty shorts.

"Wassit look like I'm doin'?" He slurred. ZIM's vision got blurry from looking up. "I'm gettin' to go to the kitchen to watch T.V. and play games." Zee couldn't help but coo at his current state.

"Aww, Hun. You don't watch T.V. in the kitchen you do that in the living room, you silly boy." ZIM didn't reply. Instead he just collapsed on the ground half conscious. "Here," Zee picked him up and put him back in his bed. "I'll go get you some food. You rest here." ZIM opened his mouth to protest but Zee put a finger to his lips. "Red told me to make sure you get plenty of sleep, so that's what I'm going to do." ZIM layed back and closed his eyes.

"I just want to eat … a napkin." He said absentmindedly. Zee chuckled.

"Just wait and I'll get you the best napkin you ever tasted." She said leaving the room. She met Purple in the kitchen who greeted her very giggly. Like a little school girl whose crush just waved at her or something.

"Oh my Irk! Zee you'll never believe what I saw last night!" Purple said in a valley girl accent. Zee decided to play along with the bubbly mood.

"Oh my Irk! What was it?" She mocked.

"Last night," Purple said with a pause. "I saw your brother lock lips with Leslie!" Purple made a 'squee' sound and jumped up and down. This time like a crazy fan girl.

"Shut up! No way!" Zee exclaimed.

"Way!"

"No!"

"Yes!" Purple insisted. Zee shook her head.

"Bitch please! That's crazy! He's too young to be kissin' girls!" She said.

"That's what I said. It's a good thing the kids were all in bed when it happened. I'm sure their little hearts wouldn't be able to take it." Zee snickered. She now had ammunition to annoy Red for today. As if on cue, Red entered the kitchen wearing only his boxer shorts with the Aboriginal Australian flag on it. "Quick, pretend we weren't talking about him." Purple whispered. Red lifted his antenna.

"You were talking about me?" He asked. "Did you tell her about last night?" Red's eyes narrowed. Purple put on an innocent look.

"Maybs." He said promptly, and left the kitchen. Zee gave Red a huge smile. She could tell he was in a good mood.

"You, dog! Purple told me you were all over that girl last night!" Red scowled.

"_She_ was all over _me_, first of all. Second, it's none of your business."

"Uh-huh. Whatever, Redward." Zee said picking up some food and heading back upstairs.

"Don't call me that." Zee heard him mutter. She looked down from over the catwalk to him.

"Suck it up." She said to him. Zee opened ZIM's room to find him once again on the floor. "What are you doing on the floor?" She asked setting down the tray of food and placed him back on his bed.

"I forgot to breath … again." He said. Zee rolled her eyes. It wasn't the sickness that made him forget to breath. He forgets either way. Zee felt his forehead.

"You're hot-"

"Heh, yeah I am."

That's not what I- Oh whatever. You might be running a fever." Zee left the room and can back with a thermometer. "Open." She told him. ZIM opened his mouth and let her put the end in his mouth. They waited for a moment till the little device beeped. She took it out and looked. "105 degrees fahrenheit." She said. Average body temperature for Irkens was 100 degrees. They run really hot blooded which if why they could stand the cold more than humans. Mostly because Irk was a fairly cold planet because of the distance between Irk and and her sun. Zee held ZIM close as he started to shiver.

"I'm cold, but I'm not." He said. Zee furrowed her hairless brows trying to make sense of what he just said.

"I know, hun. Just hang in there, okay?" Zee kissed his now sweating forehead. "Let me look at your stitches." She said leaning him forward. The stitches were still in tact and weren't loosened at all during the night while he slept. "Here, I got you some food if you're feeling up to it." ZIM shook his head.

"I'm not that hungry, but I'm thirsty." Zee stood to get the glass of water she poured off of the tray.

"Swallow these with it." She handed him some pills with the water.

"Ugh, those pills are too big for me." He groaned, his speech was very slurred.

"Red said you needed to take these."

"Why?"

"Because you have a concussion."

"Since when?"

"Since yesterday when you fell on a stump."

"What kind of stump?" Zee puckered her lips. She was used to having to be patient with him. He was really slow after all and he had a concussion so that made it worse.

"What difference does that make?" ZIM shrugged as he gulped down the pill. When he was done he was about to say something else but cut himself off and went into a sudden fit of laughter. Zee decided that it was one of the symptoms of the fever and let him get it out of his system. Once he quieted down he looked at her.

"I had no control over any of that." He said breathing heavily.

"You're having convulsions. That's normal when you have a fever as high as yours." Zee stood. "Get some rest now okay?"

"I'm not tired." He slurred. Zee could tell he was lying. She saw it in his eyes and heard it in his voice. He was too weak to get out of bed.

"Stay." Zee said as if ordering a dog. "I'll be back in a bit with your other medication for your epilepsy." ZIM shivered. He was burning up yet he was cold. Odd. As soon as Zee left he attempted to get out of bed again. Standing on the hardwood floor for a couple of seconds his knees started to buckle and gave out.

"Morning Zei-Zei." Tak said walking into his room. She bent down and helped him up again. "You look terrible." Tak said with concern. Gaz was behind her.

"Ugh! Yahweh hates me! Oh God! Could you get me a waste basket of some sort?" He asked. "Quickly!" Tak looked at him shocked by his sudden outburst but turned and ran out of his room to retrieve what he needed before it was too late. Gaz went over to him as his body started lurching. She rubbed his back gently while trying to comfort him with whispers in his antenna. Tak entered again just in time. ZIM retched and emptied his spooch into the bucket. He continued till there was nothing left to throw up but his body kept lurching and it hurt him. Once he was done he kept his head down in the bucket so the girls couldn't see or smell the disgusting stomach acid. ZIM felt tears sting his eyes and he shivered uncontrollably.

"Someone please get me a cold, wet towel?" Tak got up again to get it. ZIM couldn't help but whimper in pain. His head hurt from his concussion, he was having convulsions, he was burning up, he was vomiting, and now he was crying like a little smeet. But the pain! It was so intense!

"Here you go," Tak wiped his mouth with an icy cold paper towel she got from the kitchen. "Lemme clean you up a bit." ZIM moaned and flopped back down in his bed. Tears were still streaking down his face. ZIM ground his teeth to get his mind off his head ache. He felt another towel on his forehead. Tak put a wet bathroom hand towel on him for more comfort. She leaned in to kiss his cheek but he stopped her.

"Don't. I feel and look horrible." Tak frowned.

"I don't care." She kissed him anyway. ZIM sat up.

"I need to get this shirt off. It's too hot."

"You have a fever, if you keep changing your temperature from cold to warm then you're gonna get pneumonia."

"At the moment, I don't care! I just want to be comfortable." He basically ripped his shirt off. It was wet from sweat. He lied back down and put his hands to his face to rub his eyes. "Ugh! Kill me now!" Tak pick up his shirt and start to wipe the sweat off his stomach and chest as Gaz massaged his temples. ZIM suddenly burst into another fit of laughter. Tak and Gaz stared at him with a quirked eye brows. Once his little laughing spell was done he started sobbing.

"Are . . . you okay?" Gaz asked unsure.

"He's acting like a my aunt when she was pregnant with twins smeets." Tak stated. Red entered the room.

"I heard insane laughter coming from this room." He said. Tak and Gaz pointed at the now crying ZIM. Red made an, 'aww' -ing noise and picked him up.

"Why my smeet crying?" He asked in a motherly tone.

"I feel like shhh- crap." ZIM corrected himself. Red humphed.

"That's terrible." He said. "Why don't you take a cold bath? That might make your fever go down."

"Bring me to the bathroom." ZIM pointed in the direction of the door. Red looked at the other two girls.

"Did he vomit in that?" He asked, referring to the trash bin. Tak and Gaz nodded. Red frowned slightly. "Of course. He just loves making a mess."

"Would you rather me puke on the floor next time?"

"No. You girls can go downstairs and get yourselves some breakfast. I'm gonna give Zeiden a bath. Gotta make sure he doesn't drown."

"Red …" ZIM growled. The girls giggled and went downstairs. Red walked ZIM to the bathroom and removed his little brothers boxers and placed him in the tub where he tried to sit up for more than a second. "Give me Vicodin." ZIM muttered. He shivered as Red turned on the cool water.

"No. You already took enough medications today." Red replied wetting a washcloth and rubbing it all over the younger's body and head. ZIM whimpered. Red felt bad for the young one. "I wish I could do something for you. Ask Zee if she can help you. She is the one studying medicine after all." Red picked up special Irken body wash that made their green skin glow bright and squirted it in his hand. Red rubbed it into ZIM's body. He made sure to avoid the stitches in his head. ZIM burst into another laughing fit. Darn convulsions.

"Why … am I laughing?" ZIM asked through breaths. Red stroked ZIM's antenna until he calmed down.

"I don't know. It is a weird fever side effect, though, isn't it?" ZIM nodded. The red-eyed Irken rinsed his brother off and got a towel from underneath the sink. Red wrapped the small Irken in the fuzzy, sky blue towel and sat by the tub, snuggling his shivering little brother and kissing his head every now and then. The two stayed like that for two minutes longer, enjoying every second of the sweet brotherly bonding moment.

"Awww! Lemme get the camera!" Red and ZIM started at the loud voice. Tenn was standing just outside the bathroom door. "Hold on!" She said getting out her Imp, Irken cellular device, and snapped a picture of the two boys. She reviewed the picture and cooed some more. "Oohh. I have the cutest brothers ever!" Tenn mocked. Red smiled and rolled his eyes. ZIM just ignored it all and snuggled deeper into the warm towel, resting his head on the chest of the one who was holding him.

"Did you want something?" Red asked her. Tenn shook her head.

"I need to take a shower."

"We have two other bathrooms."

"Purple is taking a shower in the other one. The other small bathroom just has a toilet. We don't even use the toilet!"

"Then you could take a bath in the toilet since we never use it. It be nice and clean." ZIM muttered, eyes closed.

"Oh! You're funny, little man. Comedian, you should be." Tenn said.

"Yoda, you sound like." Was ZIM's response.

"How would you know? You never even watched Star Wars."

"I have too- wait. That was Star … Trek? Well then, Touché." ZIM said pointing a finger at her, still not opening his eyes. He felt Red standing up.

"Lets go put you in some clean clothes, then you can sleep some more." ZIM nodded in agreement. He was feeling better now that he had a bath and wasn't drenched in sweat.

"What happened last night?" ZIM asked. "I remember you telling me something already, but I can't 'member." Red sighed. How many times did he ask, what happened, now?

"You fell on a tree stump in a snowboarding accident." ZIM opened his heavy eyes halfway.

"I don't snowboard …" He said.

"You do now as of a week ago. You're pretty good at it too."

"I am?"

"Sure you are." Red said, definitely.

"Heh, That makes me happy." ZIM's voice was weak.

"It doesn't take a lot to make you happy." Once back in ZIM's room, Red placed him on his bed as he dug through ZIM's dresser for a pair of boxers for the young Irken.

"Here," Red pulled out a pink and white striped pair. It looked like a peppermint. ZIM looked at them and shook his head.

"I'd rather go naked than wear _those_." He said. "Thought I hid those way I the back." ZIM said to himself. Red put them back.

"Geez, that's pretty crazy, even for you." He returned back to digging through the drawer. Finally he found a pair that his brother might not mind wearing. Grabbing a dark, green boxer shorts, Red walked over to ZIM. "Lay down. " He did as told and let Red put the shorts on him. The oldest Macale felt the youngest forehead to see if the fever went down at all. It did. But only a bit. Red pulled the bedsheets back and let ZIM slip in between them before pulling them back up again. "Try to rest more. I'll be up in a minute with some water for you. Love you." Red kissed ZIM in between his eyes and left the room with the bin ZIM threw up earlier in. ZIM curled up into a tight, warm ball. He usually would sleep in a free fall position, but now he was getting cold.

**Same Day 12:00 PM **

"So how is he?" Leslie asked, entering the Macale's house.

"He's been experiencing more symptoms this morning." Red stated. "So he's about the same since you left last night."

"Poor dear." She said.

"Les?"

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking about last night, what happened between me and you," Leslie felt her heart sink. Did he not want to be with her? "And maybe you and I could go out sometime?" Leslie sighed with relief. She let her fear get the best of her.

"I'd like that very much." She replied, beaming. Red looked ecstatic. He was mustering up the courage all night to say that.

"Great. How 'bout this Friday night? I don't have any paper work to do." Leslie gave him a nod.

"Sure. 7 o'clock good?"

"Sounds good." Red said leading the way into the living room where Gaz and Tak were watching Purple and Tenn play an Irken video game called, 'Incoming Invasion' on an also Irken game system which kinda looked a high-tech black and red box with cordless controllers.

"Gazelle." Leslie called. Gaz looked up to see her mother.

"Hey." She said before turning back to the T.V. screen. "Could we get a 75 inch T.V. too, mom?"

"Can't afford it."

"But they have one." Gaz said. Eyes not leaving the screen. Leslie rolled her eyes. Gaz always wanted what other people had.

"C'mon. We got to go visit great-grandma in the nursing home." Gaz groaned.

"Hey! Nursing homes are fun! I used to work in a the kitchen of a nursing home back in Australia when I was 16." Zee said, walking into the room and plopping down on the davenport by Tak. "Aw, who am I kidding. It smelled like old people and it reeked of boringness."

"See mom. Just another reason we shouldn't go to the nursing home." Gaz said.

"Gazelle." Leslie was more stern now. Gaz sighed and stood up.

"Fine, lemme just say bye to ZIM first."

"I better go with you, I haven't checked on him in awhile." Red said following the purple-hair girl up the stairs.

"Me too." Leslie agreed and also went. Once they got to ZIM door they were horrified to see him mumbling to himself and shaking uncontrollably. He had a slight blue tone to his skin as if he wasn't breathing.

"Shit!" Red yelped and ran to the side of the bed. Red lifted the small Irken out of his bed and laid him on the floor away from anything else in the room.

"What's the matter?" Gaz asked, confused.

"Gaz, go downstairs." Leslie ordered.

"But what-"

"Now, please!" Gaz didn't ask any more questions and bolted out of the room.

"Get Purple and tell him to bring a syringe!" Red called after her. "He's had seizures like these before."

"He has epilepsy?" Leslie asked him. Red nodded. "What causes it?"

"His blood pressure is out of whack. Plus the concussion he has is probably another cause." Red stated. He bent down to ZIM's face. The poor sick child was crying and trying to control his movements but it was hard because he was also focusing on his breathing. Red wiped some of the drool off of his brother's cheeks and corners of his mouth with his hand. Suddenly ZIM went quiet for a bit before lurching forward and crying out, now shaking even more violently than before. ZIM put his hands up to his eyes to cover them as if hiding shame.

"What do we do to help him?" Leslie was panicking.

"We can't do anything till the seizures done." Red said staying calm. Red rolled ZIM on his side to prevent him choking on his own saliva or vomit if it came to that. "Hand me his pillow?" Red asked Leslie. She looked to the bed and found the pillow and threw it to Red. "Thanks." He placed the down-stuffed object under ZIM's head to protect him from getting an even worse concussion. Purple trotted in the room with a needle and small vile of medicine of some sort.

"Here." Purple handed over the supplies. Red took the syringe and stabbed the needle into the top of the vile and sucked the liquid up through it. Red flicked the holding container of the syringe with his finger and gave it a small test squirt.

"R-Red …" ZIM whimpered.

"It's alright, mate, I'm right here." Red put a hand on ZIM's side. ZIM's seizure was finally coming to an end. Red put stuck the needle into ZIM's right arm and emptied the contents of the syringe into him. ZIM gasped in surprise for he wasn't expecting it. Purple bent down next to Red.

"How are you feeling?"

"What just happened?" ZIM asked.

"You just had a seizure. Are you okay?" Purple answered. ZIM shook his head.

"No. My head hurts and I have this weird sensation in my gut."

"Sensation like?"

"Like, I'm gonna throw up again but I don't have anything else in my spooch to upchuck." Red groaned.

"Maybe if you eat something then you could vomit that up." Purple said, innocently. Red looked at him in disgust. "What?"

"We're not going to feed him just so he can puke again." Red said. Purple huffed. ZIM mustered up the strength to sit up. Leslie helped him up on his feet. His knees wobbled underneath his weight.

"I wanna go downstairs." He mumbled. Purple looked at Red who gave him a nod.

"Alright little boy! Let's go downstairs." Purple exclaimed, picking up his little OBFAM along with some long sport shorts so he wasn't in his underwear in front of the girls and left the room to Red and Leslie. Once the two were sure that everyone in the house was out of hearing range they spiked up a conversation.

"Did you tell them?" Leslie asked.

"Well Purple knows. He walked in on us last night. I heard him tell Zee this morning and I'm sure Zee will tell Tenn when she gets the chance. Zeiden doesn't really pay attention to anything he's told, so who knows with him." Leslie chuckled.

"Ya' like to gossip in this family don't 'cha?"

"We don't try." Red said. Leslie put her arms around Red's neck and got real close to his face. "I'm assuming you're finally ready for round two?" Leslie only giggled and pressed her lips against his. After seconds of their sweet little make out session Red broke apart from her as she continued to bite and lick his neck. "Do you think we might be moving to fast?" Leslie stopped and pulled away.

"Why?"

"We only just got together last night. And we met each other a week ago." Leslie frowned slightly.

"Better than some couples who think it's alright to have a one-night stand the same day they saw each other." Red couldn't argue with that logic.

"You make a valid point." He said, leaning in again to catch her lips. Leslie wasted no time sticking her tongue down Red's throat and teasing him by reaching her tongue in every square inch of his mouth. Both moaned instantaneously. Now Leslie was the first to part.

"Well, we better get going." Leslie said. Red gave her a sad look. "Don't pout at me like that. I'll be back."

"But … I'll miss you."

"Suck it up." Leslie playfully smacked his backside.

"Why is everyone telling me to do that lately?"

"Lets go." Leslie grabbed his hand and dragged him down the stairs. They found Gaz and Tak hugging ZIM tightly on the couch. Tak always overreacted whenever ZIM had one of his, 'spells'. "You ready Gaz?" The young girl looked up.

"Yeah. C'ya Tak. Bye, ZIM, feel better, or else."

"Or else what?" ZIM asked.

"Or else you won't get better." Gaz said.

"Oh. Well, duh." She gave him and Tak one last hug and made her way over to her mom. "Thanks for having me, Red."

"No problem. Hope you had fun."

"I did." Gaz assured. She grabbed her coat and other belongings and left the house to get in Leslie's Ford Escort.

"Yes, thanks for putting up with her." Leslie said to him. Red shrugged.

"She isn't bad at all! I live with ZIM after all." Leslie smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Remember, Friday." Leslie said walking out to her car.

"Yeah. I'll call you if anything changes." Red said. He waved at her and shut the door. "Woo! Long day, Eh?" He called to his siblings in the other room.

"You don't even know!" He heard ZIM call back. Red sniggered. He sauntered on over to the living room where Tenn and Purple continued their gaming in their own separate chairs while Tak snuggled ZIM on the couch. That girl was so touchy. Red decided to annoy her by sitting right in between them.

"Augh. You feel any different, Z?" Red asked sliding Tak to the side a bit to squeeze in. Tak grumbled but chose to lean against Red instead of moving again. ZIM nodded lying his head in his older brother's lap.

"I don't feel like vomiting anymore." ZIM felt Tak start to fiddle with his antenna. He instead of fighting it he welcomed the pleasurable feeling by making a slight humming noise.

"That's good." Red said, feeling ZIM's forehead. His fever has gone down a lot since that morning.

"Ah! Yes! I beat you! In your face!" Purple jumped up with glee and started yelling at the T.V. screen.

"What is wrong with you?" Tenn asked with a cocked eye brow. Purple regained his composure.

"I … pfft! Hell if I know." He said sitting back down. "We doing anything tonight?" He asked Red.

"We have a conference and seminar for our next expedition. We're not starting our research till this spring." Purple groaned.

"Ugh! I hate those meetings!"

"Me too." ZIM mumbled, eyes closed. Red and Purple looked at him. He was saying things absentmindedly again.

"Uh-huh. Well if we don't go to the meeting then the boss would fire us and we'd be heading back to Australia and you would be heading back to Canada. And you and I both know that neither of us want that."

"We're moving back home?" ZIM asked hopefully, opening his eyes.

"No. I said we would if we don't go to the meeting tonight." Red clarified. "Man, ZIM, you really do have selective hearing don't you?"

"What?" ZIM asked. Red could tell he was just messing around. Which was a good thing. That meant he was getting much better. The six Irkens sat in silence as Purple and Tenn started up a new game. This time they were playing a voot cruiser racing game. After several minutes there was a knock at the door. Red looked at his siblings seeing which one would be the first one to get up and answer the door. None did. Red sighed.

"Zannah, can you please answer that?" Red drawled. Zee looked up from a Vortian magazine she was reading.

"Why can't you?"

"'Cuz I got a half-dead brother on my lap and a young lady leaning on my shoulder." Red said, motioning to ZIM and Tak. Before Zee could stand up the front door opened. "Never mind. Whoever it was they let themselves in." Red muttered. Tak's parents walked into the living room.

"Hi, hi!" Mrs. Griffon said, happily. She walked over to the couch and bent over to look ZIM in the eyes. "How are you feeling, sweetie?" She put a hand on his face.

"Been better." ZIM mumbled. Mrs. Griffon cooed and kissed his forehead. She then kissed Tak.

"You have fun?" Tak nodded.

"Yeah, Gaz and I hung out a lot 'cuz all Zeiden wanted to do all day was sleep."

"I was sick." ZIM defended.

"Was the hotel nice, mum?" Tak asked. Mrs. Griffon looked to her husband. Both had a sly smile on their faces.

"Oh yeah, it was _very _fun." Mr. Griffon spoke up. Red cocked a brow.

'That's why Tak spent the night with the us.' He thought.

"You guys spending the night with us?" Red asked the couple.

"If that's okay with you." Mr. Griffon said. Red stood up.

"I'll go prepare you a room in the basement." Red walked over to the door on the opposite side of the room leading down to the underground level of the house. "Purple, can you help me?" Purple took his eyes off the screen for a brief moment.

"Busy," He said. Red sighed and descended into the basement alone. Mrs. Griffon took Red's spot on the couch and pulled her daughter and her godson close.

"This is a pretty little town isn't it?" She said.

"Uh huh, and I'll be living here for the next year and maybe even longer." ZIM said. "It's pretty cool here, I guess. I would like to know what it looks like in the summer though."

"I'm sure it will be just as beautiful." Mrs. Griffon said. "You're warm. Do you have a fever, child?" ZIM nodded.

"Yeah, since this morning."

"And how is your concussion."

"I have a concussion too?" ZIM asked sitting up a bit. ZIM's siblings groaned.

"Yes, Z. You sustained a concussion last night." Zee said, not looking up from her magazine.

"Aww, poor child doesn't even remember." Mrs. Griffon's thick English accent rung. ZIM sighed. He started to wonder how many times he asked the same question in the last 24 hours. It was probably really annoying too. But he couldn't help it. His concussion keeps him from remembering. Several minutes later Red emerged from the basement again.

"It's chilly down there." He said. All the seats in the living room were now taken so he decided to sit on Zee until she moved to the floor. A greedy and rude method, but it was effective. Red sat in Zee's lap on the leather, lazy boy chair.

"Red, get off." She said, sternly.

"Nooo." Red drawled, leaning back so his shoulder blades were in her face. Zee reached a hand around and pinched Red's inner thigh hard where all the sensitive nerves were. The red-eyed Irken yelped loudly and tumbled to the ground. He didn't want to risk getting pinched again.

"Red, will you be a dear and get our luggage from the car." Mrs. Griffon asked. Red stood up.

"Sure, why not." ZIM watched as his older left. He moaned as Mrs. Griffon caressed his head. The moment of bliss was interrupted when ZIM's stomach lurched.

"Aww shizz." ZIM held his mouth with his hand.

"What's wrong, babe?" Mrs. Griffon asked. ZIM swallowed hard.

"Threw up a little in my mouth." Tak wrinkled her nose area.

"Nasty."

"Do you need a bucket?" His godmother asked. ZIM shook his head.

"Naw. I swallowed it. I need a mint though." Red came back in the house, hands full of bags and other types of luggage.

"Don't worry guys! I got it!" Red yelled from the foyer. He wobbled over to the door that led down into the basement. Stopping at the door he waited for someone to open it. They were too busy watching that stupid video game. "I got this door too! Yup. I can do this all by myself!" Zee, Tenn, and Purple rolled their eyes at his sarcasm and ignored him whereas ZIM was totally oblivious.

"Here," Mr. Griffon got up and opened the door. "I know you can do everything by yourself but you _really _looked like you needed help."

"Ohh, noooo. Me need help?" Red said while stepping down the stairs. He threw the luggage down on the spare bed and walked back up stairs. "Zee, go make lunch for everyone." Zee scowled at him.

"I'm studying."

"No you're not. You're reading a magazine." ZIM muttered. Zee threw a pillow at him and hit his hip. "That all you got, little girl?"

"You wanna mess, little boy?" Zee asked. She headed for the kitchen. Mrs. Griffon followed her to help. ZIM situated himself so he was laying on the couch on his side. Tak reflected his position in her side of the couch. Now their heads were touching. Tak snatched ZIM's hand in her's and smiled at him. He gave her a warm smile back and nuzzled her. She did the same back. "I missed you so much, Zeiden."

"I missed you too, Takayla."

**Friday, November 28, 1994**

**7:00 PM**

"That looks horrible together!" Red sighed and looked over at ZIM who had just made the comment. ZIM was chilling on Red's bed and watching _Animaniacs_.

"What wrong with it?" Red asked. ZIM looked away from the screen to his brother.

"Mate, you're wearing a dark brown belt with black pants. Change your shirt to a different color other than white so you don't look so traditional. Oh! Maybe a deep mahogany color would look good with that!" Red looked down at his attire than back at his younger brother.

"Have you been reading Zee and Tenn's fashion magazines again?" ZIM shrugged.

"Only _Irken Vogue _and _Irk's Fashionista_, but that's it." Red chuckled.

"You've been hanging out with girls too much lately." Red said taking off his belt. He could of sworn the belt was black. ZIM was right. It was brown, and brown and black looks horrible together. He went to his closet to get a shiny leather black belt and strung it through the loops. "I don't have a mahogany dress shirt but I have a blood red one. It matches my eyes."

"Sure, you can wear that … if you wanna look washed out." ZIM got up and went to the closet and yanked a tan-ish colored button-up dress shirt off it's hanger. "Here, champagne matches black and red. Now you won't look like you don't know how to dress yourself."

"Well apparently I can't dress myself anyway. My six year old brother had to tell me what to wear." Red muttered pulling on the champagne colored shirt. He tucked it into his pants. "How do I look." Red turned to ZIM. The young Irken gave him a thumbs up.

"Actually, now that I think of it. Maybe you should wear a burgundy shirt. It's a very passionate color." Red looked at his brother with concern.

"Zeiden, you're starting to scare me. Yesterday you wanted to style Gaz's hair."

"And she let me. I put it in a teased angle bob." ZIM declared, proudly. Red shook his head. That kid had the weirdest interests. One moment he likes playing with reptiles, surfing and rolling around in mud the next he wanted to mess around with cosmetics, wardrobe and playing classical songs on their piano.

"Do you think Leslie will like it?" Red asked.

"You look smashing dear ol' chap. Simply stunning." ZIM sounded a lot like Tak's father when he said it.

"Thank you mate. Now if you would please ditch the horrible fake British accent and stick with your Aussie one, that would make me very happy." ZIM frowned.

"I don't have a bad British accent. Purple said I was good at impersonating various accents across the globe."

"Yeah, well, Purple doesn't get out too much." Red snickered. ZIM sighed. He jumped back on Red's bed.

"You're late, mate." ZIM said casually. Red snapped his head toward the clock. It read 7:05.

"Shit!" Red yelped. He was supposed to pick Leslie up at seven sharp and it takes ten minutes to get to her house. Red opened his room door and shouted all the way down the hall and stairs. "Behave ZIM, Purple make sure he gets to bed on time! I'll be back in a couple hours." Red hopped in his cherry red, Chevy pick-up truck and started it up. He sped out of the driveway and made his way south to his girlfriend's house. Minutes later he pulled into her driveway and waited. Leslie opened her front door and stepped out. She was wearing a sleek, vibrant, black dress that stopped at her thighs. It was strapless and showed a lot of cleavage which Red didn't mind too much at all. Leslie opened the passenger door and slid in.

"Red Elias Macale, you are late." She said leaning over and kissing his cheek.

"Sorry, ZIM was giving me some fashion tips." Leslie looked at him with a questionable face. "Uh. Never mind." The woman chuckled.

"Well he did a good job. You look fantastic." Red blushed.

"Thanks, you too." Red tried to catch himself from staring at Leslie's chest, but he couldn't help himself.

"Where we going?" Red snapped out of his thoughts at Leslie's voice.

"Main Street Pub."

"That's expensive. You sure you wanna go there?" Red scoffed.

"Oh, please. I don't care. I don't put limits on how much my girlfriend's spend when we are out on dates … except for that one girl years ago when I was 17. Damn! She ordered a filet mignon! That's 64 dollars per 6 ounces." Leslie's eyes widened.

"Holy crap! Where did you take her to get a meal that expensive?"

"I don't even remember. But it was our first date … and our last one." Red said. Leslie laughed.

"So you broke up with her because she broke your wallet?"

"No, she broke up with me because she thought _I _was _stingy_."

"My God. No offense but she sounds like a bitch." Red nodded.

"She was. My parents hated her. She was mean to my sisters. And if ZIM existed back then, I'm pretty sure she would of hated him. She disliked overly happy, ditzy children." Red said. "Speaking of children, who's watching Gaz tonight?"

"My mum."

"Can I meet your mum any time soon?" Red asked, sweetly. Leslie took in a long breath.

"My … mother. She never liked me dating. And I didn't tell her about us. I said I was going out with friends." Red frowned.

"Why? Are you ashamed of me?" He sounded hurt.

"Oh no! No! It's not that I'm embarrassed of you. It's just … my mom is very prejudice against toons, aliens, and foreigners all together. You just so happen to be an Irken from Australia … and you're Jewish. Do you see why-."

"Masonic Jew! That shouldn't count! What's up with people in older generations and being racist and prejudice? I'm a very likable person. She needs to get to know me." Red butted in. "I'm gonna meet her tonight and be as charming as possible!" Red declared.

"Well, I don't know. She once visited Los Angeles and she met that wallaby toon from Rocko's Modern Life when touring Nickelodeon studios. She was super rude to him because he was of the toon species. If you meet her tonight then she'll know that I was lying about being with friends."

"I'm a friend aren't I?" Red asked, smugly. Leslie couldn't help but smile. Red was such a quick thinker.

"Alright, you can meet her. But please, just behave when you do."

"Of course." Red said, confidently. "I always behave."

**8:00 PM**

"Chianti Bell'agio." Red was trying to read the red wines list but was having a hard time pronouncing them. "Casillero Carmenere. Chateau Marguax. This is fun." Leslie giggled and took the menu out of his hands.

"Lets just get the Chardonnay. 'Kay?" Red nodded.

"M'kay." After a half hour long meal the couple was having a great night. Talking about their jobs, kids, life, family, and other random subjects they could think of. The evening was going smoothly and when they leave the pub they were planning on going to a rave. A waiter came by and stopped at their table.

"What wine may you be interested in?"

"We'll have half glasses of Chardonnay." Leslie said. The waiter put two wine glasses down in front of them and popped open a bottle of the desired drink and poured carefully into the goblets. "Thank you, sir." The waiter smiled and set down a small black folder. He gave it to Red.

"Your bill, sir." And with that the waiter turned and walked back to the kitchen. Red snatched the black folder and opened it.

"Oo! The total only came out to 46 bucks! I'm proud of myself." Red said. He took out his wallet and pulled out a platinum credit card. Once the waiter came back to their table to grab the card to run it, Red and Leslie were getting their coats back on and readying themselves to go to the bar. "So this bar probably doesn't serve any Irken alcohol does it?" Red asked. Leslie shook her head.

"That stuff is way to expensive. Cheap beer is just as good." Leslie winked at him. Red put his card back in his wallet and the two of them drove to the nearest bar to dance and drink and have a good time all around.

**Back at Home 11:00 PM**

"Got any threes?" ZIM asked Purple.

"Nah, go fish. Tenn got any pink monopoly dollars?" Tenn sighed and threw a small monopoly bill at him. Purple picked it up and put it with his own pink fake money. "Tak, got any poker chips?" Tak shook her head.

"No. Zee, do you have any dice?" Tak asked. Zee groaned.

"Guys this is a stupid game. No one plays, 'Go Fish' like this." They were using various game pieces and cards to play an, usually, easy game. They took game pieces from different games sets and put them in opaque bags so they couldn't see what each other has then they would play it just like 'Go Fish'.

"Well we don't have a full deck of cards so this is what we got!" Purple said. The game was interrupted by the front door opening suddenly and Red stumbled in with Leslie holding him up as best as she could.

"I freaking love you guys!" Red shouted and stumbled over to the living room and tackled Purple who yelped in surprise. Purple wrinkled his nose as he smelled the alcohol on Red's breath and clothes. "Pe-durr! You my besssst frand!"

"Red! Get off!"

"No 'cuz I love you." Leslie chased after Red and pulled him off of Purple.

"Sorry, he's a little …" Red suddenly fell to the ground and made a trilling noise.

"Drunk?" ZIM said kicking his older brother a little. Red grabbed ZIM by his ankle and yanked him down to the ground. "Ah! Red, let go!"

"No! You shoulda been in bed three seconds ago! Way past your bed time!" Red tried to get up again but needed help from Leslie again. Once Red was back on his feet he bent over to pick up ZIM. "To bed with little man!" ZIM held tightly on to his unstable brother.

"Oh Irk! Help!" ZIM cried out as Red carried him up stairs. Purple, Zee, Tenn, and Tak looked at Leslie.

"He only had two, twelve ounce drinks." She said innocently.

"Earth alcohol effects Irkens twice as much as it does to you humans." Purple stated.

"I wish I knew that before I took him to that bar." Leslie said. "I was gonna take him to meet my mother but … in his current condition, I don't think she'll appreciate it." Purple chuckled.

"That man is gonna have a horrible hangover tomorrow morning."

"No doubt." Tak grumbled. They heard a scream come up from up stairs. It was ZIM. The five of them ran up stairs to see what was going on. They found Red and ZIM in the bathroom. Red spraying ZIM with water and holding him still as the fully clothed Irken tried to get out of the tub.

"Guys, make him stop!" ZIM sputtered out the water that invaded his mouth.

"Tell that boy that he needs to respect me!" Red stood up and leaned into Zee and started sobbing in her shoulder. Zee cringed and pushed Red off of her. He tumbled to the ground and stayed there. He seemed like he was out cold. Zee took a towel out of the cupboard and wrapped ZIM up.

"Lets go get you in some dry clothes." ZIM nodded in agreement. The Irkens left the room so it was just Red and Leslie. Leslie got down to Red's level and poked the side of his face. He opened his eyes a bit.

"Hi honey." He mumbled. Leslie smiled.

"I got to go, babe. Sober up, please." Leslie kissed his antenna and left to get a blanket and lay it over Red who seemed like he was gonna make his bed in the bathroom for the night. Which was probably a good thing considering how drunk he was. He'd be vomiting no doubt.

"I love, Les." Red whispered. Leslie grinned.

"I love, Red." She said back with a cackle.

**Next Morning **

Red groaned. His head, it hurt, so bad! He heard someone giggle but he was too tired and too hungover to care. He snuggled into his blankets on the floor. Wait … why was he on the floor. And why does he have a putrid taste in his mouth. Red opened his eyes to find his youngest brother an inch away from his face. That would startle some people but Red was used to it.

"Hiya Reddy!" ZIM shouted. The tiny Irken crawled on top of the bigger one and sat on him. "You was drunk!" Red only grunted in response. "Yeah. You came in late and tackled Purple and then you gave me a shower that I didn't need!" Red buried his face in the blanket. "Then you started crying and you passed out right here. Leslie told me to tell you she had a great time last night. Except for the part where you almost got into a fight with a guy at the rave." Red put a hand on ZIM's shoulder and pushed the hyper child off of him. ZIM just got back up and sat on him again.

"You're obviously feeling better. Why are you here?" Red mumbled.

"To bother you. Purple said it would serve you right since you came home drunker than a fat Canadian at a hockey game on 1 dollar beer night!" ZIM exclaimed. Red pushed ZIM again and attempted to get up. He felt like he was gonna throw up.

"ZIM, I think I'm gonna be sick. Can you please leave?" ZIM shook his head.

"No. Imma stay 'ere." Red groaned.

"Fine, then I'll throw up on you." ZIM thought about this for a moment before getting up and leaving the shower room without another word. Red crawled over to the bathtub and brushed his antenna back so he would get any … stuff, on them. Red started to wish he kept the toilet in the bathroom because the mess would be easier to clean up. Red lurched and emptied his squeedily-spooch in the tub. He heard a sizzling sound of the lethal stomach acid chewing at the porcelain tub. He quickly turned on the water and rinsed the glowing blue vomit down the drain.

"Red? You okay?" Tenn asked, peaking her head in the room.

"I should be." Red sighed and took off his shirt. He got it messy. Tenn came to his side and helped him stand up.

"Gah. You still smell drunk." Tenn pushed him toward the shower. "Take a bath. I'll be downstairs making breakfast." She said leaving the room. Tenn walked into the kitchen and found ZIM and Tak talking about something or other. Whatever 6 and 7 year olds talk about. Zee was at the stove making pancakes on a skillet. Mr. And Mrs. Griffon were talking to Purple at the dining room table. Tenn sat next to Purple.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Mrs. Griffon asked. "We wouldn't want to just leave her for you guys to take care of." This was the last day the Griffons were staying before going back to London. But Tak, of course didn't want to leave 'her' ZIM for 6 more months. So Purple and Red said she was more than welcome to stay and live with them for the half year period. This made Tak ecstatic and ZIM a little less than thrilled but happy all the same.

"Of course! This way you guys won't be as busy. She can continue taking her classes here with ZIM. He's starting online classes soon too."

"Well, if you are absolutely sure it's okay with you guys then … it's okay with me." Mr. Griffon said. Mrs. Griffon nodded in her approval. Tak squealed and hugged ZIM tightly around his neck making him gag. They must've been eavesdropping. Tak then ran to her parents and gave them hugs too.

"Thank you, mum and dad! I promise I'll be on my best behavior!"

"Sure, honey. We'll send some of your stuff through the mail when we get back to Paddington. You still only have a weeks worth of clothes." Mrs. Griffon said. "Well, we better get packing. Our flight leaves in three hours."

"M'kay," Mr. Griffon stood from his seat. The couple left to gather their things. Tak turned to ZIM.

"Isn't it great? We'll be living together for the next half year!" ZIM gave a sheepish smile.

"Yeah. Woo. Excited, I am." He said. Tak frowned.

"Aren't you happy?"

"Of course! Seeing you for the next six months, every single day! Awesome sauce!" ZIM caught himself. Tak rolled her eyes. "I really am happy you're staying with us, Tak." Tak stared deeply into ZIM's eyes. She could tell he wasn't lying. Tak beamed and kissed ZIM's cheek.

"We're gonna have so much fun!" She claimed and hugged him again, picking him up and twirling him around. He hated the fact that Tak always had the height advantage, but he was used to it.

**The Next Day**

**November 30, 1994**

"Well, you seem to have healed quite a bit since your last visit." Doctor Murrey said. She finished taking the stitches out of ZIM's head. Nothing was left except for a light scar. "I hear you're also here for a physical?" The doctor asked ZIM. The tiny Irken nodded. "You gonna play a sport?"

"Yeah, baseball or football … er. Um, you call it soccer here don't you?" Doctor Murrey smiled.

"Uh-huh. Even if you didn't play a sport after all you'd still need this exam. Where did you say you were from? Australia? You have the cutest accent." ZIM grinned back at her.

"Thank you. Some people get annoyed with it."

"Oh. Well that's a shame. Now I need you to take off your shirt and lie down for me on the bed, so we can start the physical." ZIM looked at Red who was in the corner of the room sitting on a chair filling out some forms. Red looked up to see his brother. He nodded. ZIM took off his shirt and did as he was asked. "Since you're new to this country I'm going to have to give you a full body physical if you wanna play a sport." ZIM suddenly felt self-conscious. He swallowed a knot in his throat.

"Alright." He said, shyly. The doctor rubbed her hands together to warm them a little and put them on ZIM's stomach and felt his abdominal muscles. ZIM gasped. Her hands were cold, and he was _very _ticklish. He bit his lip to try to keep a giggle from escaping.

"You have no navel or nipples." The doctor observed.

"No Irkens do." Red piped up. He was done filling out the forms and questionnaire.

"That's interesting." Murrey muttered. She ran her hands up to ZIM's chest. She took her stethoscope and placed the cold object on his left breast. She listened intently. "Mm hm." She took the scope out of her ears and placed it around her neck. She then used two fingers on each hand and placed them on his neck to feel his pulse. "You have a rather slow heart beat."

"That's normal." Red said walking to the side of the table where ZIM lay. He looked down at his brother. The doctor nodded.

"Okay I need to measure your weight and height. So if you'll step on the scale over there." ZIM sat up and got off the table. He stood on the scale and waited till it was done weighing him. "Thirty pounds, you're sixteen pounds underweight. You are two feet tall and nine inches. You're one and a half feet under average. But if you were a 2 and a half year old you'd be perfect height and weight." The doctor wrote down the numbers. "Go sit on the table again." She said.

"Geez, Z. Did'ya shrink?" Red taunted.

"Shuddup." ZIM was embarrassed of his size and Red knew it. ZIM put himself back down. Murrey came over again with a small mallet and tapped his knees and elbows with it, testing his reflexes.

"Could you lean forward as far as you can go?" ZIM did. He felt the doctors hand trail down his spine all the way to his bottom. "Good. You have a slightly bent spine but that's typical for kids. You'll grow out of it." Murrey then took his blood pressure. "Do you have hypertension? Or are you just nervous?" She asked standing behind him and placing both hands on lower spooch.

"Nervous." ZIM squeaked. "Sorry. I usually have _hypo_tension." Murrey nodded understanding.

"It's okay. You were a premature bab- smeet, right?" ZIM nodded really tensely. "I understand you might feel uncomfortable but you can trust me." The doctor grinned at him. ZIM gave her a weak smile back. Murrey turned and put on rubber medical gloves. "I will need you to remove the rest of your clothes now." She said, cooly. ZIM gulped and looked at Red. The procedure went on from there. Doctor Murrey soon switched with another doctor, Doctor Nenn, who knew the Irken body better than her. She didn't even know that Irkens had both sex reproductive organs and the fact that they were tucked up inside behind a protective sheath.

"How do you feel?" Red asked.

"Violated! I can't believe you're making me go through this!"

"I had to, too at one point. Just except it ZIM and the rest will be a breeze." Minutes later a male Vortian doctor entered the room.

"Hello, I'm doctor Nenn." The Vortian said, snapping on some gloves. ZIM winced. Vortians weren't exactly … gentle. "How are you, Zeiden?" ZIM frowned.

"I could be better." He mumbled. At least now his doctor was a male … and someone who knew what they were doing. Doctor Nenn looked down the the naked Irken.

"Now to get those special parts out." Nenn said. Great, just fucking wonderful.

...

"Well that procedure is done!" Nenn exclaimed happily. ZIM thought he'd be scarred for life.

"Ace." ZIM mumbled. Red was helping him get dressed in his pants again.

"Now if you'll sit down again, I'll give you your vaccinations then you'll be set." Nenn looked back at ZIM. "You don't have fainting spells do you?"

"I have low blood pressure so black outs, fainting spells, and epileptic seizures are common for me." Nenn's eyes widened.

"Well in that case, you better lay back down." ZIM did. "Some of our patients faint when they get their shots." Nenn turned to get the needle and fill the vaccine into it. He walked back to ZIM and wiped a substance over his arm where he was going to shoot the medicine in. Nenn quickly stabbed the small needle into the tiny Irken. ZIM groaned, his vision went black for a moment but came back as quickly as it left. "All done." Nenn said. ZIM sat up slowly so he wouldn't get light headed.

"I deserve a sticker." ZIM said, sarcastically. Red rolled his eyes and handed ZIM back his shirt. He hastily put it on.

"Lets go." Red said walking out of the room and to the front desk to pay and sign papers for the physical. As Red was chatting with the secretary ZIM wandered over to the wall behind him were there was a bunch of pamphlets were up for grabs. ZIM stared at them and stood on his toes to reach for them. He grabbed five random ones and looked at them. One said, 'Cuts, Scrapes and Stitches' another was titled, 'STDs: Common STDs and tips on prevention'. ZIM wondered for a brief moment what STD stood for. Super Techno Dancing? ... Maybe? ZIM chuckled at his childish thought. He turned back around to see Red bidding the office lady goodbye and made his way out of the building. ZIM grabbed a sticker at the counter and trotted to keep up, pamphlets in hand. He climbed in the passenger side of the vehicle and put on his seatbelt.

"Check out my sticker!" ZIM said shoving it in Red's face. Red cocked a brow. It was a picture of Ernie from _Sesame Street, _giving them a thumbs up.

"Cute, Z." Red said, putting the keys into the ignition and let the engine roar to life. "Sorry you had to go through that. I didn't expect you to have _that _for your first physical." ZIM shrugged.

"Yeah. Lets just … not mention it again, okay?" ZIM said. Red snickered.

"That Doctor Nenn. Heh. He was absolutely fascinated with you." ZIM growled as if saying, 'Shut-up-Red-or-I'm-going-to-hurt-you'. "What's that in your hands?" ZIM looked down.

"Hand outs I found. Look!" Red turned to ZIM from his driving to read the titles out loud. He squinted his eyes to see it better because ZIM had them only inches from his face.

"STDs, Getting Ready For _Pregnancy_, Pap Smears, Cuts, Scrapes and Stitches and Vasectomy! Why would you grab stuff like that?" Red asked, bursting into laughter. ZIM shrugged again, not understanding why Red was laughing.

"These two came with pictures." ZIM said holding up the Vasectomy and Pap Smear pamphlets. He was about to open the Pap Smear one to read about it before Red ripped them out of his hand. "Hey!"

"Uh, you don't need to be reading about those just yet … ever." Red said, hurriedly. ZIM huffed and crossed his arms and decided to read the one about pregnancy instead.

"Did'ya know that if you're overweight and pregnant then you are more at risk for high blood pressure and diabetes?" Red chuckled.

"No. I really don't care either." ZIM sighed.

"Yeah, me either. Just thought it would be nice to learn something today."

"I'm sure you learned a lot of things today, Z." The rest of the ride back home was full of pleasant conversation and reasons why ZIM shouldn't read about what a vasectomy was. ZIM was the first to enter their house. He was greeted by Tak who 'huggled' him, as she called it, and started talking a mile a minute.

"How was it? You healthy? You've been gone for awhile. What did they do to you? Where's your physical?" ZIM pushed her away and thought over all the answers before saying them in correct order.

"Horrible, yes, I know, lots of _stuff_, Red has it." ZIM smirked at Tak.

"You're so cute when you act all blunt." She said, not really meaning it. Or maybe she meant it, she just didn't sound like she meant it. "So why was your visit horrible?" Tak asked.

"They made me take off all my clothes only to be violated and have pain inflicted in a certain area I don't want to mention right now." Tak frowned.

"You were … naked?" Tak asked blushing slightly. ZIM nodded slowly. "I knew I shoulda went too!" Tak stomped her foot, angry at herself. ZIM's jaw dropped wide open. She did not just wish to see him naked, did she? Tak snorted at his expression. "I'm just kidding, Zei-Zei … maybe some other day I'll get lucky." ZIM shook his head as Tak walked away. He didn't know what to do except for shouting,

"Whoa!"

**December 6, 1994**

"I'm starting to reconsider meeting your mom. Besides I need to tell you something important. I don't think I should meet her just yet." Red said, while being pulled up a short driveway to Leslie's mom's house.

"Oh stop being a whiner. Just act like your normal, charming self, and you'll be fine. Oh and hide this." Leslie hid the Star of David with a cross in the center necklace Red was wearing and tucked it into his shirt. Red groaned as Leslie opened the front door and let herself in. The two of them walked into the kitchen and found a short, upper-middle aged, woman at the stove cocking something. The elder lady turned around and saw Leslie first.

"Oh, Leslie. I wasn't expecting you. If I was than I'd be a little more presentable!" She said drying her hands on her pants. Leslie's mom sauntered over to her and gave her a hug. That was when she noticed the Irken standing behind Leslie. "Leslie … who is that?" She asked slowly.

"Mom, this is Red. Red, this is my mother Amy." Red gave Amy a heart warming smile.

"Hi," He said, rather cutely. He stuck out a hand for the older woman to shake. Amy didn't respond, she just stared intently at Red. After awhile Amy took his hand in her's and gave him a disgusted look.

"You a … _friend_ of Leslie's?" She asked harshly. She release his hand and quickly wiped it on her shirt. Red gulped and nodded. "What do you do for a living? Conquer nearby planets?"

"Heh, no. I'm a kind of a freelance, traveling, research biologist." Amy sucked in her lips as if she ate something bitter.

"So do you gather information to find our planets flaws and weak points so you can atta-"

"Mother, he's my boyfriend!" Leslie exclaimed, sounding extremely irritated. Amy's eyes got wide with, what, anger? Fright? Horror? Red couldn't tell but he knew it wasn't good.

"You're dating an _Irken_?" Amy asked. Her voice was low and threatening. Red's antenna drooped.

"May I remind you, mother, that Irk only takes over planets that are poverty stricken and _help _them get on their feet. And Irk and earth have a strong alliance and even a friendship together. He's not an enemy, he's a friend." Leslie explained. Amy glared at Red with beady eyes.

"I don't trust _his _kind." Red hung his head.

"Sorry, ma'am, but you have no reason to believe that my people would ever hurt you. If anything, they'd help this planet become more advanced-"

"What makes you think we need Irk's help?" Amy butted in. "Just because you are a hundred years more advanced than us, doesn't mean we need your help." Red raised his hands in defeat even though she was wrong about them being a hundred years more advanced. They were actually two-hundred and seventy-five years more advanced.

"Whatever you say." He said then thought to himself. '_Man, this woman is a peach, isn't she?_'

"We've been dating for three weeks now and I'm just warning you that you need to get used to it because we may be together for a long time." Leslie sad. Amy growled.

"Fine, I never thought I'd see the day that my own flesh and blood would turn against her own race for an _Irken._" Amy said, 'Irken' as if it were an insult.

"I'm not turning against my own race!"

"You're dating a different species! That's disgusting!"

"Irkens and other types of aliens even toons and humans mingle like this all the time, mother. Maybe if you went out into the real world every once and awhile, you'd see that." Leslie took a deep breath before continuing. "Just give Red a chance. Don't you think he deserves a chance?" Amy crossed her arms and huffed. She had a horrible scowl on her face. Red looked at the woman with big, hypnotizing eyes. Amy couldn't help but stare into them. Irken eyes were beautiful she'd admit that. Amy quickly averted his gaze.

"Fine, I'll give _it_ a chance."

"_Him _a chance, mother. You will treat Red and his family like you treat other humans. Do _not _call him an _it _again." Amy cocked a brow.

"His family? I didn't know Irkens had families. How many of your kind are here?" Amy asked Red, eyes narrowed.

"In this general vicinity? Well, there's me, my two younger sisters, and my two younger brothers and a family friend currently living with us." Red said. "So six."

"And where are your parents?" Amy asked. Leslie bit her lip. She remembered when she first asked Red that question a few weeks ago. Red looked at her hard, straight in the eye.

"Mum's dead. I'm sure my dad is too, considering he's been a POW for seven years now." Amy's feature seemed to soften a little.

"I-I'm sorry to hear that." She said. Her expression was unreadable. She sat down by the kitchen table and beckoned for Leslie and Red to do the same. "I've never seen you here before. When did you move to Silver Lake?"

"About a month and a couple weeks ago. We moved here from Australia."

"I can tell from your accent. You were born there?"

"Yes, born and raised."

"You never been to Irk?"

"No." Red said shaking his head. "But we will soon. Something came up and our planet is at war with a nearby galaxy. Irk requested every Irken off their native planet had to come to Irk for safety reasons." Leslie looked at Red.

"You never told me this."

"I only found out yesterday morning."

"Why do you have to move?"

"If the enemy galaxy finds any Irkens off their planet then they will attack that planet just to get to the Irkens and kill them. The Helfa galaxy is relentless and is hell bent on taking Irk down. Which would never happen." Red said. "The war won't last long. Helfa doesn't know what they are getting themselves into."

"How does that make you safe on Irk? Wouldn't they attack Irk before any other planets?" Leslie asked. Red shrugged.

"We wouldn't be safe on Irk. But the citizens of the planets Irkens were living on would be safe. Besides, I think the Helfa galaxy knows better than to go to Irk and try to destroy us there. There's a strong military base and defense system surrounding all of Irk. They wouldn't even get into the atmosphere without getting annihilated."

"Sounds like someone has a big head." Red heard Amy mumble. Red frowned. It was true. Irkens were very prideful creatures. "How much longer are you two staying here? I don't want to push you out but I have to cook and clean some more."

"We're leaving right now." Red said quickly, getting up. "Nice meeting you, Miss." He took Leslie's hand and led her out the door.

"Wow, you took that pretty well." Leslie said.

"That woman! How dare she!" Red steamed starting his truck. "I've never been so insulted."

"I'm sorry. My mom, she needs to learn to shut the hell up sometimes." Leslie said.

"No shit." Red grumbled. "She seemed happy to hear that my family and I were moving to Irk soon though." Leslie frowned.

"You'll have to excuse her. She just needs time, is all. So are you really going to Irk?"

"Have to. Irken protocol."

"What caused the war?"

"Irken flagship, called the Massive, entered the Helfa galaxy, quadrant B and landed some troops on the planet in control of the galaxy for research. Irken soldiers were accused of the assassination of a powerful political leader and the murders of several hundred citizens. But Irk and Helfa both know that never happened, it was just an excuse to go to war against the Irken Empire and take us down."

"How advanced are the people of Helfa?"

"Forty years more advanced than Earth. They still use car-like vehicles to drive around instead of voot cruisers and spittle runners. I must say though, earth's weapons are much greater than Helfa's."

"So when are you leaving?"

"Three days. Our jobs have been put on hold." Red said. He took a look at Leslie who all of a sudden looked sad. "We'll be fine. Promise. We'll probably only be there for a couple months."

"Does your siblings know?"

"Yes, they seem fine with it. Not too thrilled that the only reason they're going is because of a war but I'm sure they'll like the stay."

"And every single Irken off of Irk is going to have to travel to Irk because of the war?"

"Correct. And there is a very small Irken population on earth so chances of the Helfas attacking earth are very slim but the empire didn't want to take any chances."

"So you guys rather have your home world be attacked than other nearby planets?"

"Well, if we let them attack earth because of the five-hundred thousand Irkens living on earth didn't leave than wouldn't that make earthen leaders a little upset and want to go to war with Irk as well because a couple thousand Irkens didn't follow protocol?" Leslie shrugged.

"I guess that's a pretty good point." Red and Leslie continued to discuss the war all the way home to Red's house where they were greeted by an extremely proud looking ZIM and a jealous looking Tak outside the house.

"Red! Red! Oh my Irk! Guess what I can do!" ZIM said in his best valley girl accent.

"Oh my Irk, what?" Red mocked.

"Tak and I were talking about koalas and how they can like climb trees and stuff, I like koalas, and then she said, 'I bet you can't! And I said, 'I bet I can'! And she said, 'Yeah right'! And I said, 'Just watch'! And then I did this!" ZIM shouted before running towards the brick side of the house at full speed. Red thought for a moment that ZIM was going to run into it, that was until the tiny Irken stepped on the side of the wall, ran up it as far as he could go and pushing himself off using his feet and leg muscles and doing a backflip off the wall. Red knew this move simply as the _Wall Flip. _Backwards wall flip to be precise.

"The fu-! ZIM don't do that again!" Red said fiercely. ZIM looked at him innocently.

"Why not? I landed it didn't I?"

"I don't care. Though what you did was quite impressive, I don't _ever _want you to do it again." ZIM frowned. "It's much to dangerous, ZIM. Why would you even think about doing it without supervision?"

"Tak was here watching me."

"_Adult _supervision." Red stressed. He rubbed his temples. That boy …

"Red I wanna do parkour! I need to learn how to flip if I wanna do parkour!" ZIM whined. Red sighed. He absolutely hated when ZIM whined. It was just too fricken cute … and annoying.

"Where's Purple? I need to tell him how horrible he's doing at watching you."

"He can't help it. He never had any younger siblings to watch out for, before." ZIM said. The next move ZIM was going to try to attempt was the back hand spring. He was preparing to jump back when Red grabbed him, knowing what his little brother was about to do, and carrying him inside, Leslie and Tak following.

"Peder!" Red yelled. He was carrying ZIM like a bunch of school books. "Did see what ZIM was doing outside?" Purple looked up from some paper work at the kitchen table. He had on his special reading glasses that would stay on his flat face.

"Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?" Purple said, totally oblivious to Red's anger. ZIM smiled.

"See, he liked it." Red rolled his eyes. Walking over to the table, he held ZIM by the arms out in front of Purple's face for him to see. Purple looked at the dangling ZIM.

"You were to watch him and make sure he didn't do anything to harm himself."

"But he didn't hurt himself."

"He _could_ have." Red said slowly through gritted teeth. Purple just waved a hand in the air and turned back to his work. Red sneered. "Laid back Canadian idiot." Purple didn't look up.

"That hurt my feelings." He said very bluntly. Red dropped ZIM to the floor and told him not to do anything stupid. Then he mumbled something about getting a leash and tying him up somewhere. He and Leslie were going to his room to … whatever the heck they did. ZIM maybe stupid but he had a pretty good idea that behind the closed door … ugh! He didn't want to think about it. Not sex, Red promised to stay pure until the day he got married, but definitely heavy kissing. ZIM walked to the living room where Gaz was hanging out, watching TV. She was watching the Simpsons. ZIM flopped belly facing down on the couch and buried his face into a decorative pillow. He felt weight on his back. He turned to see Tak sitting on him and rubbing his back slowly and gently. ZIM moaned in delight. Gaz looked over and made a gagging noise then turned her attention back over to the T.V.

"My little, Zimmy." Tak said, rubbing a bit harder. ZIM was in complete and utter bliss.

"Ugh! Get a room!" Gaz said trying her best to ignore the young Irkens. ZIM relaxed a bit more. Tak straddled him and hugged his hips with her legs and dug her palms into his shoulders. She went lower and lower and lower until …

"Eeck!" ZIM jumped a little. Tak was doing it again. Finding any way possible to touch his rear end. ZIM didn't want to admit it but he was quite ticklish there. "Please refrain from touching there. Though my scrumptious-looking ass is tempting, I have it off limits."

"Look but can't touch?" Tak asked hopefully.

"I'd rather you didn't look either. But I guess it's alright if I don't know you're looking." ZIM went back to his relaxed position and let Tak massage his back again. Zee walked in a cooed at the adorable site.

"Aww. ZIM and Tak love each other." She said, playfully. ZIM ignored the comment but Tak beamed at it. Gaz muttered something underneath her breath.

"Red didn't like my trick." ZIM said with a muffled voice from the pillow.

"What trick?" Zee asked, popping a squat by Gaz on the lazy boy.

"I just discovered that I can do a wall flip."

"Well, that's dangerous." Zee said, she took out her Imp and started to type into it. "How did you discover you could do that?"

"Well me and Tak were talking about koalas cuz … I dunno, you know me, anywhoozles, somehow we got on the subject of flipping off of things and I tried it on the wall. I impressed myself. All I really did was look up a, 'how to' on it and did it perfectly on the first try! Totally rigorous, sheila!" ZIM exclaimed. His pride was getting the best of him again. "You wanna see?" ZIM asked. Zee shook her head.

"No, because if you mess up then all I'm really gonna see is you break your neck and spine."

"Pfft! Riiight." ZIM drawled. "I doubt that. Hey!"

"What?" Tak asked and stopped rubbing his back. ZIM reached between the cushions and pulled out what looked like a table top spinner. "What's this dreidel doing here?" He reached over and spun it on the coffee table. "_Gimmel_. To bad we weren't playing for real." Tak looked at him confused.

"You're gonna have to teach me how to play that game, sometime." Tak said knowing Chanukah was coming up and she'll be celebrating it with the Macales.

"Hey, did you two pack yet?" Tenn asked from up stairs. She was leaning over the railing looking at Tak and ZIM.

"Pack for what?"

"Irk. Remember? We're going there because of the war."

"What war?"

"My Irk, ZIM. Do you ever listen when we have family meetings?" Tenn said.

"No! Only when you're talking about me."

"Arrogant." Tak muttered.

"Wait! What about baseball or footy? I won't be able to play on Irk." ZIM said.

"You're just gonna have to skip this season." Zee said. ZIM's jaw dropped.

"I got that stupid medical exam for nothing!" He seethed. "And what about Hanukkah?"

"The majority of Irk is Jewish or a variant of it. We'll just celebrate it there." Zee said. "Besides the earthlings already celebrated their Chanukah. Irk celebrates theirs starting on December 11. We won't miss it."

"I packed. We're meeting my parents at the intergalactic spaceport in three days." Tak said. ZIM sighed and pushed her off of him. He got up and trudged to his room to pack his belongings for the trip.

"That kid." Zee mumbled.

**Three Days Later**

**December 9, 1994**

"I don't see them." Tak said. She was getting worried. They've been waiting at the spaceport for two hours for her parents. They called her yesterday to wish her a happy birthday and they would meet her at the port.

"They probably got caught up in traffic." Red suggested. The only spaceport in the states was one in Huston, Texas. It was about five miles away from the NASA Headquarters. ZIM slouched in his seat he's been confined to for hours. He got in trouble on the way down to Huston.

When they finally stopped at a Speedway for gas and to stretch their legs his siblings went into the little store but he stayed outside. He saw a rather large group of teenagers coming out of the gas station talking about something or other. When they spotted ZIM they decided to saunter over to him to bug him, asking him asinine questions like, 'What are you?' 'Why are you so odd-looking?' They really crossed the line when one teenage boy yanked on his antenna. ZIM yelped and attacked the boy's arms and face using his claws to dig deep marks into his skin and even drawing blood. The teenagers were outraged, but instead of taking ZIM on they stomped back into the store to tell Red just what ZIM was doing. Then Red came out of the place looking furious, grabbing him by the arm, apologized to the gang of teens and took him behind the gas station to discipline him by giving a few sharp smacks to the rear and told him sternly to not get into any trouble for the rest of the way to Irk. ZIM took the abuse to his backside through gritted teeth and closed eyes. He wouldn't let Red have the satisfaction of hearing him cry out. It wasn't eve his fault that the teenagers were jerks! This made ZIM even more cranky and irritable. When they got to Chesterfield, Missouri, or as ZIM called it, Misery, they finally took an airplane the rest of the way to Texas leaving their vehicles in a long term storage garage.

ZIM shifted uncomfortably in his chair. His butt was still sore. His brother was strong. Tak sighed and sat next to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I hope they didn't already leave." ZIM moved his shoulder so Tak would not lean on it. She didn't move.

"I know they didn't. Remember they're coming from London. It will take them some time." ZIM told her. He peered over her head to look. "Actually, I see them right over there." Tak shot up to look in the direct ZIM was. Sure enough her parents were buying their tickets and talking to Purple who found them first. Purple motioned for the rest of them to come over. They were gonna take a large Ring Cutter all the way to Irk. The journey to Irk would take about five days with stops between Irken owned planets on the way. Tak got up and ran over to her parents who she hasn't seen in two weeks and gave them big, bone crushing hugs. Those hugs were two weeks worth of not seeing her parents. ZIM imagined what kind of hugs she'd give them if she hasn't seen them for the full six months they were originally weren't gonna see each other.

ZIM slowly walked over. Their luggage was already loaded into the Cutter. Luckily they were gonna be the only group in the space craft. No random strangers to make awkward eye contact with.

"Alright, let's load up and head out." Mr. Griffon said. Mr. Griffon and Purple were the designated drivers for the trip. The Irkens piled in the Ring Cutter and settled down. Tak found a seat and motioned for ZIM to sit next to her. Purple and Mr. Griffon were in the cockpit in the front of the ship. Red sat himself in a secluded area. He's been in a bad mood ever since they left Michigan. Probably because he had to leave his girlfriend for a long time. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his Imp to call Leslie. Once they got into space there would be no way of contacting her. Only when they pass by satellites or finally get to Irk.

ZIM jumped a little when he felt someone squeeze his thigh.

"Tak stop." Tak giggled in response and started teasing him by going up further on his leg. "Tak." ZIM warned. Tak again ignored his request to stop and brushed her hand against his … restricted area lightly. "Takayla!" ZIM yelped, jumping out of the chair. All eyes turned toward him but he didn't care. What did Tak think she was doing? They were way too young to be doing stuff like that!

"What did she do, ZIM?" Mrs. Griffon asked. ZIM blushed a light color.

"Nothing … she just … scared me." He muttered sitting back down. Tak sniggered as ZIM glared at her.

"Buckle up everyone. We're preparing for lift off just as soon as we have clearance." Mr. Griffon's voice sounded over the ship's PA system. They buckled themselves in and waited. The Ring Cutter's engines roared to life. "Launching in: 10, 9, 8, 7," ZIM rolled his eyes. Was the countdown really necessary? "-3, 2, 1." The ship lifted and hovered in the air. The cutter turned upward and blasted off into the sky at super speed. It took one minute to get out of the atmosphere whereas an earthen space rocket would've took two and a half minutes.

"We are now in space. You are free to move about the cabin." Purple's voice rung. ZIM took off his belt and laid himself on the ground by his sisters' feet. Tenn and Zee propped their feet on his back as if he was a foot rest. ZIM sighed. This was gonna be a long trip.

**December 11, 1994**

**T**he Irkens stopped at a nearby Irken owned planet to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah. Of course the only Messianic Jewish Irkens were the Macales. The others belonged to a reformed faith which was usual for an earthen Irken but unusual for a Irk Irken.

"ZIM keep your kippah on." Red said putting the blue and white skull cap back on ZIM's head.

"I hate wearing it." ZIM mumbled.

"Get over it. I have to wear one too ya' know." Red said watching as Zee lit the first candle on the menorah. They were currently on planet Sturge and booked themselves a nice hotel room.

"This is so much fun!" Tak said wearing Zee's headscarf to get into the holiday spirit. Red and ZIM wore white and blue tallits their kippot matching. "I wish we were Jewish."

"Heh, yeah it seems nice at first until you get discriminated by old Aryan white folk." ZIM muttered. Red nodded in agreement remembering Amy. Tak looked up at him her mouth full of jelly doughnut.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Is that a sufganiyot your eating?"

"ZIM, this is a jelly donut." Tak said waving it in front of his face. He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, silly me." Red nudged him.

"She doesn't know what those are. Leave her alone."

"Pff. Whatever." ZIM said spinning a dreidel on the coffee table.

"Oh, ZIM! I just remembered something!" Tak said. She stood and trotted over to her suitcase and pulled out a tiny box wrapped up in the traditional blue and white Chanukah colors. She handed it to him. He waited to see if she had a card for him but Tak didn't hand him anything else so he opened the gift. He pulled the lid off the box and saw a artificial mistletoe toe. "A Christmas tradition."

"Heh. I know, I know. I celebrate Christmas too, remember?" ZIM asked sitting on the couch next to Tak. He reached in his pocket and took out his hand crafted dreidel with black Hebrew characters on it. "Here. I have like three of these." Tak took it gratefully.

"Oh you two! Could you get any cuter?" Purple exclaimed. He grabbed the mistletoe and dangled it above their heads. ZIM blushed. "Go on, Zei-Zei. It's tradition." Tak smiled and puckered her lips at him, closing her eyes. ZIM sighed and puckered his lips too. He kissed her briefly on the lips and pulled away blushing hard. Tak opened her eyes.

"That's it?" She asked. "Ha! A fish could kiss better than you!"

"Hey, you were lucky enough to get a kiss from me." Tak leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I guess I was."

"Purple and I are going to the lobby. We'll be back in a minute. You two behave." Red said. The older Irkens left leaving the younger's behind.

"I brought a movie. Wanna watch it?" Tak asked.

"Is it a sad movie?" ZIM asked.

"Yes."

"Okay then." Tak smiled and hopped up from the couch and got her movie from her bag.

"Have your ever seen Schindler's List."

"No, why would we watch that on _Hanukkah?_"

"It's a good movie. You'll like it. Besides, it has nothing to do with Irken Jews." Tak popped the drive into the T.V.'s playback system. She sat back down and started to skip through the previews. ZIM ran to the kitchen to get some tissues knowing either Tak or himself will need it. As the movie went on ZIM found a few tears slipping from his eyes especially at the girl with the red coat. He hid it as much as possible from Tak. Red and Purple came in a few times and watched with them before loosing interest like toddlers and leaving.

"Oh my God. Who would do that?" ZIM muttered as he saw the inhumanity.

"_Heil Hitler._"

"No! Goeth! No Heil Hitler! Damn you for getting me into this movie." ZIM said. Tak looked at him.

"Aww! Are you crying?"

"What? No!" He said snapping his head to the side so she couldn't see him. Tak grabbed his chin in her hand and pulled his face to her.

"You are!"

"Don't tell anyone I cried at a movie!" ZIM growled. Tak shook her head and brushed the tears off his cheek then 'huggled' him close. "Ugh. I haven't cried since I read _Night _by Elie Wiesel ... Which is ironically another story about the holocaust."

"I didn't think that book was published in English yet."

"It's not. I read it in Yiddish."

"And you understood it?"

"Most of it. I actually went to a synagogue and asked the local rabbi from Alice Springs what some words were."

"What's the difference between Yiddish and Hebrew?" Tak asked. ZIM cocked a brow.

"Yiddish is a language with a European influence. Hebrew is the original language of the Jews."

"Really? I was wondering about that for a long time now."

"Hey you two!" Zee exclaimed perkily coming from the suites kitchen with a tray of food. "I made Levivot!" Tak looked at ZIM.

"What language was that?" She quizzed him.

"Hebrew. Irken Jews speak the original language, and I want one!"

"What are those?" Tak looked at the tray of food. The contents were round and crispy looking.

"Potato pancakes. They is yummy." ZIM said taking one off the platter. He shoved it in his mouth and chewed it happily. He shoved another one in Tak's mouth.

"Mfff! ZIM!" Tak started to yell at him until she tasted the delicious cake. "These are great, Zee." Zee smiled.

"Glad you like 'em, 'cuz I made two dozen of these." Tak and ZIM sat back down on the couch.

"You miss Australia?" Tak asked. ZIM nodded.

"Yes. I miss all my friends I had there and the always warm climate." ZIM reclined on the davenport. "What do ya' wanna do now?" Tak shrugged.

"There's a party downstairs in the ballroom." Tak said. ZIM jumped up.

"Lets hit it."

"You mean lets ruin it."

**December 14, 1994**

"Zeiden, wake up." Red said shaking his little brothers shoulder. ZIM cracked open an eye. He groaned and flipped to his other side facing away from Red, snuggling deeper in his ivory fleece throw. "We're about to enter Irk's atmosphere. You got to buckle up." ZIM didn't respond so Red picked him off the floor where he made his makeshift bed. The tiny Irken was still warm from his blanket. Red sat down and placed his sleepy brother next to him and strapped him in. They were slowly declining to the surface of Irk.

Red looked out the window to see his native planet. His eyes widened. It was beautiful. The planet itself was a purplish, hot pink color and had rings of astroids surrounding it with sky blue cloud-like ribbons rotating around it. Irk also had a fierce white sun. Unlike earth's orange, yellow one. Irk had three moons. One was green in color the other ones were crystal blue. As they passed the wispy blue ribbons Red looked at the buildings. No doubt they were far greater structures than the ones on earth. Standing tall and proud. They all had their own unique shape and glow. Once the Ring Cutter finally touched down everyone groggily stood up and opened the door to exit. They feel twice as heavy on Irk than they do on earth because of the massive size and gravitational pull on Irk. Purple was the first to step out. They were greeted by the hustle and bustle sound of an enormous city. Neon signs with Irken characters and symbols and giant screens showing advertisements of the latest hot commodities and new things. It resembled a futuristic New York, Times Square. The city was gorgeous! But what really fascinated the company was the Irkens strolling around some men were wearing kippot and a few women wore headscarves and snoods, probably still celebrating Hanukah. All minding their own business. Not one head turned toward the new arrivers. For the first time in their lives they felt like they fit in. On earth they'd always get stared at but not here. Here, they were ordinary looking people.

"Where are we?" ZIM piped up.

"Meijour, Irk's capital city." Purple said. "Our Runner will be here in a moment. We should start unloading our things." A runner was like a cab but obviously it flew and was more than likely more expensive. Once the ring cutter was unloaded the company waited for their runner. A group of teenage Irkens approached the family group.

"Hey, you guys have a Imp? I gotta call home." One very tall Irken asked using Irken tongue. He was taller than Red for sure!

"I do." Red answered. Also speaking the Irken language. Apparently no one here spoke English so they'll have to get used to the sudden language change.

"Whoa. You guys are not from around here." The other teenager declared. "We can tell from your accents."

"We were born and raised on English speaking grounds on Earth." Red informed handing the tall boy his Imp.

"So can you guys like … speak an-glash or however it's pronounced?"

"Yes." Red drawled, not really knowing why the boy was so impressed.

"Cool! Say some thing in an-glash!" The boy said. Red's features tightened. He was irritated. Why was everyone so fascinated at people who spoke more than one language?

"_I find you annoying and I'll kick your ass if you keep talking to me_." Red muttered in the English language. Everyone in the family who understood English cackled, except for Mrs. Griffon who smacked him upside the head. The funny thing was the boy was totally oblivious to what Red just said and was amazed.

"Awesome," The stranger boy said. "What did you just say?"

"He said, He loves your shirt and asked where you got it from." ZIM falsely translated. The boy using Red's Imp hung up and gave it back to Red.

"Oh this? I got it from Haqlee'z Place in downtown Meijour. They got the best most updated selection of Irken clothing." There was a beeping noise. Their runner has arrived. "Well nice meeting you folks. Take care!" Red gave the boys a shit-eating smile and hurried to the runner.

"Quick, guys. I already booked us three hotel rooms somewhere nearby." The eight of them were all gonna stay in hotels until Purple's family arrives so they could go to their rented, large apartment. Hopefully they wouldn't have to live there for the whole trip. It was gonna get cramped.

The runner driver was complaining that there was so much traffic today. Because of the war, all Irkens off Irk was coming in all week and it was the holiday seasons. The driver also reminded them that an Irken day was 28 hours instead of 24 like they were used to and a whole bunch of confusing stuff. ZIM decided to keep track using earthen hours. Something he was used to. It took half an hour to get to their desired destination. A huge 80 story hotel called, _Gambyz. _It was a tall black glass building with balconies and a hidden private courtyard behind it. ZIM stared up the tall building now feeling shorter than he already did. Some bell hops dressed in forest green and black uniforms came to greet them and escort them to their reserved rooms.

The posse walked into the lobby. A very elegant and expensive looking lobby to say the least. These had to be at least a four star hotel. One thing in the lobby that stood out the most to ZIM was the grand piano in the corner. Or maybe an Irken equivalent of a piano. Maybe it was a regular piano imported from earth. ZIM snuck away from the group to read the gold lettering on the side of it as they checked in. Steinway. It _was_ an earth piano. ZIM started when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around to see a green-eyed Irken in a suit.

"Can you read Earth lettering?" He asked in Irken. ZIM nodded. "Do you play? Some friends and I tried to figure it out ourselves. Heh, didn't work out to well."

"This is a Steinway concert grand piano. I had one like it back at home. I can play but not too well. My brother, Red, though. He's a prodigy." ZIM said hesitantly. He was still getting used to the sudden language change. The man smiled.

"Would you play something for me?" ZIM backed away slightly.

"Well. I'm a little rusty, but I can definitely try." ZIM said sitting on the black bench. He cracked his finger to loosen them up. ZIM put his fingers over the keys. He didn't even start yet and he was already attracting a crowd or audience. ZIM pressed the keys down and played one of the first complicated songs he learned it was also the first song he learned since he moved to the States. Lynyrd Skynyrd's, _Sweet Home Alabama_. As ZIM played, more and more people surrounded the piano. Including his family. For not having played in awhile he was doing pretty good. In fact, he was keeping a good tempo, and the melody was recognizable. That is if you listen to country. He hasn't missed a note yet.

Red pushed his way through the crowd and sat on the bench with his brother playing the harmony while his little brother had the melody.

"_Well I heard mister Young sing about her. Well, I heard ole Neil put her down_." Red sang from his pick up point. He had a really nice voice. If he didn't have a nice voice he wouldn't be singing in front of all these people. Red had several singing and voice lessons before, as did his sisters and brother. But the sisters were more into dance.

ZIM smirked at Red and sang the second verse. Hoping his voice wouldn't fail him. He had a bold voice whereas Red had a gentler singing voice. The fact that ZIM can change his voice really good made him a talented singer. People often said ZIM's singing voice remind them of a thirteen year old Frankie Lymon. In fact if ZIM sang one of his songs he could probably pass off as Frankie Lymon. "_Well, I hope Neil Young will remember. A Southern man don't need him around anyhow_." The gathering Irkens stared in wonder. They didn't understand the lyrics. Red and ZIM were singing it in English. All the Irkens knew, they sounded terrific together. ZIM and Red both sang the chorus.

"_Sweet home Alabama! Where the skies are so blue. Sweet Home Alabama! Lord, I'm coming home to you!_" The two brothers harmonized, fingers swiftly pressing down the keys as they played. They repeated the chorus again. A little later ZIM's hands started to cramp and he stopped playing. A millisecond after he stopped, Red followed. Then there was a loud applause from the crowd. There had to be like thirty Irkens watching them now.

"That was great! I have no idea what you two were saying but it was great all the same!" The man with green eyes exclaimed. "I'm Mr. Jalokia, I travel Irk and nearby planets for talented young musicians. I own Jalokia Records. Have you ever heard of Jalokia Records?" ZIM and Red both shook their heads no. "Oh. Well it's one of the biggest music industries in this galaxy."

"Sounds important." ZIM said. Jalokia nodded.

"Oh, but it is. This is kind of forward but I'd really like to sign you." Red sucked his breath in. Looks like he had a big decision to make soon.

"My little brother contracted a record deal? That's a … huge commitment." Red said.

"Your brother has potential to become the next Irken superstar. There are not a lot of talented Irkens out there. I mean they do have talents but that's usually blowing stuff up and being intelligent. Your brother has an amazing voice. Really, he sounds a bit familiar as well." Red rolled his eyes.

"Familiar like a young Frankie Lymon?" Jalokia raised a brow.

"What's that?"

"Never mind." Red said quickly. Jalokia smiled.

"Think about it."

"Well I'm not sure how long we're gonna even stay here. We are only here till the war is over."

"Again, at least think and talk it over with your brother. I'd love to get him a career in the performing arts field." Red looked down at ZIM who seemed really lost. He had that adorable, 'I-Really-Wish-I-Knew-What-You-Guys-Are-Talking-About', look on his face. "He already has the looks for it." Jalokia grinned and pinched ZIM's cheek. "Here's my card." Red took the slip of paper from the man. "I'd sure like to catch your names before I go first." Jalokia said. "I'm really interested in representing your brother."

"I'm Red Macale and this is Zeiden Junior."

"Zeiden Macale Junior. Excellent!" The man said typing something into his Imp. Probably their names so he remembers. "And I wouldn't worry too much about the war. The Helfas are push overs." And with that the man turned on his heals and left the hotel. Red looked back at his younger brother who was now surrounded by a bunch of older ladies who were cooing, pinching his cheeks, and tickling his sides, making him blush and fidget uncomfortably. An amused Tenn and Zee were standing close behind their tormented brother with Purple who seemed interested with what Red and the stranger man was talking about. Tak and her parents must have already went to their rooms.

"What was that all, about?" Purple asked as Red finally 'saved' ZIM by picking him up and resting ZIM on his hip.

"Oh, nothing. Just … that man wanted to sign ZIM for a record deal."

"What? He's only five!"

"I'm six. I'm seven in January, Pur."

"That man wants to sign _him_? I mean, yeah he's talented but-"

"Yeah, I don't know. But I'm leaning heavily towards declining his offer."

"Why?" ZIM asked. Eyes wide with innocence and twinkled in the ceiling lights. Red looked at this and quickly handed his brother off to Purple to hold to avoid getting weakened by his little brother's irresistible puppy-dog face.

"You're too young, Zei-Zei."

"Well can you at least think about it?" ZIM asked hopefully. ZIM knew he had a good singing voice for a young person and he wanted to be able to use it before it changed. Puberty was a jerk. Red sighed.

"Fine, but there is no guarantee that I'm gonna say yes to something like that." Tenn snatched ZIM from Purple's arms.

"Oh! My baby brovver is so talented!" She said kissing his cheek numerous times. ZIM frowned and tried pushing away as far as possible. "C'mon. The Griffon's already found their rooms." She put ZIM down still holding his hand and walked with Zee to the elevator.

"Well, I guess we should find ours too." Red said, following his sisters.

**December 16, 1994**

"_Sevivon Sov Sov Sov, Chanukah Hu Chag Tov, Chanukah Hu Chag Tov, Sevivon Sov Sov Sov._"

"Hey! Why don't you sing in a language we can understand?" Tak butted in from ZIM's nearly silent singing.

"I wasn't singing for your entertainment. Besides, I like how it sounds in Hebrew. The English version is just … dumb." Tak crossed her arms and sat on the bed next to ZIM.

"Teach me." ZIM looked at her.

"Why? You were just complaining it wasn't in English."

"Just so I can get more into the holidays."

"Okay … repeat, _Sevivon Sov Sov Sov_." Tak did making several mistakes on the pronunciation. "Umm. Good. _Chanukah Hu Chag Tov, Chanukah Hu Chag Tov_." Tak tried again and failed once more. "… _Sevivon Sov Sov Sov_. _Chag Simcha hu la'am,_

_Nes Gadol Haya Sham, Nes Gadol Haya Sham, Chag Simcha hu la'am_."

"Go slower, ZIM!"

"Sorry! I'm not used to singing it so slow."

"_Chag Simcha hu la'am! Nes Gadol Haya Sham, Nes Gadol Haya Sham! Chag Simcha hu la'am!_"Red sang loudly coming into the room with Purple. "I heard you singing it. Couldn't help myself."

"All it sounds like to me is, Hckkk! Hckkk! Hcckk! Kcchh! And then something about a sevivon which if I remember correctly is a dreidel?" Purple said. Red nodded. Purple did a fist pump for getting the translation right.

"You only wish you could sing like us." Red quipped.

"Actually, I heard ZIM try to sing an aboriginal yodeling hybrid song awhile ago ... I'm not jealous." Purple said then lit up. "That reminds me! I got you something, Z."

"Whazzit?" Purple threw an object at him. ZIM caught it. It was a stuffed koala key chain.

"I saw it and I thought of you." ZIM smiled.

"Aw! DanKa! ZIM loves his koalas." ZIM said hugging Purple around his waist. "Now where's my car that goes with it."

"Hah! That's a good one, ZIM." Purple said patting ZIM's head. "Wait till you're ten and your brother will get you a real nice car." Red snapped his head toward them.

"I'm going to what?"

**Four Days Later **

"Really? Fantastic! I'll have an agent ready for him as soon as possible. You made the right choice, Mr. Macale!" Red winced at the loud voice on the other side of the phone. After days of discussing, Red finally came to the conclusion that he'd at least let ZIM try something in the musical field. "I'll be at your apartment shortly to form a contract and I'll give you a tour of my studio."

"Sounds … great." Red muttered. He was still not sure about this. "I'll see you soon then."

"Absolutely!" The cheery man said. There was a click and the dial tone. Red hung up and looked over to ZIM.

"Are you _positive _you want to go through with this?" ZIM nodded.

"Of course. I can handle it."

"You have no other musical experience than the stuff I taught you … and the stuff your old guitar teacher taught you. But you made her run off."

"She wanted me to play stupid songs like that twinkling star song and rock a cradle or something. Besides, they'll give me more singing lessons." Red rolled his eyes. ZIM jumped up from his chair. "Oh! Look what I taught myself to do yesterday when I was watching a Michael Jackson performance for inspiration!" ZIM turned around and popped his right knee and started doing the moon walk flawlessly. He then did a graceful spin and thrust his pelvis out followed by a trademark Jackson yelp, 'Ow!' Red chuckled.

"Great, another MJ impersonator." His Imp beeped. "It's Leslie. ZIM be quiet."

"I wasn't talking." ZIM said. Red walked out of the room to hear better. There was a long distance between earth and Irk. ZIM decided to try the moon walk forwards. That was three times harder. Tak walked into the kitchen and saw ZIM walking funny.

"What are you doing?" ZIM looked at her.

"Dance with me!" He chirped. Tak cocked a brow. Usually she had to force _him _to dance with _her. _Except during the last day of Hanukkah where he asked her if she'd like to learn a traditional Jewish dance. And then just to add a little twist to it he did an aboriginal tribal dance with her.

"Why? What's the occasion?" She asked. ZIM tripped and fell hard on his hip.

"Ugh! No occasion! I just want to dance with you!" He got up as if nothing happened. Tak smiled and set one hand on his shoulder with the other clasped in his hand. One of ZIM's arms draped around Tak's waist. The two started waltzing. Tak was leading since she was the only one of the two who knew how to waltz. "Gender switch." ZIM said, now putting the hand on Tak's waist and placed it on her shoulder. Tak giggled and put her hand on ZIM's hip. "I want you to spin and dip me." ZIM said ecstatically. Tak scoffed.

"Are you serious?" She asked. ZIM nodded. Tak shrugged and spun ZIM, making him squeal as if mocking the giggly, ditzy girls on T.V. Tak then caught him and dipped him so low his antennas touched the ground. Tak snapped him back up. "You improved since we last did this."

"Why thank you." ZIM said. The young Irken twisted out of Tak's grip. "Red is letting me sing."

"Really? That's great! I'm so happy for you." Tak said picking ZIM up in a tight hug around his waist.

"Yeah, yeah. It is. Tak, I can't breath." Tak put him down.

"I hope you go far." She said.

"Go far?" Tak and ZIM turned to see Purple's mother, Kaddie, in the door.

"Hi, Mum!" ZIM said grinning big at her. "We were talking about my deal."

"Oh yes that. I don't have a doubt that you will go all the way." Kaddie said. ZIM smiled. He really liked Purple's family. They were all so nice. His mom, his dad, Paige, and his older sister by eight years, Marzi.

"Well, we won't know for sure." ZIM said.

"Everything will be alright. By the way, you two have some killer dance moves." Kaddie said. Tak blushed and ZIM just gleamed. He doesn't get embarrassed easily anymore. "Where is Peder? I got to talk to him." ZIM pointed to the living room.

"I'm pretty sure I heard him bickering with Tenn." Kaddie gave him a quick 'Thanks' and left to retrieve her son. After awhile Purple came into the kitchen where ZIM, Tak, and Red, who just got off the phone, were talking. Purple stood by ZIM and groaned then muttered under his breath something about his mother and her restrictions.

"You and me! We are alike!" Purple said. He sounded drunk but ZIM knew he was sober and joking around. "Both of us together! We are youngest in our families! We get picked on for it! Not fair, I say!"

"Amen!" ZIM said slamming a fist into the table.

"No more! We shouldn't have to take this shi- crap no more!"

"Damn straight!" ZIM said. He was smacked upside the head by Red who was chuckling. "You see! Exhibit A! Domestic violence and abuse! No more!"

"Viva la resistance!"

"Peder Kinley! What did I say about starting riots?" Kaddie yelled from the living room.

"Not a riot this time, ma! It's a resistance!"

"Different!" ZIM spoke up. They stood in silence for awhile. "So what's our first act of resistance?"

"No idea …"

"You never think things through." ZIM grumbled. There was a knock at the door. Red answered it. It was Mr. Jalokia. Dang that man was fast. Maybe he took a transporter device.

"Shall we talk about his contract now?" The green-eyed Irken beamed. Red sighed and nodded.

"I suppose." Red kinda wished now he hired a lawyer for this part.

* * *

><p><strong>Whoa! 18,327 Words! I feel accomplished! <strong>

**So this is when ZIM's career starts to take off! I know this seems a little fast paced but Irk is a planet that moves fast. It is an extremely advanced planet after all. Well, It shall get fun now! Whee? …**

**PS. **Please look up Frankie Lymon on Youtube to hear his voice. That will help you picture ZIM's singing voice.**  
><strong>


	9. He's a Star

**Note: Tak's birthday is on December 15, 1985. (Yes, i made her older than I did in previous chapters. So she's actually two years and a month older than ZIM.) **

**Purple's birthday is on April 20, 1969**

**Irk has a parliamentary government! That means there is a tallest but it doesn't rule Irk. The prime minister does. And there are no control brains. Only in the show.**

**The Irken year calendar will be the same as earth's so that it's less confusing for you guys (cough, cough) and me.**

**The Imp (Irken cellular device) kinda looks like the iPhone, but with a lot more features. But since they didn't have have iPhone back then... Anyways, try to picture Irken technology a lot more advanced than ours. Cooler looking, works better, faster, etc. **

**Ages **

**Red- 26 y.o. (Turns 27 later in chapter)**

**Peder-26 (turns 27 later in chapie.) y.o.**

**Zannah- 19 y.o.**

**Tenn- 18 (turns 19 later on in chapie. Too!) y.o.**

**Zeiden- 7 y.o.**

**A/N: When they go back to earth and they speak Irken then the words will be italicized so you can tell the difference between what is being spoken in Irken and what is being spoken in English.**

**ALSO! I'm not a lyricist! So don't be all like, 'Eww! How con dat bee a numbah 1 song? the Lyrics are whore-able!'  
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**Den i wood say, 'I stoopud! me no know how tah right songs!'  
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**So yeah, sorry for butchering the King's English language but ya'll do it all the time! So don't give me crap! (Ya'll know I'm joking, right?)  
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**Yeah, I made ZIM into a singer, he reminded me of Frankie Lymon, an awesome singer from the fifties, and i just thought this story needed a twist.)  
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**Enjoy! (Or as my extremely tall ancestors would say, genieten van!)  
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><p><strong>One Month Later<strong>

**February 11, 1995**

"_Whatever happened to the days? Where did our child-like innocence go?_" ZIM sang in the mic at Jalokia's music studio. One of Jalokia's lyricist wrote this song in less than an hour and ZIM wasn't to crazy about it. "_Do you remember the days?_ Ugh … sorry, Jalo. I'm not feeling it." ZIM said looking at Mr. Jalokia through the glass from his small recording room. Jalokia pushed down a button to speak to ZIM.

"It's okay. You wanna try another song?" ZIM nodded.

"One that sounds like I didn't already live a full life, please." Jalokia nodded.

"Sure thing kiddo." Jalokia stood and entered the room handing ZIM a new song. ZIM shifted on his stool to get comfortable. He's been sitting and singing for an hour now. "This song is titled, _I'll be Something_. I think you've already tried this song a week ago."

"I did. I think this was one I liked."

"Good. Lets hear it." The producer left the room and pressed a button to play the music. Sound filled ZIM's headphones as he waited for his cue to sing.

"_It'll be alright. Soon the storm will pass and it'll be alright._" ZIM knew this song was supposed to be a more smooth-sounding song so he changed his voice to fit the part. The chorus was supposed to be more aggressive. "_Listen to my words and find comfort. It'll be alright. It'll be alright as long as you're with me and I with you._" ZIM got ready for the chorus. "_Take my hand, I'll lead the way. We won't get lost if we're together. We're invincible. No one can stop us. Let's go home. No one can touch us there. We'll be safe. It'll be alright._" ZIM sang a couple more versus then his voice changed to very sweet sounding for a more calming part of the song. After a few more moments of instrumental ZIM took a breath to sing again. "_Let's not fret, stay together, if we're separate we are weak. Stay with me and it'll be alright!_" ZIM stopped singing for another instrumental. This song was only gonna be two minutes and forty seconds long but Jalokia was almost positive it would be a hit. "_I'm glad I never left you! I'm proud I never faltered! I Never had the heart to tell you … it'll be alright._" While the music continued ZIM was not supposed to sing but rather sweetly speak the next lines as if they were words of love toward someone. "_I told you it'd be alright ..._" ZIM bit his lip a bit and thought for a moment. "Was that good?" He asked, clearing his throat a bit as the music started to fade. Jalokia pressed the button.

"Excellent! You aced it! Just a few more run throughs and you'll be able to record your first single!" ZIM beamed.

"Thanks, mate. Can I have a break? My throat is dry."

"Sure! Anything for my little star." ZIM got off the stool and walked out of the music recording room. In the last month ZIM had gotten a signed contract with Jalokia Records, an agent, and two temporary personal assistants and even a few free voice lessons. Red actually suggested he get assistants to watch over ZIM when he couldn't.

Jalokia also managed to get ZIM his own apartment closer to the studio. The apartment he was living in before was very cramped. It only had four rooms, one shower, a living room and a kitchen for 11 people! Now they split so they had more room. Kinleys stayed in the old apartment with the Griffons. Purple stayed with the Macales in the new apartment.

"Here you go, Master Zeiden." One of ZIM's assistants handed him a cold bottled water.

"Thanks, Ele, but you seriously need to call me ZIM, if you want this friendship to work out."

"I'm your assistant." Ele said. ZIM frowned slightly.

"I can't be your friend?" He asked.

"I mean … well, of course I can be your friend." Ele said. ZIM smiled.

"Good. Kel! You is also me friend! We be friends for awhile! … Now get back to work." ZIM said, jokingly. Ele and Kel were two 16 year old girls who got a job at the studio as personal assistants for rising Irken stars like he was. ZIM was happy he got Ele and Kel. They were pretty. Ele had shiny blue eyes and Kel had eyes similar to Red's. They had terrific figures and were quite tall. Plus their names rhymed. For some reason that amused ZIM.

"You ready to record again, Zeiden?" Jalokia asked. ZIM nodded.

"Yes sir." ZIM said taking a swig of the cool water. "Born ready."

**March 30, 1995 **

Today was the day ZIM's first song would premiere on the radio and ZIM was a nervous wreck. Red has been trying to comfort him all day. The Macales, Kinleys, and Griffons were in the studio waiting for ZIM's song to play on the radio. Jalokia was with them, happier than a child with candy and a new toy. Knowing that he had another hit in his hands.

"Your song will be on after this one." Jalokia said. He gave ZIM a huge smile. ZIM smiled back sheepishly. Tak was holding his hand. The poor little Irken was quaking. He could feel his heart start to race as the song ended and the radio host announcer spoke.

"_A new singer rose from the abyss a couple months ago. His name in Zeiden Macale and his new song is sure to be a smash! Please enjoy, It'll be Alright, by Zeiden Izac Macale Junior AKA ZIM!_" Right after the host said his name the song started playing. The upbeat tune and fun melody. Then his voice. ZIM leaned forward in anticipation.

"_It'll be alright. Soon the storm will pass and it'll be alright._" ZIM nearly fell out of his seat in relief. He sounded great! But then he wondered if the people currently listening to his song like it. Oh how he hoped they did! As the song continued there was not a face that didn't have a smile on it. As soon as the song officially stopped they waited for the announcer.

"_I don't know about you folks but I think that song is probably gonna be the most played in the next month! Bravo, ZIM! You made it!_" ZIM's couldn't believe it. He jumped up and yelled happily as his friends and family cheered and gave him big hugs. ZIM was so glad that Irk was currently in a war. If they weren't he would have never of been here doing this. Red picked ZIM up and tossed him in the air.

"I'm so proud of you, mate!" Red said catching his little brother. ZIM beamed with pride. At the moment, nothing could make him happier. Except for maybe Red loosening his grip on him.

**April 1, 1995 **

"Are you currently working on another song?" ZIM nodded. He was currently on a popular talk show with one of Irk's most loved hostess, Farrah Quinn.

"Yeah. Actually I'm currently working on an album. My producer said that he was gonna be releasing a ten or nine song album by the end of September." The studio audience cheered.

"Well I know I'll be buying it. How old are you, ZIM?"

"I turned seven on January thirty-first."

"Seven years old and you already sing like a pro. Really, it blows my mind that such a loud, full voice can come from such a small body. Now tell me, we don't know a lot about you since you're still new and all. Tell us a little bit about your family and where you came from because you weren't born on Irk, correct?" ZIM nodded again.

"Yes, well, I'm the youngest of four children. My brother Red is 27 since March 21, my sister Zannah is 19 now … I think, she was born on September 5. My sister Tenn is 18 going on 19 on the 24th this month. I have a OBFAM, his name is Peder, he'll be turning my brothers age on the 20th-"

"And what's an OBFAM?" Farrah interrupted.

"Uuuh, my bad. I really should clarify a bit better. That stands for Other Brother From Another Mother. It gets redundant saying all that after awhile so we use acronyms." The audience laughed.

"That's so cute!"

"Heh, Red thought of it. Anyways we call Peder, Purple. He actually just started off as my brother's assistant scientist."

"Your brother is a scientist?"

"Yeah, we get to travel around a lot because he researches all over. My sister Zee,

she's studying to become and anesthesiologist, and Tenn is studying two majors, music and law. I want her to be a band instructing attorney."

"Heh. Wow! Busy family. What about your parents?"

"I … never knew them." The crowd made a sad awing noise. "My mother died of cancer. She actually died as she was conceiving me. They had to do a C-Section." The crowed awed louder. "My father is a prisoner of war. That or he's … you know." The audience continued with their awing and sounds of sadness and pity.

"Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that. That must've been hard for your siblings." ZIM shrugged.

"I guess so. I don't really talk about it with them."

"I see. Now tell us where you're from."

"I am from Irken ally planet earth. Born and raised in a country called Australia. When I was six I moved to the United States for a few months to years. I'd still be living there today if it weren't for the war." ZIM said.

"I could kind of tell you were a foreigner. You have the cutest accent!" ZIM smiled. The crowed clapped and whistled in agreement.

"Huh, Thanks."

"So is there anyone else in your life?"

"Um, there's the Griffon's. My godfather and godmother and their daughter. They helped Red raise Zee, Tenn and I when mum passed."

"And who is their daughter?"

"Takayla. She's eight and a half now. She's my best friend." The crowd made the annoying 'aw' noise again.

"That's sweet. Well we have a few minutes left. Questions from the audience?" Several members of the audience raised claws and hands. Some hands contained pens and note pads to jot down the information ZIM was about to answer for them.

"Uh … you." ZIM pointed to a man with golden eyes.

"How did you get into the singing business?"

"I got into it by staring at a piano, actually." The crowd chuckled. "I was reading the side of it to see if it was an Irken piano. It had English lettering on it so I knew it was from earth. Totally by chance and coincidentally, a big name in Irk's music industry, , my producer asked if I knew what the letters meant and I said yes. Then he asked if I could play. Again, I said yeah. So then he told me to play him a song. So I did. As I was playing my brother joined in and sung and played with me. I've only had like four singing lessons before that but Jalokia saw, 'potential' in me and wanted to sign me. It went from there. So it wasn't intended. I was just at the right place at the right time." The people clapped at the response. "Another question, yes you." A Irken about the same age as Zee or Tenn stood.

"Does your brother look a lot like you?"

"Uh, no, but I look a lot like _him_." There was a collective chortle in the audience. "I

actually look a lot more like my sister Tenn … Why?"

"Well, I just thought you were pretty cute and I was wondering if your brother was cute too."

"He has a girlfriend." ZIM said quickly. "'Nother question? You sir?"

"How does it feel to be Irk's hottest new celebrity?" ZIM thought a moment.

"Huh … I haven't really thought of it that much. Um, well, honestly I can't answer that question. I don't feel no different from what I did a couple months ago. Except, I'm

getting love letters and death threats through the mail." ZIM pointed at another

questioner.

"Do you and Takayla have a _thing_?" ZIM blushed.

"Heh, no. We're only 8 and 7! Tak and I are friends. I mean that doesn't mean we won't have a thing in the future. But that also doesn't mean we will. Next question. Yes, ma'am?"

"What instruments do you play?"

"Anything percussion, piano, guitar, electric or acoustic, didgeridoo … Yeah."

"We have time for one more question." Farrah said. ZIM picked the last person.

"Yes sir?"

"What is a quote that you tend to live by?" ZIM paused.

"Life throws many curveballs," ZIM smiled slightly. "You just have to be prepared to catch them." The audience stood up and roared in applause. ZIM sighed happily, silently thanking his mom for saying a quote like that in the first place.

**April 5, 1995**

"Can you sign my shoe?" ZIM smirked. Three tall teenage girls were surrounding him asking for autographs, pictures, and hugs. ZIM was more than happy to oblige.

"Sign my poster!" Another girl cried. ZIM took the girl's sharpies in both hands and signed their items at the same time. One girl squealed and jumped up and down. "Thank you so much!"

"You are so very welcome." ZIM said. He was in down town Meijour with Red shopping for new clothes. After that ZIM had a photo shoot for a new poster and CD cover. Once the girls left ZIM turned to Red. "That was annoying." Red smirked.

"I warned you about that." ZIM shrugged. Red looked one of Meijour's giant T.V.

monitors. "Would you look at that handsome devil on the screen!" ZIM turned to see what Red was looking at. ZIM's jaw dropped. It was him. One of his glam shots to

promote his single. He was wearing the latest clothes. His pose was one hand on hanging limply by his side with another hand hanging on to a bar above his head. He had a solemn, serious look on his face and wasn't looking directly at the camera and it looked like he was on a subway hover-train scene.

"Oh Irk." ZIM blushed. "Why?" He asked himself. Red's Imp went off.

"It's Les. I'm thinking about telling her this time." Red said. ZIM rolled his eyes. Red has been putting the secret off for long enough. He answered. "Hey, Leslie!"

"Why didn't you tell me ZIM had a song out! Or the fact that he was even a singer for that matter?" Red pulled the phone away from his antenna. That lady could shout.

"I was gonna tell you. How did you find out?"

"A burned copy of his CD single was sent to me from Tenn. She wrote me a nice letter explaining everything!"

"I was seriously gonna tell you, Les!" Red exclaimed. ZIM snickered.

"Well your sister beat you to it! Put ZIM on the phone! I want to talk to someone I like right now!" Red pouted but handed his Imp to ZIM.

"Strud Muffin!" ZIM chirped.

"Hi, Hun! Congratulations! Gaz and I are very happy for you!"

"Thanks. Tell Gaz I miss her."

"Will do. Are you having fun?"

"Yes! Except now I'm some sort of ladies man all of a sudden." ZIM said eyeballing some girls who've been staring and winking at him.

"Aww. You'll get used to it. We love your song. No idea what you're saying because it's in Irken but this is like the tenth time we listened to it."

"Heh. It's over played on the radios here." ZIM felt a vibrating in his pants pocket. "I gotta go, Les. My agent is probably calling."

"Oh you sound so famous when you say that!" ZIM chuckled and handed Red's phone back to him. ZIM took out his own new version of the Imp called the Imp.05. He answered it. "Ms. Mevlo?" ZIM said, addressing his agent.

"I have great news! They want you for a commercial! I checked with Jalokia and he's

going nuts about this because you'll be the official icon for a new technology brand called, _Amplify_. People will love it. What do you say?"

"What? What is this? No one even knew my name weeks ago and now I have

producers asking me to do stuff like this." Zim muttered. "Hang on let me ask my

brother." ZIM put his phone to his shoulder to block out their conversation from his agent. Red was apologizing to Leslie some more. "Red, Mevlo wants me to be the new icon for a series of new techie equipment. Can I?" Red looked at ZIM briefly.

"Huh? Irk moves fast with their new celebrities. Sure, sure. You have to go over the

contract yourself though." Red said and turned back to his argument with Leslie.

"He said, ok." ZIM answered.

"Great! I'll meet you at your shoot tonight to talk more about it."

"Sounds great. C'ya then." ZIM hung up. Red was now off the phone.

"Ugh. That woman." Red muttered. Red and ZIM turned their attention back to one

monitor where an important news broadcast was going on.

"_The Irken military has landed on a important Helfa_ _planet, Planet Lures, and are now taking over the capital to cease and desist the Helfa's main attack on us. This could very well be the end of the war. Stay tuned for more information that will surely come._" The news anchor reported. Then the screen switched back to ads and commercials as well as another picture of ZIM with numerous other Irken celebrities.

"Wow that was short war." ZIM said. "At least we'll be going home soon."

"And it says your song is number three on Irk's most liked and played … and

downloaded." Red pointed to a monitor that showed a list of songs and artists on it.

"Right under _Underground_by Trevvy Quo. That's . . . Respectable? Yeah. Well I gotta go to my shoot now, Red. We're gonna be late if we don't leave now." ZIM pulled Red's hand and lead to a runner cab. They got in. "Jalokia's Records, please." ZIM said

handing the driver some Irken bills. The driver scoffed.

"Good luck trying to get past security, kid." ZIM raised a brow.

"Security didn't try to stop me once, yet." The runner driver looked into the rear view

mirror to see that it was ZIM.

"Oh! You're that Zeiden Macale! My daughter loves you! She's a huge fan!"

"I only have one song out." ZIM muttered. Irk was so different than earth. If you make one thing they like then it would blow up into so much more.

"Can I have your autograph. That will make my daughter very happy when I get home. She's been very sick lately too and your song makes her day everyday."

"Aww That's so sweet. I hope she gets better." The driver handed a poster with a picture of ZIM. "To whom should I write?"

"To Gad."

"_To my friend Gad, always know it'll be alright no matter what, with lots of love, Zeiden Macale._" ZIM spoke as he wrote in neat Irken cursive. "There you go, sir. Now if you don't mind, I'm slightly late."

"Of course! Sorry." The driver sped off to the destination. Once they got to the studio the driver asked for a quick picture for more proof for his daughter. He let the driver take a shot of him with the drivers cellular device. Then another picture of ZIM and the driver that Red took. ZIM walked up the steps to the front doors where his assistants met him and opened them for him.

"Thank you girls. Where's Jalokia?"

"In his office talking to the head photographer of _My Image_. They've been waiting." ZIM groaned.

"I'm gonna go meet up with him, Red. You can go shopping again. It might take awhile."

"I was planning on doing that anyway." Red said. He gave ZIM a kiss on the antenna and left the building. ZIM trotted to an elevator and waited for it to arrive with Ele and Kel.

"So I heard you might be the new icon for _Amplify_. Did you know that people are waiting on the edges of their seats waiting for it to be released. It's gonna make you huge!" Ele said.

"I also heard that they wanted to cast you in a movie after or before your first album." Kel added. ZIM's antenna perked.

"A movie?" Ele elbowed Kel.

"That was hush, hush, Kel!" ZIM smirked.

"They don't even know if I can act and they want me in a movie?" He asked.

"We said too much." Kel said. "… But yes." She was elbowed again.

"Switching topics! Jalokia already wrote three of your songs. They're titled _Could You Do It For Me?,_ _Bold _and _Over My Head__._" Ele said.

"Sounds fun." ZIM said not really listening but rather tinkered with his Imp.

"Jalokia predicted that you're gonna be the biggest electronic-pop and alternative rock singer this year!" Kel exclaimed.

"That's pretty far fetched." ZIM said. "I still only have one song out."

"But you're gonna have an album out soon along with the _Amplify _products and …

possible movie." Ele said. ZIM's phone beeped. He answered.

"I'm in the elevator going to your office, Jalo. I'll be there shortly."

"You better, kid. I got more great news for you from your agent!" Jalokia hung up. ZIM shoved his Imp.05 back in his pocket.

"More great news." ZIM mumbled. The elevator stopped and ZIM and his assistants

exited. He walked over to Jalokia's office. He entered without knocking. "Hey, J."

"Where have you been young man?" The producer asked.

"Shopping." ZIM said sitting on a black leather couch in the office. He looked at the chair directly in front of Jalokia's desk. A blue-eyed man sat in it.

"ZIM, this is Herr. Head photographer of _My Image_."

"Hi, Herr, head photographer of _My Image_." ZIM said. "I look forward to working with you." Herr gave him a snooty look.

"Yes, yes. Of course you do." ZIM's eyes widened. Rudeness.

"Mevlo called me and told me Herr's boss will do all photo shoots for the new clothes line that you will be modeling."

"What! I'm gonna model now?" ZIM asked in disbelief. Jalokia nodded. "I don't mean to be ungrateful but I'm already busy with other things at the moment. I still have to record those new songs and have several more shoots, and the commercials for _Amplify_. I can't do all of that!"

"Of course you can!"

"I barely have enough time for school!" Jalokia rested his back against his chair. He sighed.

"Well, at least except the modeling job. They planed it out and everything." ZIM frowned slightly.

"Fine, but after that no more for awhile 'Kay? Eventually I'm leaving Irk to go home. I would want my 'fans' to be upset when I leave."

"They'll be upset either way. One more thing, ZIM."

"What?"

"Earlier this week Mevlo was talking to a well known casting director and they want you to play a minor role in Irk's upcoming movie that is sure to be a blockbuster." ZIM grumbled under his breath.

"No, I'm not doing that. I want to graduate this year and I'm really behind on school."

"Well, okay, it _is_ your choice. Now go get your makeup done and wardrobe and get to that photo shoot you're late for!"

**May 10, 1995**

ZIM dove into his couch at his new home. Mevlo convinced him to buy a suite at the Kai-Winzor Penthouse instead of the apartment to keep up appearance. He liked his new home. It was on the 82nd floor and he was neighbors with Huff Nalk, a professional stunt Voot Cruiser driver.

ZIM buried his face into the cushion. He felt someone sit on him. There was only one person in the suite with him and that was,

"Tak, get off."

"Naw. You is squishy." All the adults were out for a dinner and movie. They left ZIM and Tak alone, Red being reluctant to do so but eventually agreed to leave ZIM by himself.

"Tak, please? I'll be your best friend?" Tak frowned.

"I miss you."

"Why?" ZIM asked. "We've been living together for like … months now." Tak shook her head.

"That maybe true. But you've been gone a lot lately. Ever since you got signed. You are either at a photo shoot, a recording session, or commercial set. By the way that

commercial for the new flash drive you did was kinda corny." Tak said. ZIM sighed.

"I know. It's not really fair that I ditch you to do something. I promise I'll make it up to you one day." Tak smiled sadly. "Prime Minister Wurley predicted that the war was gonna end in four months. I hope she's right cuz then we'll go home and I'll have all the time in the world for you … well except when I have online classes. Which I'm very behind on." ZIM said. Tak smiled and gave him a hug.

"I'll let you have a moments peace." She said and went to his room to do homework or read. ZIM thought for a long moment before pulling out a small device called a _Jump_ and started to type something into it. On the screen it showed a title that said, _When We're Together_.

"I'll make it up to you now." ZIM said quietly to himself with a sly grin.

**The Next Day**

"This is great. You wrote this all by yourself?" ZIM nodded. He was showing Jalokia the song he had written the other day, on his Jump. A device that would allow you to write and store all sorts of documents. "Did you have specific beat in your mind when you wrote it?"

"Not really, I just want it to be all acoustic and calming and soft sounding. Not like my other songs are." Jalokia nodded.

"I'll see what I can do. Unless you want to compose the music to fit the lyrics?" ZIM nodded again.

"It would mean a lot more to Tak if I wrote the whole thing by myself." Jalokia smiled.

"Do you want this to be part of your album?" ZIM shrugged.

"As long as it gets to be the first song on it or the eighth song. That's Tak's favorite number."

"You're a sweet kid, ZIM. Well I'll let you use the music department if you'd like. When you're done show me what you've got. 'Kay?"

"Yes, Sir." ZIM took his Jump and went to the music room in hopes that he might come up with a brilliant beat. ZIM started off with the easiest instrument to come up with beats. The drums. ZIM smiled as he experimented different rhythms. He was excited. He really hoped Tak would like her 'Make it up to you' gift. Sure coming up with the right sheet music will take awhile. But it'll be worth it!

**Three Days Later**

**May 14, 1995**

"Four songs done. Five songs to go." Jolakia said. "You're doing great ZIM. Not only are you keeping up with schooling but your career too! Wow. And the people of _Amplify _love you! The sales are at the top of the charts! The clothing line you model for is doing great too! When Irken Spirit first opened they immediately were out of stock on your clothing products!" Irken Spirit was a trendy chain store all around Irk. ZIM smiled modestly.

"I feel accomplished." ZIM said. "And I kind of want to do two song covers." Jalokia raised his hairless brows.

"Oh and what are those?"

"_Why Do Fools Fall In Love_by Frankie Lymon and _I just don't know what to do with _

_Myself _by Dusty Springfield. They're good songs and I thought we could do a little remix and transform those songs into the electronic/pop genre I do."

"I never heard of those songs before."

"I didn't expect you to. They're earthen."

"Can you sample one of the songs? Just so I can hear it." Jolokia asked. ZIM shrugged and nodded.

"This is the chorus to the Dusty song …" ZIM cleared his throat preparing to sing. "_Like a summer rose! Needs the sun and the rain! I need your sweet love to beat all the pain! I just don't know what to do with myself. _And then it repeats." Jalokia rubbed his chin then smiled.

"I like it. Do you have the original?"

"Right here. I have them here on my Imp." ZIM pulled out the Imp and plugged it into a stereo. The two of them listened to each song. Only ZIM knew what the words meant but Jalokia seemed to like the songs too. "What do ya' think?"

"I love 'em. But we will need to translate them into Irken. I'll get your agent to ask for permission by the companies who produced the songs and we'll record and make our own covered versions ourselves. I think we could get this done in about two weeks. Then it will be three songs to go." ZIM beamed.

"Have you thought of an album name yet?"

"Oh yes, how does this look?" Jalokia pulled something out of his desk drawer. It was a CD cover. It had a picture of him, one of his glamor shots, leaning back on a tree,

strumming an acoustic guitar wearing his ZIM brand clothes. The title said, _New Start, _right below that it had his 'stage name' and on the very bottom it had his full name along with the Jalokia Records emblem.

"_New Start_. Hmm. I do like it. But what exactly is newly starting?"

"Your career." ZIM sighed.

"I'm still not sure how long I will stay here. It all depends when the war ends. As soon as it does my brothers have to get back to work back on earth." ZIM said. "And I'll go back with them and move on with my life as if nothing happened. Plus, I'm really homesick. And my brother misses his girlfriend a lot."

"Well can't you travel back and forth from Earth to Irk?"

"I mean, I can. But that will get tiresome and expensive." Jalokia shrugged.

"They're making new and improved transporters." ZIM perked up.

"What?"

"Transporters," Jalokia repeated. "They're making them super long distant now so they can transport people all over the cosmos in less than five seconds. It's 1,500 monies a trip. More cheap than the 2,000 you need for a five day long ring cutter ride."

"I don't think we took a ring cutter here." ZIM mumbled. "Huh. Well I guess that would make it tons easier. We'll just figure it out when the time comes won't we?"

"But if you get this device you can't travel less than 800,000 miles otherwise it would

explode. And if, let's say you want to go somewhere else on earth, you can't go from Australia to Irk to the United States because these transporters are satellite operated. The last time the satellite picked you up was in Australia and if you suddenly reappear in the U.S. The device would get confused and explode."

"… Well, now that's just confusing." ZIM moaned. There was a knock at the office door.

"It's open." Jalokia called. Ele entered.

"Your brother is here, ZIM."

"Which one?"

"Purple." ZIM got up.

"Nnyyyaaaokaaayy, See ya tomorrow, Jalo." ZIM bid the man farewell.

"I'll have answers about the song covers by then. Then we can get to work on them." ZIM nodded, leaving the office and walked to the lobby where he saw Purple.

"Hey, mate." ZIM greeted.

"Hey, how was your day?" Purple asked leading him out of the studio and to his new Voot Cruiser.

"It was fine. Busy. Yours?"

"Red and I are planning a new assignment our boss gave us. Our boss apparently wants us to research and gather information of Irk and compare our findings of Irk to earth. So we'll be back in work soon." Purple said happily. He started the cruiser. "Red and your sisters are out tonight. I think they got caught up in some paparazzi wanting some answers about you and them. Hell, today I was stopped by several reporters

asking for what was new with you and what you'd be doing next."

"What did you tell them?" Purple smirked.

"I started speaking English at them and they slowly backed away not knowing if I was going mad or if I was already mad and was about to attack them."

"Huh. Speak English at them and they'll leave? Sounds effective. I'm gonna use that next time I get stopped." Purple and ZIM chuckled together.

"So do you think you're gonna do that movie?"

"I don't know yet. Again it all depends how the war does."

"Hmm, So what exactly is on your 'To do' list yet?"

"I have a few more _Amp _commercials and photo shoots. Three more songs to write and record. More shoots and commercials with my clothing line, and consider a movie. They gave me a script already. If I liked what I read then I'd get the part after a few acting

lessons."

"What's it called?"

"I think it's called, _Finding Her_. A romance, comedy about a man embarking on an

adventure to find his one true love. That's only the summary and all I know about. If I were to be in the movie I'd be in only three scenes as a street rat boy who tries to go on the adventure with the man. I really don't know how it's gonna play out. I didn't read it."

"Huh. Do you want to do it?" ZIM shrugged.

"No. I kind of want to but I don't have a lot of time. And what if the movie blows? That won't be good for my career."

"Well whatever you do, we'll be there to support you." Purple gave ZIM a heartwarming smile.

"Thanks bro." ZIM returned the smile.

"I haven't heard that song you wrote for Tak yet."

"You'll have to wait with the rest of Irk sorry."

"Aww. I get no special treatment."

"Nope. Just because you're my OBFAM, doesn't mean your get those luxuries." Purple huffed.

"Well at least tell me what it's about." Purple whined. ZIM shook his head.

"No. Everything's a secret."

"Fine." Purple started to land the voot on a launch pad. "Get out." He said. ZIM shook his head.

"No." ZIM said with a smirk.

"Brat."

"You would know."

"I'm telling on you."

"Grow up." Purple flicked ZIM's antenna with his finger. ZIM yelped in surprise. "Why'd you do that?" Purple didn't answer. He just snickered and continued to fly through the busy skies of Irk. "So we going to the apartment or ph?"

"Ph? What's a ph?"

"I abbreviated penthouse cause it made me sound like a rich, spoiled brat." Purple snickered.

"Apartment. My mom misses you."

"I seen her yesterday." ZIM said. Purple's mom has sorta been acting as ZIM's mom

recently. Which he was okay with. It made him feel like he had a more complete family.

"Yeah, well, you know her."

"Mmhmm." Ten minutes later they reached the apartment. When they got inside the smell of something spicy wafted through the air.

"Huh. Smells like chili." Purple said. Kaddie met them in the kitchen.

"I ordered the worlds best tasting pepper. Wanna try one?" Kaddie asked the boys. Purple frowned slightly. His mom was trying to trick them into something. "Please?"

"I'll try one!" ZIM piped up. Kaddie smiled broadly.

"Careful, ZIM. You still don't know her that well." Purple whispered.

"Worrier." Kaddie pulled a shriveled, sun dried pepper out of a convenient bag. She handed it to him. He observed the pepper for a moment.

"Just bite into it. Preferably the middle area, that's were the flavor is." Kaddie informed. Purple's eyes zoomed in on the bag. He read the label and gasped. He turned to warn ZIM but he already bit into it.

"ZIM no! That's a Red Savina!" ZIM quirked a brow at Purple.

"So? It's not that bad. It's actually- my god! Hot!" ZIM spat the pepper out of his mouth."Tastes like hell!"

"It probably tastes like hell because it's the hottest habañero on earth! Mom why would you give him something like that?" Kaddie looked at her son. She's been laughing the whole time.

"Just as a joke, Peder." Purple grumbled. He quickly walked to the freezer and grabbed a glass full of ice and poured milk into it. Water would make the burn worse.

"Here." Purple offer the glass to ZIM. He had streams of tears coming from his eyes. He grabbed the glass and downed it.

"Ugh! That didn't help." ZIM said.

"It'll wear off. Think of it this way. Now you'll be able to eat a whole jar of jalapeños in one sitting." Kaddie said.

"Heh, yeah. You could add it to your lists of many talents you have." Purple added. ZIM didn't acknowledge them. He dug the ice out of the glass and shoved them in his mouth.

"I'll be in the living room avoiding you guys." ZIM said, nonchalantly leaving the room with the glass of ice.

"That was … horrible, mom."

"I know. I can't help myself sometimes."

**July 2, 1995**

"It's been six and a half months." ZIM looked at Red. The two boys, Purple and their

sisters were in the ph's living room watching T.V. news broadcasts.

"Geez. That long already?" ZIM asked in disbelief. Red sighed somewhat sadly.

"I want to go home. I miss Leslie."

"I kinda want to go home too." Tenn said. "I do like it here, but it's not the same as earth. I'm not considered _smart _on this planet, but rather average." ZIM shrugged.

"I'm considered stupid on both planets." ZIM said.

"Yeah well, your popularity and cuteness distracts the people from thinking your dumb." Tenn replied.

"Pfft. That reminds me for some reason. I met my first hater today. He was following me when I was at the mall with Ele and Kel and he was taunting me. He called me a man whore. I'm not a man whore!" Prurple chuckled.

"He's just jealous that it wasn't him walking around the mall with two girls by his side."

"Yeah. Lets go with that." ZIM's Imp rung. He sighed. It's been ringing a lot lately. His

album was going to be released in August instead of September now. August 4 was the date that it should come out. "Yo' Jalo. Shoot."

"_We have a problem._"

"Hit me."

"_Well it's with the recording for your eighth song. You're gonna have to come in tomorrow and do it again._" ZIM groaned.

"It can't be fixed?"

"_No. We tried. Sorry._" ZIM let out a long sigh.

"'Kay I'll be there at ten in the morning. What's his face from _My Image _needs three new photos."

"_Okay, make sure your rest your voice. Thank you, ZIM._"

"No problem." ZIM hung up.

"Wait. There's a update on the war." Zee said turning up the T.V. sound.

"_The Helfa's surrendered this morning. The treaty will be signed on July 23 and the non-citizen Irkens can return home on the 25th._"

"Yes!" Red jumped and fist pumped. "I gotta tell Les!" ZIM frowned. Looks like the topic of, 'What am I going to do when I go back to earth' will come up with Jalo, Mevlo and him, again. Red left the room to make the phone call to earth.

"Hmm. I'm gonna miss Irk." Purple said. "But we have all the information we needed to research done here so I guess there is no point in staying."

"Huh yeah. But I still have a purpose here. What am I going to do?" ZIM asked. Zee, Tenn and Purple all exchanged glances.

"No idea. Maybe Red will let you come back once every other week." Tenn suggested. "Have you heard of those new transporters they're building?" ZIM nodded.

"Yes, Jalo mentioned those once or twice."

"When those things are up and running we have easy access to Irk all the time." Tenn said.

"It depends where they install them on earth. Or will they even have them on earth, for that matter."

"Mevlo and Jalokia already spent a lot of money on you. I'm sure they wouldn't mind buying one for you." Zee said, haughtily.

"They're selling them individually?"

"Yeah. Two point five million monies a piece. That's equivalent to a million Australian dollars." Purple said.

"Uh … whoa."

"Yeah well, those types of luxuries don't come cheap." Zee looked at her little brother. "Don't kill Red's good mood by bringing up your career and all that junk. He's finally smiling again." ZIM crossed his arms.

"I guess I'll just talk to Jalo about it tomorrow then." Red came sauntering back into the room. He almost rammed half his body into the edge of the wall when entering the living room again.

"What'd Les say?" Tenn asked.

"Huh? Oh! She says she's glad that she'll be able to see us again … and she loves us. She said to travel safely home … ZIM."

"What? I'm a safe person!" Everyone rolled their eyes. What a horrible lie. The phone rung. This time everyone got up to reach for it but ZIM being the closest got it first.

"Yellow!" ZIM greeted as he answered.

"…Purple?" Came a unsure voice on the other line.

"Blue!"

"Um … is Purple there?" ZIM's eyes widened.

"Oh! I thought we were playing the naming colors game! Yeah he's here. Is it one of his lady friends?"

"His sister. ZIM?"

"Yes?"

"I thought so. Take a chill pill, would ya?"

"I would if we had some." ZIM said into the phone and handed it to his OBFAM. "Is Marzi."

"Is really?" Purple asked.

"Is so. Now talk to her." ZIM thrust the phone into Purple's spooch. Purple left the room to talk in private.

"Hey!" Red said. He was on ZIM's laptop probably looking up his grades.

"Wha-?"

"Why haven't you been taking your classes lately?" Red asked. ZIM grew warm.

"I … forgot?" Red glared at him.

"Zeiden."

"I was slacking on school."

"Why?"

"Cuz I'm busy with other things." ZIM said. Dang it, why'd he have to get caught? "I only missed three lectures, Red! I'll do them later."

"Do them now. You're behind. Maybe now I will enroll you in public school when we get back."

"What? No!" ZIM exclaimed.

"Then do your work." ZIM quickly grabbed his laptop from Red and trotted to his room down the hall.

"You're getting a C plus in trigonometry!"

"I hate trig!" Came ZIM's muffled voice. Red sighed. ZIM had no motivation to even try sometimes.

**July 30, 1995**

"I'm you glad you guys decided to stay until the album was released." Mevlo said. They ZIM, Red and Purple were sitting in her office. "It wouldn't be smart to release the album when the artist isn't even here." ZIM nodded. Purple's family left on the 25th as did Mr. And Mrs. Griffon leaving Tak behind to finish her six months to live with the Macales. On August 10 they were planning on finally going home. "So are you gonna turn down the movie offer?"

"Yeah. I don't want my … fans to grow too attached to me." ZIM answered. He still wasn't use to having _fans_. Mevlo nodded slowly.

"I see. Well when you get back to earth keep in touch with me. 'Kay? You still are the icon for _Amplify _and you have a contract to keep up. Your clothing line too. Other than that, I guess that's it unless you want to sing more."

"I do. But not a full album. Like a few singles." Mevlo seemed happy about that. She was pretty upset that he turned down the movie offer.

"Well that's good. Meet me next week. We'll be talking about the release of your album." ZIM stood up with his brothers.

"Thanks Mev." ZIM hugged her quickly and left her office as Red and Purple shook her hand. He was so excited the album was going to be released soon. Tak would be able to hear her song he wrote for her. Speaking of Tak, he had to be home in ten minutes to meet her. He promised that the last half of the day will be spent with her. ZIM crawled in the drivers seat of Purple's voot. His brothers came out of the building to pile in too. Purple saw ZIM at the controls.

"Yeah right." Purple said, picking ZIM up and placed him on his lap. "When you're ten."

"But that's like two and a half years from now! And my half birthday is tomorrow so I'm close enough … I feel."

"Sorry, Zimmy." ZIM pouted at Purple. If there was another thing Purple and Red had in common, it was the fact that they crumble immediately whenever they see ZIM's puppy face. "Ugh … no." Purple said sternly, starting up his voot cruiser.

"Huh! Fine. El ZIM-o will just go y jack your voot!" Purple rolled his eyes at ZIM's bad attempt at speaking Spanish. "Me Espanol is bueno, oui?" Red snickered.

"Um ... It needs work."

**Later That Day**

"And how much did those cost ya?" Red asked slightly annoyed that his little brother was wasting all his money he made from modeling for his clothes line and _Amplify_ on things he doesn't really need. Zee took ZIM and Tak out to go shopping and of course half the time Zee probably wasn't watching. Now Zee was out with Tenn at a club. ZIM took the Aviators off his face.

"It was imported from earth!" ZIM said, totally ignoring the question and adjusting his zip-up hoodie. He was wearing a gangster hat with the hood pulled over it. Red sighed and looked at Tak. She had quite a few bags too. ZIM probably bought her lots of stuff. Red would admit that ZIM has great taste in fashion … for a kid … boy.

"How much were they, Zeiden?" Red repeated.

"Everything I bought today?" Red nodded. "I spent about three hundred fifty monies today." ZIM said timidly. Red's jaw dropped. This was the last time he let ZIM and Tak go out alone with Zee.

"What? Did you even try to bargain shop or look for clearances or sales?" ZIM shook his head.

"The head photographer from _My Image_ said that was stupid and it looked bad when celebrities do it." Red smacked his forehead. They were brainwashing his brother. "They have a lot of earthen stores here! There's a big outlet strip mall on the other side of Meijour where it's all earth stores. They had Hollister, Abrocrombie and Fitch, Aéropostale, American Eagle, Pac Sun, GAP, Icing and Rue 21." ZIM suddenly got a little nervous. He reached up to take off his hood and hat. "And I got this." Tak shifted slightly and left the room knowing Red wasn't going to like what he was about to see. ZIM slowly pulled the hat off his head.

"What the hell!" Red covered his mouth in an attempt to prevent any other profanity from escaping. ZIM's left antenna was pierced with a big diamond stud at the side of the triangular end of the long, black appendage. At least he got it in his left antenna. If he gotten it in his right that would mean he was homosexual. Red turned away from ZIM to think of the proper reply.

"Red?" ZIM asked quietly. Red whirled back around, getting on his knees so he was face-to-face with ZIM and grabbed him by his shoulders.

"Why? Why would you do something like that to yourself?" Red exclaimed shaking the boy roughly. "How? You aren't even old enough to get one on your own!"

"It's trendy and I wanted it done!" ZIM defended himself, trying to pry himself from his older brother's grasp.

"How did you get it done?" Red asked again. ZIM gulped. This was the worst part.

"I went to someone who does it … underground." Red's eyes were wide with disbelief.

"So you're saying you went to someone who does it illegally?" Red said through gritted teeth. ZIM gulped and nodded. Red rose from the floor picking ZIM up with him.

"What are you doing?" ZIM asked looking at Red with big, pleading eyes. Red didn't answer. He carried the smaller Irken to his room. Red set ZIM down on his bed. Red closed the door behind him. Tightly.

"I can't believe you would do something like that, Zeiden!" Red shouted at the cowering little Irken on his bed. "Was is peer pressure or was it your own stupid choice?"

"My choice." ZIM said looking down at the dark brown fur-like comforter.

"What made you think that getting your antenna pieced by a complete stranger, who didn't even have a license to do it, was okay? You didn't ask me, Zeiden! You should know better than to do something so stupid!" ZIM took in a sharp breath and held. Red bit his lip. Everyone in his family or friends knew that ZIM was very sensitive when being called stupid or dumb. Heck, that kid was sensitive in general! Sure they joked about it a lot but when they were serious and called ZIM dumb, he would start tearing up or even full out sob. Red chose his next words carefully. "What you did was so wrong and dangerous Zeiden. If whoever pierced your antenna in the wrong spot he could have made you deaf in one ear." ZIM nodded understanding not looking up. "Look at me in the eye, Zeiden." Red said fiercely. ZIM didn't. Red had a really menacing face when he was angry. ZIM felt a hand cup his chin. It was pulled up to look Red in the eye.

"I'm so sorry, Red!" ZIM said. His eyes were watering. "I wasn't thinking! I never do. You know I have no common sense!" Red winced. Now he really regrets calling ZIM's actions stupid, though true. "Tak told me not to! But I didn't listen! I have selective hearing and I only listen to what I want to hear-" ZIM continued to ramble. Red couldn't help but forgive the little guy. He was just too cute when he pouted and sobbed. Red cut him off by wrapping his strong arms around ZIM.

"Shh. You talk too much." Red said. ZIM quieted himself. Red pulled his little brother back to look at his magenta eyes. "It's fine, ZIM. Just don't do it again." Red released ZIM and took hold of his left antenna. The tiny Irken jumped. It still hurt. Red tried pulling the stud out of the appendage.

"Ow! Red what are you doing? I'm not supposed to take that out for eight weeks!" ZIM said.

"You didn't actually think you were keeping it, did you?" ZIM bit his lower lip.

"Can I please?" ZIM looked at his older brother with big, glossy eyes. Red stared at ZIM for a long moment. The red-eyed Irken pursed his lips tightly, trying to stay strong underneath the gaze of the youngster. Red groaned. He lost again. One of these days he's got to learn to put his foot down. Red turned to leave his room.

"You're grounded for the next month. Stay here till I come get you again."

"What? Why? From what?" ZIM asked in disbelief. His brother never grounded him for so long before.

"You know why. You're grounded from … having fun."

"Ex post facto!" ZIM said, angrily.

"That rule doesn't apply here. It's called common sense, Zeiden. Go read a book." Red said shutting the door tightly.

"Books are for earthlings!" ZIM called after. Now he was mad. Not at Red but at himself. Well, maybe he was a little mad at Red. ZIM sighed and laid back in Red's bed. Now what was he going to do?

**August 1, 1994**

"I like it." Jalokia said staring at the diamond antenna-ring on ZIM. "Makes you look rash."

"Gee thanks." ZIM said sarcastically.

"You are welcome." Jalokia typed something into his computer. He reclined in his chair of his office and looked at his little star. "I'm all done editing your songs. Now let's see, I believe Mevlo said you still have one more photo shoot for _Amplify _before your contract expires and there is a whole bunch of new clothe styles coming out for your clothing collection and even some accessories. Do you think you're gonna renew your contract with _Amp_?" ZIM nodded. "Great! Oh and they're changing the name of the new clothes for your line. They're calling it _Zest by ZIM_." ZIM chuckled.

"Cute." He said. ZIM was really proud of how his line of clothes was turning out. He was also proud of how much monies he was making. 5,000 per shoot and he got ten percent of the market sales. For _Amp _he got 8,000 per shoot plus free technology from _Amp_. And his album he will get an estimated 12 monies for every album sold, and 12,000 for the labor and recording the songs. He never bragged about it, but life was good.

"Are you excited for the fourth?"

"Heck yeah! Wait … what's the fourth?" ZIM asked. Jalokia looked at the boy.

"Your album's release." The green-eyed man said. ZIM gave him a confused look.

"Huh? Oh yeah! Yeah, I remember now. When was that?"

"August 4, ZIM." Jalokia said again, slightly annoyed.

"Oh." ZIM thought for a moment. "I'm going home one week from now."

"Are you excited?" Jalokia asked.

"Yes. But I feel more at home here. I feel so much better here than I did on earth."

"That's because this is your home planet. The place of your ancestors." ZIM nodded.

"Eh, actually I have ancestors who hail from Australia from an aboriginal tribe. Yeah. Well I guess I'll visit often."

"Oh yes! The studio invested in a long distant transporter and got you one for when you go back to earth!" Jalokia opened his desk drawer and shuffled through it. "Here you are." Jalokia handed ZIM a baseball-shaped and sized black ball with a red button in the center of it. ZIM took the ball and pressed the button. The sound of hydraulics working sounded and the ball sprung open revealing a cell phone-like keyboard and screen. "All you do is type in the planet and it's coordinates then press the red, 'Send' button and you'll beam to your destination. Heh, I tried it last night. I went all the way to Blorch! … Don't ever go there, I forbid you." ZIM looked at Jalokia questionably.

"Why?" Jalokia gave him a very serious look.

"Just … don't." Jalokia said lowly. He seemed to have a complete mood swing when he put on a big smile and chirped. "We will be holding a party here at Jalokia Studios on the day of the release! It will be your day to shine!" ZIM gave the man a soft smile.

"Yeah." ZIM said remembering Tak's song.

**August 4, 1995**

"I'm so happy for you!" Tak yelled giving ZIM a huge hug. "I can't wait to hear the album! I bet it will be wonderful!"

"I hope you like it." ZIM said hugging her back. ZIM, Tak, Red, the sisters, and Purple were all gathered in the studio's party room with a number of fans as well as other famous Irken and even Vortian artists. ZIM snickered as he saw Purple sweet talk a tall Vortian into dancing with him. The Vortian giggled and nodded. Purple beamed as he led her to the dance floor.

"I already bought your CD at the sale table! You look great on the cover." Tak said. ZIM pushed her away.

"Thanks. I thought I looked a little-"

"Zeiden Macale." ZIM started when he heard a new voice behind him. He turned to see who is was. A blue-eyed, girl with really curly antenna. She was wearing heavy makeup and a rather revealing red dress. She looked like she was ten years old but the make up made her look seventeen. Tak made a gagging noise.

"Yes. May I help you?" The new girl got closer to him.

"My name is Wik Skeck. I'm a big fan." She said shaking his hand. "I'm a singer myself. I sang, _Yours or Ours_. Ever heard of it?" ZIM shook his head. Wik frowned. "Well it was a pretty popular song."

"Oh," ZIM looked at Tak uncomfortably. Tak was scowling at the girl. Wik pressed her body against ZIM's. She had to be a good four inches taller than him. ZIM cleared his throat and took a small step back. "Ehm, so where are you from?"

"South Irk. City of Fiver next to the Oolup River. Jalokia used to be my producer." Wik said. "But that's not important. What's important is if you'd like to dance with me or not." ZIM felt a blush cross his features. Tak growled behind him.

"Uh … I guess I could spare a dance." He felt Tak pull his shirt. He looked back at her again. "Just one dance, Tak. Then the rest of the night, I'm yours." Tak huffed and crossed her arms. Tak had a jealousy issue when it came to ZIM hanging out with other girls. He remembered back to when she had first met Gaz.

"Fine," Tak grumbled and went to ask Red if he'd dance with her. ZIM's hand was grabbed by Wik as she led him to the floor and pulled him close. They were smack dab in the middle of the party room. Irken waltzing was different from the English waltz Tak taught him, so he let Wik lead as she put her right hand on his hip. ZIM over lapped her right hand with his left. She put her other hand on his shoulder and he put his other hand on her other hip. She swayed slightly to the music. Wik was staring deep into his eyes with a sly smile on her face.

"You have quite the voice. It's very mature and makes listening to music a lot more fun than normal."

"Thanks. I'd say the same to you but I don't know if I ever heard one of your songs." ZIM said, sheepishly. He looked everywhere but her face. It was awkward enough dancing with a complete stranger. And now, if he wasn't mistaken, he'd say that she was trying to make a move on him.

"You're so cute." She said. ZIM's brow furrowed. Yup, she was defiantly making a move.

"Thanks." ZIM replied, not knowing what else to say. Sure he could have said that she looked nice too, but Tak was right next to him dancing with his older brother, giving Wik the evil eye.

"You're look so sharp in your suit." She said looking down at ZIM's attire.

"Heh, stand back of you might get stabbed." ZIM whimpered as she lightly ground her hips into his his. Wik chuckled at his comment. "Um … could you possibly back away a little." Wik didn't listen and just got closer. She leaned her face in so it was mere centimeters away from his. "Please?" Out of the corner of his eye he could see Tak fuming, clawing at Red's suit he was wearing. Nearly tearing holes in the black cashmere. Tak glared harshly as Wik got closer to, 'her man'.

"Why, what's wrong?" She asked. Her voice was low and husky. ZIM cringed as her breath blew into his face. It smelled very minty. He was allergic to peppermint. He coughed a bit, both out of allergies and an attempt to get her to back off. this action had no avail on what he wanted her to do.

'_Too close! Too close! Too Close!_' ZIM thought. "Nothings wrong. It's just that I don't-" ZIM was cut off by Wik pressing her lips hard against his. It was a dry kiss unlike the ones his brother and Leslie share. ZIM's eyes widened, his back was stiff. He was frozen and completely immobile. '_How forward can this girl be!_' ZIM mentally screamed.

"What the hell!" ZIM heard Tak screech. Wik was pushed roughly off of him. Wik fell to the ground. "You little slut! Back off my man!" Tak shouted holding ZIM possessively. ZIM was still in shock and didn't know what to think. It happened to quickly for anything to register in his brain. And the foul mint taste now invaded his mouth so he found himself going into a coughing fit for a brief moment.

"My Irk! I never! You will be hearing from my attorney about that assault!" Wik yelled back getting up and fixing her dress. She stormed out of the room in haste. Red quickly walked over to the scene. Tak steamed and turned back to ZIM and slapped him across the face.

"Ow! Damn! What did I do?" ZIM asked loudly. He notice a crowd watching them.

"You know what you did! You let her kiss you!" Tak shouted. Red knelt by Tak.

"Tak please, you're making a scene." Red hissed. ZIM rubbed his sore cheek. Tak turned on her heels and left the room to the girls sitting lounge, furious.

"Did you see that?" ZIM asked in disbelief. Red narrowed his eyes at ZIM.

"I think she had a right to slap you. You know she likes you. And kissing someone significantly older than you makes me uncomfortable. Not only that but you're way too young to be doing stuff like kissing and such." Red said.

"That girl kissed me! Plus, I think she was ten. And she tasted like mint which made it worse." Red sighed.

"She was fifteen. Why don't you go talk to Tak?" ZIM sighed heavily. Thinking for a long moment before an plan popped in his head.

"I have a better idea." ZIM trotted to the Disc Jockey. "Hey, I know we aren't supposed to play my songs until later but I really need you to play track eight for me." ZIM pleaded the man. The DJ looked at ZIM.

"Why?" ZIM didn't answer he just gave his best cute look to the DJ. "Okay. Wait a sec," The DJ took ZIM's album's disc and stuck it in the music player.

"Thank you." ZIM said. He quickly made his way over to the girl's lounge and knocked on the door. "Tak! Takayla you need to hear something! Really! It's important. Please?" Tak threw the door open and glared at ZIM with teary eyes.

"What do you want, Zeiden?" ZIM took her hand and pulled her out back to the party room.

"I want you to listen to your song." ZIM said sweetly. Tak cocked a brow.

"My song?" She asked. Tak perked her antenna to listen. Soft music was playing along with a beautiful steady rhythm. Then ZIM's sweet singing voice.

"_I see you everyday, but the distance is still great. What we used to have, we don't have it anymore. But that doesn't mean we can't renew our connection. I'll just have to prevent the spread, so we're not slowly drifting apart._" Tak gawked as a few party-goers recognized ZIM's voice and cheered and some even slow danced.

"Is that-?"

"It's your song." ZIM said hoping she liked it.

"You wrote the lyrics?" She asked still in shock.

"Yup, and composed the music." ZIM studied her reaction. "You don't like it do you?" He asked sadly. "I'm sorry if I made things weird, I just wanted to-Ack!" Tak pounced on ZIM and hugged him tightly burying her face into the nook of his neck and sobbing.

"Oh! I love it! I love it! You're so sweet! I love you so much!" She said in between gasps. ZIM smiled and saw his brother. Red gave him a proud look as well as a thumbs up. "It's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for anybody!"

"Oh, I'm sure there was probably nicer things done but …" ZIM trailed off as Tak kissed him all over his face. Tears of happiness streaming down her face. "I'm glad you like it." Tak back up a bit and nodded brushing some tears off her face.

"Thank you so much, Zei-Zei. It means a lot to me. Really."

"You're welcome, Tak. Anytime." The two embraced each other again hearing a collective 'aw' from the guests. Jalokia came up from behind Tak and looked down at ZIM.

"Why is one of your songs playing?" He asked, brow raised in suspicion.

"It's not my song," ZIM said, not releasing from the embrace. "It's Tak's song."

**August 10, 1995**

"Over a billion copies already sold across the galaxy and the numbers are still climbing." Red said looking from the digital news paper. "Good job, Zimmy." ZIM typed something in a calculator.

"I get twelve monies per album." ZIM mumbled. His eyes almost bugged out of his head as he saw the results. "I'd get twelve billion monies!" Red rolled his eyes.

"Did you really need a calculator to figure that out?"

"You … know I'm stupid." ZIM scowled.

"You're not stupid, ZIM. You're just … challenged." Purple said taking a sip of his coffee. ZIM frowned.

"That doesn't sound better." Red and Purple snickered.

"Ignore them, ZIM. Together they have the same maturity as a two year old Vortian." Tenn said. Purple and Red gasped.

"How dare she!" Red said.

"Why we take this crap?" Purple crossed his arms.

"I can get a car, a voot, and a puppy!" ZIM said. "All I have to do is wait for the check."

"You can just get it through the mail. I wanna go home." Red mumbled.

"You only want to go home to see Leslie." Tenn said.

"I haven't seen her in half a year!" Red slumped in his seat.

"What are we gonna do with this place?" Purple asked about the penthouse.

"Either put it on the market or keep it till next time we come and visit." Red said. "But if we keep it then we would be paying for three different houses in three different locations, including Alice Springs, Silver Lake, and Meijour. It would get costly." ZIM frowned and looked at Red.

"I'll share my check with you." He said giving Red a big toothy grin.

"Heh thanks. But I really hate to burst your, 'I has monies now!' bubble but, I'm going to be putting all your monies in the bank till I can teach you some money management." ZIM's grin deflated like a balloon.

"What? Why?"

"Because so far you've been spending all your earnings on clothes and … piercings." Red said narrowing his eyes toward the diamond stud in ZIM's left antenna. "Added bonus, you just said you'd use your 12 billion buying a car, a voot, and a … puppy, and not something useful like a new brain."

"Ugh, fine. But let me at least keep 3 thousand out of the bank for spending monies." ZIM said ignoring Red's last statement.

"We'll see. As of right now I want you to pack your things. We're taking one of those long distance intergalactic transporters back to earth." Red said. Purple sighed. "What?"

"Imma miss my voot. I named her and everything. Chelsea."

"We're coming back. Hell, we have to! ZIM signed a contract! Right, Zeiden?" Red said shooting his younger sibling a glare. ZIM looked totally lost.

"I'm sorry, what? All I heard was, _Blah Blah Blah, ZIM, Blah, Blah, Zeiden._" Tenn, Zee and Tak giggled as Red rolled his eyes.

"You're a laugh riot. Really." ZIM got up from his seat with a smug look and left the room to his bedroom to pack for homecoming.

**Later That Day**

"That felt weird. Like we touch an electric fence but with no pain." Purple said, stepping off the family size transport pad. "So much easier and cheaper than the five day trip in a runner." The others nodded in agreement. They looked around at their surroundings and found themselves at the spaceport in Huston again. They just installed a transport pad there.

"I feel five pounds lighter." ZIM said.

"That's cuz you are five pounds lighter on earth. Less gravity." Red said. It felt good to be home. Though Irk felt more like home than earth ever will. "Well, who's ready to take a flight to Missouri and then a long, cramped drive to Michigan?" Red asked enthusiastically. ZIM raised his hand excitedly then realized what Red just said and quickly lowered it.

"Geez, you made that sound like fun, Red. I thought for a brief moment it was going to be."

"Nah, it won't be fun. But it will be a fine trip if no one acts up … teenager abuser." Red said. ZIM scoffed.

"I told you that jerk was rubbing me the wrong way!" Red rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Let's get our tickets."

**August 11, 1995**

"Red!" Leslie shoved her face into Red's neck and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back with lots of passion as Gaz and ZIM hugged just a few yards away. "How was Irk? You've been gone for so long! I missed you!"

"It would of been better if you were with us but, it was fine, I guess." Red said. Leslie pressed her lips to his and used her tongue to lick his bottom lip and gently nibbled on it. The couple broke off as they heard a scream come from behind them. They looked to see ZIM covering his eyes.

"PDA! What would Jesus do? What would he do!" He exclaimed. Red and Leslie chuckled.

"One of these days ZIM. You'll be wanting to do the same thing." Red said. Tak looked at ZIM with a huge smile. ZIM looked back at her.

"Uh … one of these days … no time soon … I trust." ZIM hauled his luggage into their beach house.

"Well, it's a beautiful summer morning. Would you like to hang out on the beach for bit once you get settled back in?" Leslie asked. Red nodded.

"I'll be right back. In the mean time, why don't you ask Purple how he got that nasty bruise on his face." Red said before trotting up the stone path to the house. Leslie turned to face Purple by the truck.

"What happened to your face?" Purple snapped out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh this? Um, well I decided to show ZIM and Tak a little makeshift science experiment. The lesson was solids cannot pass through solids. And as an example I opened a car door … on my face." Leslie burst into a fit of laugher.

"Something tells me you weren't expecting that lesson."

"Heh, yeah." Purple said turning and opening the truck door weary of where it swung open. "Is it really that noticeable?" Leslie looked at the bruise.

"Uh … noooo." She lied.

"Oh good! I thought it was. ZIM said it was and so did Tenn and Zee." Leslie gave him a sheepish grin and nodded. Purple pulled more bags out of the truck as he spoke. Red came out of the house with ZIM and the four girls.

"I have an idea," Red said. "Since it's a Monday that means no one will be in the sand dunes today right? People only come up on weekends. How 'bout we go there?" Red suggested.

"You have a dune buggy?" Leslie asked.

"No but we do have four wheel drive Chevy, two quads, and three dirt bikes."

"I like that idea." ZIM perked. "I call the blue and orange bike!"

"You were gonna get the bike anyway." Red said. "It is your bike."

"You're gonna let me ride?" ZIM asked hopefully. Red cocked a brow at the little Irken. He was still grounded from the piercing he got.

"Sure whatever." Red said. "Go load them up in the dirt bike trailer." ZIM gave a slight fist pump and sauntered over to the garage. "Purple help him. Some of those bikes are three times the size of him."

"I always help him." Purple muttered and followed ZIM.

"I got to go home first and get some things." Leslie said. "I'll meet you in the parking lot at the dunes."

"'Kay. See ya' then." Leslie called for Gaz and hopped in their car and sped off to their house to prepare for the day. Red walked over to the garage to find Purple and ZIM fighting about how the bikes and quads should be loaded. "First of all guys we need to hook the truck up before we do anything." Purple looked at ZIM.

"Told you!"

"You didn't tell me anything!" ZIM shot back. Red rubbed his temples.

"Pur, will you back up the truck? ZIM gather the flags and poles and mount them to the bikes and quads."

"Okay." ZIM mumbled walking off to find what he needed. They were gonna have a great day.

**Same Day**

"ZIM I want you to follow me at first, okay? We're going to the beach and set up a small site there!" Red yelled over the loud sound of three souped-up dirt bikes, two quads and a diesel Chevy as well as other people's motorized vehicles. "ZIM are you listening?" Red asked. ZIM looked up from playing with his bikes paddle tires startled.

"What?" Red scowled.

"Listen! Follow Purple, Tenn, Zee and I to the beach! Then when you check in with me you can go out again with one of us." ZIM again wasn't paying attention as he pulled on his helmet and adjusted his goggles. "Do you understand?" ZIM looked at Red.

"Huh? Oh yeah!" Red stared at ZIM for awhile knowing he was lying.

"Just follow us to the beach! Okay? Just do it!"

"Heh, you should be like … a spokes person for Nike." Red face palmed and sighed.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Red whined.

"What? About following you to the beach?"

"Yes!"

"Oh no. I didn't." ZIM said and climbed on his blue and orange KTM dirt bike. It was a bit big for him. It was made for someone with the height of four feet tall and not two feet and nine inches like ZIM. But ZIM wanted a powerful bike and not some bike for a toddler. ZIM kicked the stand up and revved up the motor. He let Red pass him on his neon green bike, ZIM smiled slightly. Red wasn't wearing a shirt which meant he was gonna get sand blasted. His baggy pants were sagging too showing off his red plaid boxers and the dimples on his back. Of course the oldest Macale sibling didn't care. He wanted to show off his lean six pack, pecs and small ass to Leslie.

Tenn and Zee were on their matching blue quads followed and Purple on a black dirt bike. He rode for motocross in Canada for several years and competed in several championships winning five and being runner up in three. Then there was Gaz, Tak and Leslie driving Red's truck into the dunes. ZIM started slowly as he cruised through the parking lot and onto the dirt path leading up to the dunes. They had to go through a DNR officer before entering the dunes. The officer allowed Red, Purple, the sisters, and Leslie to pass but stopped ZIM.

"Son, how old are you." ZIM sighed.

"Seven, sir."

"You have to be twelve or older." ZIM took off his helmet.

"I'm Irken. The age for Irkens is seven." The officer frowned slightly.

"You don't even look seven years old. Can I see your ORV?" ZIM dug through his pocket and handed the man the tan piece of paper for proof.

"Are you done? I told my brother I'd follow him to the beach." The DNR officer handed the slip of paper back.

"Alright. You stay safe out there. Avoid the bad lands."

"Thank you." ZIM drove past the officer and heard the _twang _of the flag pole attached to his bike hit a metal bar. That was good it meant that the flag was visible to everyone. If it didn't touch the bar then it wouldn't be tall enough. ZIM curled his wrist to make the bike tear through the sand and catch up to his brothers and sisters. They were waiting for him on the top of a hill at the entrance of the dunes.

"What gives?" Red asked.

"DNR officer stopped me." ZIM said. "Are we going?" Red nodded and led the convoy to the beach. The dunes were beautiful, it looked like a desert in north Africa but with cooler climate and a lake and of course a few spots of vegetation. They drove through the loose sand and down to lake level to the beach. They found a parking spot and a nice area to set up their site. ZIM got off his bike and ran up to Red. "Can I go out again? I saw a few babes by Test Hill that were eyeballing me and I know they would love to see some more of this." ZIM motioned to his body, eyes closed smiling a cheeky smile. Red rolled his eyes looking at ZIM.

"Who's going with you?" ZIM looked around at possible candidates.

"Zee?" He asked noticing she was still sitting on her four-wheeler. She glanced at him and motioned for him to get back on his bike and go for a ride with her. ZIM smiled. "We'll be back in thirty minutes! Maybe." ZIM chirped and got on his dirt bike and stood on the pegs.

"Be careful, ZIM! Watch for others! Don't do anything stupid!" Red called after him. The older Irken sighed as he watched his younger siblings take off doing a rather impressive wheelie for a good twenty feet. Red felt someone wrap their arms around his waist from behind, hands sliding up and down his chest and torso, feeling the tone muscles on his body. He turned to Leslie.

"I'm gonna set up a beach blanket for us, 'Kay?" She said. Red nodded. She walked off. He let his eyes wander to her figure in her bikini. She was gorgeous, except her butt jiggled a little. Red didn't care. He thought it was cute. Red snapped his head to the other side when he heard Purple whistle at a group of college girls walking past him.

"Wassup, ladies?" He asked, trying to be smooth as he took off his cut off muscle shirt to show off his own abs and pecs. The girls giggled and stopped to talk to the purple-eyed Irken. Red heard them talking about the bruise on Purple's face. Purple then went into a far-fetched tale of how he got in a fight with someone considerably bigger and beefier than him but ended up winning in the end. Typical, Pur. Red chuckled.

"Yeah right." He muttered under his breath and walked to the beach to meet up with Leslie. She laid out a huge, green Spartans beach towel. She was sitting on it watching Gaz and Tak test the water at the shore's edge. Red sat next to her. Leslie rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm so glad you're back." Leslie said.

"I am too." Red kissed her head. He put a pair of sunglasses on his face and laid down on the towel. Leslie did the same cuddling up to him. "I must say, though, I lost some respect for you."

"What?" Leslie asked befuddled.

"Michigan State fan? Please. Wolverines always kick their sorry asses." Red smirked as Leslie hit him playfully.

"Hey Gaz, catch." Tak said throwing the young girl a volleyball. Gaz bumped it up into the air with her arms and watched it soar and land in the water eight feet away from the shore. "Aww man. Hey, Purple!" Purple looked away from talking to the girls and at the younger girls. "Get our ball, please?" He shook his head and turned back to the women.

"Red!" Gaz called. Red sat up and looked at her. "Can you get our ball? Purple won't." Red smiled and shook his head and laid back down. "Why are those two such jerks?" Gaz grumbled. Tak shrugged.

"Couldn't tell ya'." Tak said, she decided to get the ball herself. There was a strong rip current today so she made sure her feet were safely planted into the sandy bottom. She grabbed the ball and stepped back to the beach.

"How was Irk?" Gaz asked.

"Marvelous! Beautiful cities and wonderful people. ZIM probably had the most fun."

"Yeah, he left here with no title whatsoever and came back known as a Irken pop singer and model. That's crazy. Of course, no one here knows of his fame. They just think he's another earthen Irken."

"Well, he's more of an Irken country slash pop singer." Tak said, nodding in agreement and threw the volleyball at Red and Leslie. The ball landed on the blanket beside Red. He turned his head to see what nearly hit him. He rolled his eyes when he saw it was the ball Gaz wanted him to get. He shrugged and put an arm around his girl. Both basked in the sun for a few minutes before Red's Imp vibrated. He reached for it to see who was calling. It was Zee. Oh God. ZIM is dead. He got into an awful crash and suffered a horrible, slow, painful fate. Red bit his lip as he answered the phone. "Talk to me." He said.

"Red, it's ZIM." Zee responded from the other side of the line. She sounded concerned. Red's heart started to beat faster. He looked over to Purple where he was happily talking to the girls. They seemed to be swooning over him. Purple caught Red's gaze and knew something was wrong and bid the girls goodbye to see what it was.

"Of course it is. What happened?"

"Well first of all he thought it would be fun to jump the tallest hill here when some asshole cut him off, he slid on his side and his bike landed on his ankle. I think it might be shattered. Another thing, he is currently trying to pick a fight with a DNR officer who is trying to help him." Red sucked in his breath. Why wasn't he surprised. His little idiot of a brother couldn't stay out of trouble.

"Where are you guys?"

"Base of Test Hill. You better hurry. ZIM is getting fussy." Zee said. Red heard ZIM in the background whining and cussing up a storm in Irken and even aboriginal for some reason. Maybe just to keep it clean for the spectators who didn't understand either language.

"Let me talk to him." Red said. The other line shuffled a little bit and was handed over to ZIM.

"What?" ZIM asked irritably. His voice sounded pained.

"What the hell were you doing?" There was a pause. ZIM sighed.

"I was gonna jump a hill." He said simply.

"Why?" Red asked.

"They said I wasn't capable!"

"Don't take that tone with me, Zeiden Macale." Red snapped.

"Sorry." ZIM muttered.

"Now just stay put and behave. I'll be there shortly." Red said hanging up the phone. Leslie sat up and looked at Red.

"What's wrong?"

"ZIM got into an accident. First day back and he's got to do shit like this." Red said to Purple and Leslie. "We got to help him." He motioned for Purple to follow him to the truck. "Les, would you stay here with Tenn and watch over the kids. We may have to go to the hospital and we'll be back to pick you guys up in a few hours."

"Alright, Hun." Leslie said. "You be careful." Red nodded and walked to the truck with Purple. He started to think to himself. 'Once I see ZIM and he's all in one piece. I'm going to kill him.'

**Meanwhile **

ZIM handed the phone back to Zee from his laying position in the warm sand. She took it and shoved it in her pocket. "Red is not happy with you." Zee said. ZIM winced as a DNR officer touched his ankle a little too roughly.

"I didn't expect him to be." ZIM grumbled. Zee knelt down beside her brother and patted his antenna.

"Can't you just stay out of trouble?"

"Obviously not." ZIM said trying to sit up. The officer tending to his leg accidentally bumped it when he tried to stand and made ZIM screech in pain. "Ow! God! You stupid son of a bitch!" Zee quickly covered his mouth with her hand. She shh'd him in an attempt to calm him down.

"I'm sorry." The officer apologized. They waited for ten minutes longer, they were the longest ten minutes of ZIM's life it seemed. A small crowd was gathering around to see what happened. The officer once again started to touch ZIM's leg making him squirm uncomfortably. A bystander walked up to the scene and asked where he learned to ride dirt bike and laughed as his buddies high-fives him as if he just came up with the funniest joke in the world. ZIM tilted his head to look at the annoying spectator.

"Fuck off!"

"Zeiden Izac Macale!" A booming voice sounded. ZIM looked to his left and saw Red and Purple getting out of their truck. ZIM bit his lip. Red stomped over to the little Irken. "Watch your language, boy. I'm already not happy with you." Red hissed. ZIM shut up immediately not wanting to piss off his brother more.

"We have a med truck coming in to pick him up and bring him to Manistee's local hospital." A female officer said. "I'm no doctor but it looks like he'll be immobile for awhile." Red looked at Zee who nodded in agreement. And she was studying to be a doctor.

"Okay, thank you." Red mumbled. Purple sat on the sand cradling ZIM's head in his lap asking the tiny boy all sorts of questions.

"What happened exactly?"

"I didn't get to land right when I jumped because someone cut me off, my bike slid out from underneath me. I fell on my side and bent my ankle awkwardly. Then my bike's motor fell on top of it." ZIM informed. "It hurts like hell." ZIM whimpered. Red got closer to inspect the damage. He couldn't tell his brother's ankle was even broken. He still had his custom made orange and blue Fox dirt bike boots on. Red carefully reached for the buckles and unlatched them. He then tried to pull the boots off but ZIM wailed and cried. "No! No! That hurts!" Purple pursed his lips.

"It might have to be cut off." He said. ZIM's eyes widened.

"No! I need my foot! How else am I suppose to play baseball?" ZIM asked, panicking. Red and Purple gave him a strange look. ZIM suddenly felt stupid. "You were talking about cutting off my boot, weren't you? Well you can't cut those off either! These are my favorite riding boots!"

"I'm afraid they might have no choice." Red said. "Do you like being in pain ZIM?" Red asked. His little brother shook his head.

"No! I just like doing stupid things that put me in pain, is all."

"Hey, the medics are coming." Zee said. "I can go to the hospital with him if you want. You guys can hang at the beach again."

"No, I'll go. I feel like he'll be a pain in the ass for the doctors." Red grumbled. Zee and Purple exchanged glances.

"We'll go back to the beach. We're taking the truck with us." Purple said.

"We'll call you if we leave the beach early." Zee added. The two hoped threw ZIM's bike in the back of the truck and drove off to the direction of the beach as the medic's truck stopped by the injured Irken. Three big guys got out and tended to ZIM. They started asking him ridiculous questions.

"Get outta my face fat ass!" ZIM shouted at one medic.

"Zeiden!" Red snapped. Red knelt by ZIM's head and grabbed his chin so the younger Irken would look at him in the eye. "What did I say?"

"To watch my language and you're not happy with me." ZIM said. ZIM tried sitting up again but Red pushed him down.

"Stay down. You'll find a way to hurt yourself." ZIM could feel someone start to cut his boot off. He growled but did nothing. He'd just buy another pair. He did, after all, have twelve billion in the bank and more profit on the way. Taking out five hundred for new boots wouldn't put a big dent in his account. Once the boot was off, ZIM's ankle looked like a wreck. Red gasped and covered his mouth and quickly averted his eyes. Even the medics seemed a little disgusted.

"What?" ZIM asked managing to sit up successfully. His mouth dropped when he saw his ankle. "Oh my God!" He exclaimed. One of his ankle bones was protruding out of his skin and it was a bloody, fleshy mess. ZIM's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he promptly fainted, too weak of heart to look at something so disturbing?

"ZIM? Zeiden!" Red shouted trying to revive his brother by gently slapping his cheeks. "Damn it." The medics quickly wrapped ice and put it in a splint. They carefully moved his small, lifeless body to a gurney and into the back of the medical truck. Red crawled in the back with his brother and one of the medics whereas the two others rode in the front. Red leaned over to his brother and gently rubbed his face. "ZIM … why you do this shit?"

**Later**

"A fracture on his right tibia and talus. The bone that was sticking out was his fibula. We managed to put it back into place but he might need to see a chiropractor to get readjusted ever once in a while. Last thing is that he has a major sprain." The doctor said. It was the same doctor from half a year earlier. Doctor Murrey and another male nurse named Hector. ZIM sighed. He was lying down on a medical table in a room. His ankle was now in a brace. They needed to get the cast material yet. Red was sitting in a chair next to the bed. A hand on ZIM's shoulder. The nurse came in with the cast material and started to wrap ZIM's ankle. Once it was done they allowed ZIM to sit up and go over precautions he needed to take. "No extra physical activity, lots of bed rest, take medications and keep your ankle elevated and iced." ZIM grumbled something under his breath. "Now, I'll give you your prescription then we'll fit you for crutches and schedule some physical therapy dates."

"I'm not using crutches." ZIM said. Red cocked a brow at him.

"ZIM, just use the crutches."

"If you don't want to use crutches then you can use a wheel chair." Murrey suggested.

"No! I don't need either of those." ZIM said crossing his arms.

"Hun, you can't have pressure on your ankle whatsoever." Murrey tried to reason with him.

"I don't care. I'm not using them."

"Why not?" Red asked.

"They'll make me look weak and I'm more than capable of walking on my own."

"Oh for God's sake- ZIM, just use the crutches."

"No! I refuse to use them!" Doctor Murrey and Nurse Hector looked at each other.

"We'll let you guys settle this. I've got other patients. We'll be back in ten minutes." Murrey said leaving the room with Hector.

"I don't care what you say, Red. I'm not using the God damn crutches!" Red clenched his fists. His patience with ZIM was wavering.

"See to reason, Zeiden," Red growled through grit teeth. "You'll heal faster and won't need crutches if you use them for at least a couple months."

"I don't give a shit! I'm not using them! You can't force me to use them!" Red was close to snapping.

"Watch your mouth, Zeiden. And I just want you to heal correctly, so you _will_ be using the crutches." Red said. His voice was low and threatening. It scared ZIM but the little Irken held his ground. There was a short pause between the two. ZIM hopped off the bed putting all his weight on his non-injured left leg. "ZIM, get back on the bed."

"Go to hell." ZIM muttered. Red lifted his antenna in shock.

"What did you say?" Red asked, not knowing if he heard right.

"Go to hell!" ZIM repeated, twirling around to face his older brother. Red's mouth gaped. His brother just cursed _him_. He never did that before. Sure ZIM was sore and grumpy and maybe it was just the medications talking. Either way, Red could not let that one slide. Red closed his mouth and took a step toward ZIM bending down so they were face to face.

"How dare you. You stubborn brat. Is that anyway to treat the guy who raised you? I can't believe you, Zeiden!" Red seethed. ZIM lowered his antenna flat against his head showing fear and his arms dropped to their sides. Red picked him up and sat ZIM back on the bed so he didn't have to bend so low to make eye contact with ZIM, and that there wasn't any weight on his broken ankle. "If you weren't such an idiot you wouldn't be in this mess! I'm just trying to help you and all you give back to me in return is shit! Do you know how that makes me feel?" ZIM pouted and lowered his head so he didn't have to see Red's angry face. Red cupped his chin and pulled his face back up to meet his eye again. Tears stung ZIM's eyes. "Why do you treat everyone like they're so inferior compared to you? And why does everything have to go your way? What makes you think _you're_ always right?" Red asked still yelling. ZIM didn't answer, he just gave Red his best puppy eyes he could muster. Red stared deeply into his brothers eyes. He was adorable but he would let ZIM get away with this. He needed to learn. "Answer me!" ZIM tore his face out of Red's grip.

"I … I don't think they're inf- … I'm a horrible person! Okay? I'm a self-conceited, dumb ass! We all know that! I'm just a mistake waiting to happen! I don't amount to anything! My only purpose in this universe is to annoy those who are around me and make things complicated! I hate myself, Red! I don't like who I am but I can't help it! Please, I'm sorry! I never meant to curse you like that. I wasn't thinking, again, I never do." ZIM's body wracked as he sobbed uncontrollably. Red stood there dumbfounded. He just watched as his little brother burry his face in his hands and cried.

'_Damn it! I can never stay mad at him!_' Red thought. He never knew ZIM felt that way about himself before. The older Irken sighed and sat next to ZIM on the bed. Red pulled his brother on his lap, being careful with his ankle, and let the young one cry into his chest. Red stroked ZIM's antenna and kissed his head, whispering that he wasn't mad anymore and that ZIM needed to calm down. Soon the sobbing ceased and was replaced by soft breathing that would every now and then shudder. "Shh, ZIM. I didn't mean what I said about you being an idiot." That was a lie but he wanted ZIM happy again. "I'm sorry, Zei-Zei. I'm sorry." ZIM sniffed and looked at Red in the eye.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have treated you like that. I shouldn't be so stubborn." Red pulled ZIM back in for another tight hug.

"It's fine, ZIM. Just make sure you watch what you say and who you say it to." Red nuzzled his little brother. "Don't hate yourself. Hate your flaws. I love you, Zeiden."

"I love you too, Red."

**One Day Later**

"Don't put flowers on it!" ZIM snatched the marker out of Tak's hand. Gaz and her were decorating his cast. Purple was sitting on the couch and let ZIM rest his head in his lap. "I have to wear this for the next month! I don't want ugly, half-assed drawn flowers on it." Tak wrinkled her nose.

"Fine, jerk." ZIM reclined on the couch of his living room. Purple absentmindedly petted ZIM's antenna as he read some research papers. He was doing as the doctor said and kept his foot elevated and took his medications. They tried to fit him to crutches but he wasn't really good at using them. He would keep stumbling. So not wanting to risk having him get hurt any further they asked if he would like to use the wheel chair. He shook his head and suggested Red carry him around everywhere, which ended up happening. But soon ZIM was gonna go back to the doctors office and get a special splint where he could walk on his ankle without it breaking any further.

ZIM's Imp vibrated in his pocket. He grabbed it and saw who was calling. It was Jalokia. He sighed. Earlier his agent called and asked him to do another commercial. He obviously couldn't due to his current condition. Jalo was probably calling him to record another song.

"Yo'?" ZIM answered.

"_Are you alright?_" Came the man's voice.

"_Yeah. I hurt, but I'm not dying._" Gaz quirked an eyebrow at ZIM's sudden language change but went back to drawing a picture of a pig on his neon orange cast. "_Why?_"

"_Mevlo called me. Said you were injured. Broken ankle?_"

"_Yeah. A piece of my bone was sticking out of my skin and everything. It was nasty._" ZIM cringed as Gaz accidentally bumped his leg.

"_You poor dear. I just called to ask you if you got your latest check yet and to see how you were doing._"

"_Yeah, the check came in the mail this morning. Red is putting it in the bank right now._"

"_I see. Well I also called to see if you'd be interested in doing some charity work._"

"_What kind of charity work?_" ZIM asked. "_I can't really do anything except order people around and sit._" ZIM felt Purple twist his earring stud in his antenna.

"_This charity work is easy. All you have to do is talk and play with children with disabilities._" ZIM's brows furrowed.

"_Is this some sort of publicity stunt?_" The other line went quiet.

"_Kinda._"Jalokia said.

"_Then I'm not interested._" ZIM answered. He thought about it for a moment. "_Actually, I will do it if you promise there will be no cameras there._" Jalokia sighed.

"_Okay, ZIM. The charity is next, next week Friday from 11 AM to 2 PM. I'll be there. Meet me at the studio. By the way, several show hosts want to have you on their next broadcasting._"

"Ugh. Great. _Okay, thanks. Keep me updated on that. _Ciao." ZIM hit the 'end' button on the touch screen.

"I only heard one side of the conversation." Tak said.

"I didn't understand any of it." Gaz mumbled.

"What did Jalo want?" Tak asked.

"He wants me to do a charity. I told him I'd only do it if cameras weren't following me around and asking asinine questions."

"Good for you, ZIM. Way to give back to the community." Purple said, ruffling ZIM's antenna.

"I try to be on the good side of everything." ZIM said. There was the sound of a diesel entering their driveway followed by a slamming car door.

"Red's home." Purple observed. The front door opened and Red and Leslie entered laughing about something or other walking in the living room together.

"It was your pastor the whole time?" Red asked laughing. Leslie nodded chuckling.

"Yeah, church the next morning was so awkward!" The two shared another laugh before calming down.

"I gotta meet that man now." Red asked.

"Heh, you guys should come with us on Sunday. I know your Messianic Jewish and all but it wouldn't hurt to come to one service, would it?" Leslie said. "Hey guys, what you up to?" She asked noticing Purple, ZIM, Gaz, and Tak on the couch.

"Pondering." Was Purple's reply.

"Drawing a piggy." Said Gaz finishing up her piggy. Tak nodded.

"Me too except I'm drawing a dirt bike as a horrible reminder of how ZIM got this."

"I'm staying put." ZIM grumbled. Red smiled.

"Good boy." He said and bent over to kiss his brothers forehead.

"Don't I get one?" Purple asked. Red cocked a brow.

"Heh, you're yucky." Red said and smacked Purple upside the head.

"Owies! That hurt my felines." Purple said, purposely mispronouncing 'feeling's'.

"Meouch ... see what I did there?" ZIM added on to Purple's previous statement. Red shook his head and sat in a lazy boy chair next to the couch. Leslie took a seat on his lap.

"I was thinking about firing up a baseball game," Purple said. "You in?" he asked ZIM. The tiny Irken perked a little. He hasn't done anything fun since yesterday before the accident.

"Heck fluckin' yeah." ZIM answered. Red cringed at the close call.

"You gotta stop saying that." Red muttered.

"Go to bed." ZIM snapped back at him. Red rolled his eyes. ZIM has been very irritable lately. Maybe it was the pain killers, his soreness, and the fact that he didn't get a wink of sleep last night because of the discomfort he was in. Purple grabbed the remote and turned on the tube.

"Okay, Shorty, here's what I'm gonna do. Imma teach yo how tah gamble but ya' can't tell Redward, 'Kay, homie?" Purple asked. ZIM cocked a brow but nodded.

"I'm right here, Pur." Red grumbled. Purple shot him a glare.

"Ignore him." Red sighed. "Okay, Cleveland Indians versus the Detroit Tigers!" He turned to ESPN and the game already started. Top of the first inning and Tigers were away team.

"Cecil Fielder is batting." Purple observed. ZIM groaned.

"Twenty bucks he hits an infeild pop up, someone will catch it, and he'll be out." Red cocked his brow at ZIM. Was his little brother an all natural gambler?

"You're on, kiddo. By the way, you really shouldn't be so specific. that lessens the chance of you winning." Purple said.

'Here comes the pitch … strike one, too soon … that's two strikes on Fielder … ball low, the count is one, two. The pitch … Fielder hits it straight up! Oh! Caught by Cleveland's first baseman Paul Sorrento.' The announcer said. ZIM smirked.

"I just made forty bucks." ZIM chirped. Purple frowned.

"Fielder shouldn't be allowed to bat." He mumbled.

"Hey! I like Fielder!" ZIM exclaimed.

"Only because he just made you some money." ZIM shrugged.

"Whatevs."

"You play baseball?" Leslie asked ZIM. He nodded.

"I actually started off playing at age of three. I started training at age five to be a pitcher and catcher"

"He likes baseball." Red said bluntly. "A lot."

"_A lot_, a lot." Purple added.

"Very much." Tak joined.

"He likes it plenty." Zee said calling from the edge of the catwalk upstairs and walking down.

"Yeah, yeah. We get it." ZIM mumbled.

"There is a late summer team try out soon in late September. You'll might be healed by the time it starts. You should join." Leslie said.

"Ew. Is it like co-ed six and seven year olds tee-ball?" ZIM wrinkled his nose.

"Heh no. It's legit baseball. They take the 'allstars' from each recreation team and they travel from city to city for tournaments."

"But I'm not on any team at the moment."

"Like I said, there's try outs."

"I dunno. He might hurt himself." Red said.

"C'mon Red! Since when do I hurt myself?" ZIM asked, truly meaning what he said. Red looked at his brother then at his broken ankle bound in a cast and splint.

"Oh yeah! What was I thinking accusing you that you were and unsafe and rowdy child? Silly, Red! And why should I care about your welfare?" Red exclaimed in a extremely sarcastic voice. ZIM suddenly felt dumb and scowled sitting up.

"Okay, fine. I'm sorry. But you were gonna let me play baseball before this summer, remember?"

"Yeah. Well you better hurry up and heal then." Red said.

"Oh, I'm trying, with my amazing psychic abilities! Get real, Red. I can't heal by just wanting to heal faster. It doesn't work that way." Red rolled his eyes.

"I know, ZIM. I know." ZIM cocked a brow and shook it off. He turned his head back to the screen and watched the game. He wished he didn't make so many stupid mistakes. He'd be in less pain.

**One Week Later **

**August 20, 1995**

"What are you doing?" Red shouted at ZIM stomping down the boardwalk to the beach where ZIM was left unattended. The tiny Irken jumped at the loud noise. He knew he'd get caught, but he was so bored.

"I was just pitching a few balls." ZIM said, holding up a baseball. He was throwing them at a small dune which made a good back stop. He had five balls by his feet.

"Are you crazy? You'll never heal if you keep doing this shit! How long were you doing this?"

"Since you left with Leslie and hour ago. I didn't expect you to be back so early."

"Well it's a good thing I am back! Just 'cuz you have that brace now doesn't mean you can walk wherever and do whatever you want! You need to take it easy!" ZIM lowered his head.

"I'm so bored, Red. I can't just be caged up in that God-forsaken house all day long! I need fresh air!" ZIM defended. "Please just a few more pitches?" ZIM pleaded looking at his brother.

"No! Absolutely not! Get back inside now, please." Red said.

"But Red-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Red snapped. "Go now."

"C'mon-"

"What did I say, Zeiden?" Red asked through gritted teeth. ZIM looked close to tears. Red knew his brother was just emotional from his painkillers, medications, and just being sore constantly. ZIM hung his head and handed Red his baseball and limped to the steps and slowly climbed them up to the house. Red watched as he left feeling slightly sorry for his baby brother. But he'd feel even more sorry if he let anything happen to ZIM that caused anymore harm to himself.

Red looked down at the baseball, fingering it's seams. He sighed. "ZIM, wait." ZIM stopped on the fifth wooden step and looked back. The sunset made his face glow and his eyes were greenish in color and had a mysterious twinkle in them. Red loved how ZIM's eyes would change color in different lighting. It reminded him of his mother. "C'mere." ZIM hobbled back down the steps and back to his brother. Red sat in the warm, soft sand and beckoned ZIM to come by him. Red helped his brother sit. Last time ZIM tried to sit on the ground he pretty much fell on his back. He brace prevented him from moving much of his leg. Red wrapped and arm protectively around ZIM. They stared at the lovely sunset together. "Beautiful, huh?"

"Yes." ZIM smiled. "Yahweh sure knows which hues and colors go with what, doesn't he?"

"He knows everything, Zeiden." They sat in silence for a while. "You gotta understand, Zeiden, that I'm just trying to protect you."

"I know."

"Do you know why I protect you?"

"You promised, mom."

"That's true but that's not the only reason." ZIM looked at his brother.

"What else?"

"Because I want to and I love you. Even if I didn't promise mom anything I would still be like this." Red said.

"It's nice to know someone is concerned for you. But not always. Tak for an example, when we got home the night I broke my ankle and she yelled at me and called me a dumbass and smothered me with kisses and hugs." Red chuckled. How could he forget that day? It was so dang cute.

"She likes you, ZIM. In fact, she loves you."

"I love her too, but she's so overbearing sometimes."

"Aren't all girls?"

"Yeah, I guess so." They sat in silence for a minute longer. "Mom's proud of you, Red." Red glanced at ZIM.

"What do you mean?"

"You are the best older brother God has to offer. You love your siblings too much, you keep your promises, and all together, you're strong, brave, and you run right into a battle and conquer it. I'm speaking metaphorically of course." Red choked a bit. He felt a lump growing in his throat. When did ZIM learn to be so profound? Maybe it was those dramas and soap operas he watches sometimes.

"To tell you the truth, ZIM, I was scared to death when mom died and I had a smeet to raise. I expected it, yet, it was so … unexpected. I felt like a father and had no idea what to do with you. I needed help. It was hard, I had little time to grieve for moms passing and dad was gone so I thrown myself into book work and raising you and the girls. I had several meltdowns and I was close to giving up. At one point … I was actually considering giving you up and letting the Griffons raise you because they were more stable. I thought it would be best for you. But that was only because I was clinically depressed and frustrated. Now looking back on it, I can't believe I would even consider letting you go. And I hated myself for it." ZIM listened to this. For a young man he could understand why Red would feel such a way. It must've been tough.

"That's why she's proud of you, Red. You didn't give up." Red allowed a tear to slip down his face. It landed on top of ZIM's head. ZIM looked up at the sky in wonder. "I think it's starting to rain." Red let out a dry laugh, ZIM looked at Red and noticed his brother was crying. "Oh." Red grabbed ZIM and pulled him into a big hug.

"I miss her so much, Zeiden! I miss her and dad too! I'm so sorry you never got any real parents! I'm so sorry!" Red was now full out balling. ZIM let a few tear of his own roll down his face.

"It's okay. One day we'll all be together."

**...**

Red woke up to a cry of a smeet. He groaned knowing who it was. The poor red-eyed Irken was lacking sleep from this particular smeet but he got up nonetheless. He trudged over to the nursery and slowly opened the door. Red peaked his head through the door way and peered over to the crib in the corner of the room. He sighed when he heard the little one making sad whimpering, sobbing noises. "What's the matter, little Zei-Zei?" Red asked, picking up the tiny smeet. Zeiden stopped crying as soon as he was in his brothers arms. "Huh? Why my smeet crying?" The baby Irken chortled and cuddled in Red's strong arms. "You hungry or do you just want attention?" The smeet stared at Red with big glowing magenta eyes. Red smiled at the smeet's precious face. The older Irken tilted his head forward and blew a raspberry on Zeiden's spooch making the smeet go into a fit of laughter. Red chuckled at the adorable sound of his little brother's giggles.

"Abbbb." Red smiled even wider. Little Zeiden was trying to speak but nothing but farting noises and slobber came out of his mouth.

"Abbbb? What's that, Zei-Zei?"

"Ahhhh! Uh heh heh. Mmmm. Bbbbbllluuu." Red nodded chuckling.

"Oh I see. You're so smart. You think of that all by yourself?" The smeet cackled and clapped his little hands slightly. "Yeah, I thought so." Red said. He cradled the smeet close to his chest, breathing in the smell of Zeiden's baby body wash Red used earlier to bathe the smeet. Red leaned against the wall and sunk to the floor exhausted. Red snuggled the little one till his soft breathing of quiet sleep overcame him. "I love you, Zeiden." Red said. "I love you too much."

**...**

Red woke up with a jolt. Where did that dream come from? He hasn't dreamt of ZIM as a smeet since, well, since ZIM _was _a smeet. Red remembered that night now that he dreamed about it. It came back to him so vividly. His baby brother, his little smeet, his Zeiden. Red turned his head to look at the clock on the night stand. 5 AM. Red was wide awake. The crimson-eyed Irken huffed thinking about the flashback. He missed ZIM as a smeet. He missed it so much.

Red sat up and walked to the door and down the hall to ZIM's bedroom door. Red cautiously took the knob in his hand and twisted it carefully so he wouldn't wake ZIM up. Once the door was open Red peaked in the room just as he had done in his flashback. The room was dark but he could still see the queen sized bed in the middle of the room pushed up against the back wall. Red stepped in and walked to the bed side searching for ZIM in the ocean of covers and pillows. Darn ZIM was so tiny he could get lost in his own bed. Red finally found him, well, his antenna. They were peeking out from under some covers. At the opposite edge of the bed. Red climbed on the bed and slid underneath the covers. He lowered the sheets covering ZIM's face. ZIM stirred a bit and opened his eyes.

"Red?" Red smiled at his small voice and laid on the bed pulling ZIM in for a hug. The two started to drift off into a peaceful, dream-filled sleep.

"You'll always be my little smeet, Zei-Zei."

* * *

><p><strong>3, 2, 1 … Ewww! Corniness! Well get over it. I don't always right random days and events. I need some drama and brotherly love and bonding and climax and I say 'and' a lot don't I? <strong>

**I don't know about you guys but I really love ZIM and Red's relationship in this story! It's adorbs!**

**Which brings me to my next topic,  
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**From now on I'll be asking you guys questions to help make this story more enjoyable for you to read. My first question being,  
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**What kind of moments are your favorite? Is it the brotherly Red, Purple, and ZIM moments? The friendly Gaz and Tak moments? The family moments? The romantic moments? The moments when someone is in trouble? Dramatic moments? Silly moments? Corny even? Etc? Or is it something I haven't written about yet? Leave your favorite kind of moments or moments you want to read more of by either Reviewing a/o sending me a PM.  
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**That's all for now folks! (Looney Tunes Iris Out)  
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	10. Baseball Obsessions

**I based ZIM off of me sorta and other people I know. Like, he plays baseball. I play softball. I've played since I was six so … ten years! Also some of the events in this story is based of real life events that happened to me before. (Ex. SPOILER! ZIM will get hit in the groin during a baseball game while he pitches. I got hit in the crotch when I was catching for my cousin during a game. She threw a 55 mile per hour fastball. Hurt like a bitch and I don't even have those male parts so imagine if I was a guy! Dang!)**

**I'm not usually this weird. But I blame the concussion I sustained when I was catching for a softball game.  
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**One more thing. I have nothing against kids with mental disabilities. I, myself, suffer from ADD.  
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****Enjoy yourselves while I watch the Tigers game. Yeah! I'm a Tigers fan! So what? Come at me all you (Insert baseball team of your choice) fans!****

* * *

><p><strong>August 27, 1995<strong>

ZIM couldn't help but smile at his new friends. He was back on Irk doing the community service and charity he told Jalokia he'd do. His job was to talk and play with mentally challenged aliens of all kinds including, Vortians, Nhar Gh'oks, Meekrobians, Plookesians, some humans and of course Irkens. He was a _mentor _to five children for the week and were either the same age as him or younger. A Vortian with what humans would call Down syndrome named, Ekk. A Meekrobian with autism named Fetch. A Plookesian with ADHD named Boouy and a Irken with OCD named Quay.

As a mentor ZIM had to come up with fun games and activities to play with them. Right now they were drawing and coloring their favorite animal. ZIM was drawing a koala when he realized Ekk was staring at his leg bound in the brace and cast. "Is something wrong, Ekk?"

"Hurt." She said pointing at his leg. ZIM looked down.

"Yeah, I'm hurt." He smiled at the girl. Drool was running down her chin. He grabbed a tissue and wiped it off.

"Mama kiss it?"

"No, I don't have a mama." ZIM replied.

"Oh." She said. "I could be your mama." ZIM chuckled.

"Thanks but I'm not in the market for a new mom."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Okay guys why don't you show me what you drew?" Fetch held up a picture of a sloore beast. "Hey, good job." ZIM said. Ekk held up a picture of a flower. "Uh, that's not an animal but very pretty." Ekk laughed as ZIM smiled at her. He examined the other kids' art work then showed them his favorite animal. Not one of them knew what a koala was because they didn't grow up on earth like he did.

"Hey mate." Red poked his head throughout the door. "You ready to go?"

"Sí señor! Vamos." ZIM stood up and hobbled over to Red. "I gotta go, chicos and … niñas? Adiós."

"What up with the sudden language change? They don't understand English or Spanish."

"I don't understand Spanish either and i barely understand English. But it's fun." The five minority kids waved goodbye. ZIM took out his long distant transport device and hit the red button and locked in the coordination's for Mears, Michigan "I reprogrammed this thing to bring us to a specific address so we wouldn't have to walk or drive home. We should arrive in the front of our house in three seconds." ZIM said as he felt the weird sensation of his body being transported along with Red's. They felt themselves being beamed through space and to earth. A haze surrounded them then cleared up. When they could see again they found themselves on their house.

"What the hell?" Red exclaimed, befuddled.

"Uh. It seems as though the transporter still has a few glitches." ZIM said smacking the device as if it would fix the problem. Red rubbed his temples.

"Just … ugh. Whatever." Red walked to the edge of the roof and looked over and saw the driveway. His truck's bed was directly below. "I'm gonna jump down then I'll catch you, 'Kay?"

"Nnnyeeaahh. Okay." ZIM said also wobbling over to the side. Red hopped off the roof and landed a good five feet below on the back of his red pick up. He stood and reached for ZIM. The tiny Irken jumped down and was caught in Red's arms. The two crawled off of the truck and onto the ground only to find a very shocked Purple in the garage with a 'What The Heck!' look on his face.

"I was just minded my own business when I see a pair of Irkens fall from the sky." Purple said. "I'm not even gonna ask you why you were up there."

"You don't have to ask 'cuz I'm gonna tell you anyway." ZIM said, adjusting his brace. Purple cocked a brow. "We wanted to see Wisconsin but we couldn't see it from ground level so we crawled on the roof."

"Any luck?"

"Yeah, actually, did you know that state was made entirely of cheese?"

"Haha. Wisconsin cheese joke. Is a good one." Red muttered.

"Sorry, I should've left that joke alone. I'm gonna go take a shower." ZIM said.

"Bath. Make sure you cover your leg with that water proof shell." Red said.

"I don't want to take a bath." ZIM whined.

"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter." ZIM rolled his eyes and went into the house to clean up. "Crazy kid." Red muttered.

"Hey, gotta call from the boss today." Purple said.

"Oh? What did he say?"

"He said we needed to start working on marine biology and aquatic animals." Purple said. "He wants a full report by the end of the week."

"End of the week? Geez!"

"That's what I said then the boss hung up on me." Red sighed.

"Well, might as well get started first thing tomorrow."

"Guess so."

**December 27, 1995**

"I don't wanna go!"

"Stop acting like a child and c'mon."

"No!"

"Zeiden!" Red yelled after his brother who slammed his bedroom door in his face and locked it. "Zeiden Macale open this door!"

"If I do you'd make me go!" Came ZIM's muffled response.

"You have to go if you want to heal right."

"I already went to, like, thirty of them!" Red sighed. Purple came up from behind Red and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Want me to try?" Purple asked. Red looked at him with a doubting face.

"Have at it." Purple smirked and pulled out a key and inserted it into the keyhole and twisted it till he heard a click of the door being unlocked. "Where'd you get that key?"

"I made it." Purple said opening the door and entering. The two Irkens found ZIM laying face-down on his big plush bed, cuddled up in his orange and blue, Detroit Tigers bedsheets.

"I'm not going!" He screeched, still muffled from the pillow his face was buried in. "They hurt me and last time they made me faint!" Purple walked over to the side of the bed and grabbed ZIM and threw him over his shoulder. ZIM attempted to grab on to the bed as if that would help hold him down. "Ack! No! No! Please! I don't want this! I don't need it! I'm healed! I'm okay!"

"ZIM, you're going to physical therapy whether you like it or not." Purple said. ZIM whined pounding his fists into Purple's back. The older Irken didn't flinch once. He was a hockey player afterall, a little boys weak punches didn't feel like anything to him.

"I hate you guys!"

"Untrue." Purple retorted.

"So true!"

"ZIM, calm down and take it like man." Red said.

"I don't wanna be a man!"

"You'd rather be a lady?" Purple asked. Red snickered.

"If it gets me outta this torture you make me go through every week. Yes!" Purple ignored the last comment and trotted down stairs. He got a few awkward glances from the girls in the living room but ignored those too.

"I'll bring him." Purple said. ZIM let out a weird moaning noise and attempted to bite Purple's back.

"You're only bringing him to get outta writing the report aren't you?" Red asked.

"Heh, yeah." Purple said and opened the door for the garage. "Have fun." He chirped and closed the door and made his way to the truck.

"Can you please put me down?" ZIM asked. Purple placed ZIM in the passenger seat of the truck. "Thanks." He muttered as Purple strapped him in. Purple climbed in the drivers side and started the vehicle up.

"You know you're do for another physical?"

"Aw hell no! No! No! No!" ZIM said, pulling his legs up to his chest. "No."

"What's the matter?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." Purple chuckled.

"I remember my first physical. I'm pretty sure you and I had the same kind if your reaction is any indication."

"Violated beyond the shadow of a doubt."

"Well you need another one if you wanna play baseball. Too bad you couldn't play this year." Purple said. "Hate to tell ya this but you won't be able to snowboard this winter either."

"You don't know that. I'm getting this retched cast off in a month. Just before my birthday." ZIM's Imp rung in his jean's pocket. "Ugh! It's Mevlo." He groaned and answered the phone. "_Yes?_"

"_Are you aware that your contract with Jalokia Studios expired._" Came her voice.

"_Yeah, I'm gonna take some time off before renewing it._"

"_I see. Well the people of the clothing line you model for would like to do one more photo shoot with you before their clothes line come to an official halt._"

"_Okay, when?_" ZIM asked.

"_In four weeks. I believe your cast will be off by then?_"

"_Yes, ma'am._"

"_Good, and since it's the end of the year the people of Amplify would like another icon._"

"_One that is not me?_"

"_Correct._"

"_That's fine. I was getting sick of the boss anyway._" It was true. The boss would always yell at ZIM to sit up straight and all this nit picky shit.

"_One more thing._"

"_What?_"

"_Your popularity is extremely high on Irk and your fans want to see more of you. I received another movie offer this morning and wanted to see if you were interested._"

"_Sure, I'll consider it. Keep me updated on that. Is that all?_"

"_Yes, and I'll tell Jalo you'll renew your contract with him sometime next year or later this year, okay?_"

"_Okay, thanks, Mev._" ZIM hung up. "They want me for a movie now."

"You want to do it?"

"I think I'll do this one since I passed up the first one."

"Well, good for you, ZIM. Way to make a living before your even a legal adult."

"Nnnyyyeeeeaahhh." ZIM gave Purple a wide dorky smile. "Now about that doctors appointment."

"You're going, ZIM. Can't talk your way outta it." ZIM groaned. If this doctors appointment was anything like the last one, he knew he'd hate it.

**March 2, 1996**

"Get back here!" ZIM crouched down as a slightly taller, older, chubby Irken threw a punch at his head.

"Ack! Hey man watch where you're throwing those pudgy fists." ZIM said cockily, and darted off down the streets of a down town area in Rous City, Irk. The other Irken chased after ZIM but stumbled a little over his own feet.

"Cut! What is wrong with you Skoodge? You got two left feet?" Someone shouted. ZIM chuckled returning back to his position.

"Yeah Skoodgey. What's the matter? A rat with no tail and only three legs would have more balance than you!" ZIM said. Skoodge grumbled and poked ZIM's spooch making him snort and kneel over. "Only messin' with ya', mate."

"Only messin' with ya', mate." Skoodge mocked with a bad interpretation of ZIM's voice and accent. "Buzz off, Z."

"You know you love me."

"Not." Skoodge said. ZIM narrowed his eyes.

"Boys, we won't fight today. This movie has a deadline you know." The director rubbed his temples.

"Since when do me and Skoodge fight?" ZIM asked crossing his arms.

"Yeah? We is friends!" Skoodge exclaimed. "By the way, Z, it's 'Skoodge and I' not 'me and Skoodge'."

"Shut up, you're grammar ain't the best either!"

"Ain't?"

"You two fight all the time!" The director bellowed then sighed. "Just, lets wrap it up for today. Come back Tuesday for another shot." ZIM sighed in relief. Finally they can go home. ZIM walked with Skoodge to their dressing rooms and changed their clothes before ZIM took out his transportation device and locked in the coordination's for earth.

"C'mon Skoodge." ZIM said then grabbed the chubby Irken's hand and zapped them to earth. ZIM put the device back in his pocket then typed something into his Imp once they landed. "What you wanna do?" He asked Skoodge.

"I dunno. I kinda need to re-learn my lines. Do you have an extra script around? Hey wait a minute … why are we on your roof?"

"Device likes to malfunction." ZIM said walking to the edge. "Might as well get used to it." He jumped off making Skoodge gasp. Skoodge ran to the edge too and saw that ZIM landed like a cat in the bed of his older brother's pick up truck.

"Dang kid, you scared me!" ZIM looked up at Skoodge smiling.

"Jump!"

"Ehh. How 'bout I slide?" Skoodge sat on the roof's edge and dropped down onto the vehicle.

"Kill joy." ZIM said hopping off the truck. He glanced at the clock built into his phone. 6:30 pm. They still had time. ZIM barged into the front door. "Zannah!" ZIM shouted.

"What do you want?" She asked calmly walking to the foyer.

"Me and Skoodge are gonna go to the diamond."

"Skoodge and I." Skoodge corrected.

"Whatever. Tell Red where we are when he gets home."

"Fine, but he won't be home till twelve tonight. So he put me in charge of watching you. Don't get hurt and be back before dark." She grabbed his arm before he bolted out the door again. "I'm serious, ZIM. No later than when the sun sets. In fact, get here before then so you don't have to walk home in the dark." ZIM teared his arm out of her grasp.

"Yeah, sure, now let me go so I can practice." Zee waved him out with his friend.

"Why do I have a gut feeling he's going to loose track of time?" Zee asked herself.

**At the Diamond**

**10:35 PM**

"Have you ever even played baseball before, Skoodge? You stink!"

"Of course I haven't! I grew up on Irk! The only major sports we have there are Hag-Lag, Quoball and Mashup ball." Skoodge shouted back at ZIM attempting to through the ball at ZIM's head but failed horrible. Instead the ball traveled five feet from where Skoodge stood and was thrown into the soft gravel like a meteor.

"Wow, that was sad." ZIM muttered on the pitchers mound. He was facing the backstop training aid that he made Skoodge haul out of the diamonds equipment shack that was always unlocked. He set it up against the chain linked fence backstop by home plate. ZIM wound up for the pitch and fired a fastball to the white square on the backstop trainer. It hit right in the middle and bounced off rolling back to the mound. ZIM picked up the ball again and fired it with his left arm. He concluded that his left arm was stronger, faster and more accurate than his right when it came to batting and throwing. As for writing he was about the same on both hands.

"You do realize that it's dark, right?" Skoodge asked. ZIM looked around. The field's bright stadium lights flooded the field whereas everything outside the field was pitch black.

"Shit. Well I'm gonna be in trouble when I get back." ZIM mumbled. "Oh well, might as well stay a little longer since I'm already in for it." ZIM wound up and fired another ball to the trainer. He didn't notice the black Cadillac waiting beside the field.

"Hey man, ain't that your sister's car?" Skoodge asked. ZIM gulped and looked to see what Skoodge was referring to.

"Damn." He whispered. Tenn got out of the drivers seat and shot ZIM a horrible glare. "Looks like I gotta go, Pudgey. See ya' around."

"Yeah, see ya Shrimp." Skoodge said pulling out his own transport device and zapping himself home to Irk. ZIM waited on the mound as Tenn approached him. Once she was close enough she took his hand in her own and yanked him to her car.

"Why the hell didn't you come back when Zee told you?" Tenn asked, angrily. "We were worried you were abducted or injured or something. It made us even more worried when you didn't answer your Imp!" ZIM cocked a brow. He dug through his pants pockets and found his Imp. Sure enough, there was seven missed calls.

"Sorry, I didn't feel it vibrate." ZIM said.

"You better be! Now you have to answer to Zee, and trust me she'll be furious when you get home." ZIM sighed. The ride couldn't have been any shorter. Not only because the diamond was only a mile away but because ZIM was in deep water. Tenn pushed her little brother to the front door and led him inside where Zee was pacing nervously. When she caught ZIM's eye her facial features when from worried sick, to relief, to an unruly anger.

"What did I say, Zeiden?" Zee asked loudly. "Don't stay out after dark! Why don't you ever listen?" ZIM looked at his feet feeling bad for making two of his siblings worry so much.

"I just wanted extra practice. I'm trying out for the team this year and I want to make it."

"You have plenty of time to practice before then!" Zee shouted, getting closer to ZIM. "I called Red. You're grounded for the rest of the week and next week." ZIM groaned.

"I'm sorry, really. I won't do it again."

"Oh I'm sure you won't!" Zee snapped. "Get in the shower and go to bed."

"Seems like I'm not the only one who needs to go to bed." ZIM grumbled. Tenn pushed him towards the stairs. He looked back at his sisters and frowned. They were whispering about him now.

He trudged to the shower room and undressed. He turned to look at himself in the mirror. A dark bruise was starting to form on his chest from where Skoodge pelted him with a ball from just three feet away. Then there was a scrape with dried blood on his left thigh where he slid into home without sliding shorts. ZIM opened the mirror to the storage compartment behind it and grabbed hydrogen peroxide to clean the abrasion with a washcloth. He gasped at the stinging sensation and pulled the clothe away and noticed that he was still bleeding profusely. There was a knock at the door. ZIM grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. "What you want?"

"Can I come in?" Came Zee's voice.

"Why?"

"I noticed quite a bit of dried blood on your shorts. I came to see if you're alright." ZIM opened the door.

"I'm still bleeding. I might need some gauze." Zee raised a brow. She still had a scowl on her face.

"Let me see." ZIM looked at her nervously. "Oh please, Zeiden. I see you naked all the time. I was the one who used to give you baths." ZIM sighed. Couldn't argue with that. He dropped his towel to the ground shamefully. He turned around so Zee could see the damage. "My gosh kid! What did you do?"

"I slid into home without any sliding pads." Zee shook her head.

"Get in the tub. I'll be back in a minute with the gauze and I'll clean you up." And with that note she left. ZIM stepped into the bathtub and filled it with water. He laid back wincing as the water touched his damaged skin, he tried to relax, closing his eyes as the warm water surrounded his body. Zee came back to the bathroom and groaned. ZIM didn't open his eyes.

"Can you hurry up? Your water is getting tinted with a bloody color already." Zee knelt down by the side of the bath and grabbed a clean cloth and put ZIM's body wash on it. "Clean up, ZIM." She threw the towel at him. It floated in front of him. He cracked an eye open and snatched it up. He used it to wipe his entire body and head. In only a few short minutes he was clean. He drained the water and was about to grab a towel before Zee took his arm. "We don't need anymore blood stained towels. You left a nice big spot in Tenn's car. Your lucky she has leather seats."

"I could have walked home." ZIM mumbled. Zee dried him off only where there wasn't blood. She crouched so she was eye level with ZIM's wound.

"Here bite this." Zee handed him a clean hand towel. He took it and shoved it into his mouth biting down hard. Zee then proceeded to use a washcloth to dab ointment on ZIM's scrap making him squirm and moan in pain. "Hold still." Zee ordered as she wrapped gauze around his leg. "There. Now get dressed and go to bed. I have a feeling Red will want to talk to you when he gets home." ZIM nodded spitting the cloth out of his mouth and walked casually to his room naked not really caring anymore.

**Thursday March 21, 1996**

"Happy birthday, sweetheart." Leslie said, kissing Red's cheek making him smile.

"Thanks babe."

"So what are you going to do today to celebrate?" She asked sitting on the couch of Red's living room.

"ZIM's got his first scrimmage against another team. You know his coach came up to me and said he was a terrific athlete and one of the best on the team."

"I'm not surprised. That kid has been practicing since he got his cast off in January. I saw him slip on ice a few times when he tried to pitch some balls. When is the scrimmage?"

"Two hours. He's outside practicing more." Red said looking out the big, long windows of the living room and out to the great lake. "I'm actually starting to get concerned. All he ever does is practice now. He doesn't even give me fashion tips anymore."

"He's just devoted is all. Soon he'll tire of it all."

"I hope so." Red said. He stood up to look out the windows better. ZIM was on the beach with Skoodge and Tenn tossing baseballs at each other.

"What's his position?"

"Primary pitcher and secondary catcher or shortstop. Heh, he once asked if he could pitch and catch at the same time."

"How does that work?"

"It doesn't. But he tried it anyway. Man, did it look stupid." Red said. Leslie chuckled.

"Well do you have anything special planned? Besides a baseball game?"

"No. We really don't celebrate my birthday much. And it's not like I just turned an important age."

"Twenty-eight?" Red nodded. Leslie frowned slightly. "I'm gonna take you out tonight."

"Where?"

"It's a surprise." Leslie winked at him and kissed his lips.

**Two Hours Pass**

ZIM got into his perfect batting stance. He took a deep breath. He was the one who was gonna lead off the game. First batter was waiting for the first pitch. Usually they put the fastest and smartest base runner at the beginning of the line-up. ZIM was kinda hoping he'd be fourth though. The fourth batter was the power hitter which he was or what he convinced himself he was.

ZIM narrowed his eyes in concentration as the pitcher of the home team wound up to throw the first pitch of the scrimmage. The ball was released. ZIM tensed and watched the ball go by without swinging. "Ball!" The umpire shouted. ZIM loosened his arms a bit more before getting back into place.

"C'mon, now." He whispered to himself. Another ball was thrown. ZIM dodged it as it almost hit his right hip. "Damn, this pitcher ain't used to lefty batters apparently."

"Ball two! Two-oh!" The pitcher was getting frustrated already. He wound up for another pitch. ZIM was prepared and watched the ball come sailing toward him. He saw it was a good one, right in his hot zone. ZIM swung his bat till it connected with the ball head on. It flew through the air and landed far in the outfield. One outfielder scrambled to retrieve it while the other base players didn't seem to know what they were doing as ZIM rounded first, then second. He got a lead off but stayed by the second base bag. Way to start off the season with a double. He heard the crowd cheer in the background. The outfielder threw the ball to the third baseman just in case ZIM decided to go for a triple. ZIM noticed the second baseman staring at him.

"Wassup?"

"What are you?" The kid asked.

"I'm an alien and if my team wins your coach agreed that I could take out all your organs and eat them." The kid seemed scared but wondered if the little Irken was serious or not.

"Are you kidding?" The kid asked. ZIM looked at him but didn't answer. He just smiled and winked before getting a good lead off after the pitcher threw another ball for the next batter. The catcher dropped the ball and it went behind him giving ZIM the chance to steal third. The catcher quickly picked up the ball and hurled it to the third baseman but ZIM was already safe. The crowd cheered again. He was now closest to his dugout. The base coach approached him and gave him a high five.

"No outs, kay? Be smart. Now if the catcher misses the ball I want you to steal home, okay? Good job, kiddo! I'm glad you're on the team!" ZIM smiled.

"Thanks coach." Four more pitches were thrown. It was now a full count. Once last pitch sealed the batters fate. The ball was thrown.

"Strike three!" The ump cried as the catcher failed to catch the ball, letting it go in between his legs and far behind him to the backstop. As the most recent batter ran to first, because the catcher dropped the ball on the third strike, all eyes were on him. ZIM saw this as a perfect opportunity to run for home.

"Hey! Mark! He's going home!" The opponent's pitcher screamed. The catcher looked up but still didn't have the ball. The pitcher ran home. Mark, the catcher, picked up the ball and threw it to the pitcher who had his foot on home plate waiting for ZIM to arrive so he could tag him out. ZIM got down and slid home before the pitcher could touch him. Unfortunately when he slid he kicked the pitcher's legs from underneath him and knocked the pitcher over, resulting in the boy to land on top of ZIM in an awkward position.

"Easy, bad boy. We just met!" ZIM said sexily and jokingly. The pitcher scrambled to get off of the much smaller Irken as ZIM snickered.

"Safe! Safe! He's safe!" The umpire shouted. The audience clapped and whistled again. The coach beamed. ZIM stood up and brushed himself off. He waved to his siblings and friends in the stands taking off his helmet. When he turned to go back into the dugout he tripped over something and fell to his knees in the dirt. He groaned and heard someone shout from the stands, 'He tripped him!' ZIM looked up and saw the catchers foot was stuck out and laughing hard as well as his fellow team mates. ZIM grumbled and got up. He could hear the ump yell at the catcher about getting expelled from the scrimmage if he continued acting in unsportsmanlike behavior. When ZIM stepped into the dugout several of his teammates high-five'd him and said, 'Good job' over and over again. ZIM sat on the bench and stretched out his legs until the coach came up to him.

"Great job, Zimmy! Now I want you to go out of the dugout and warm up with Tyler. He'll catch for you today." He said.

"Coach Johnson?"

"Yes?"

"Do I have permission to trip that bastard to get even?" His team mates snickered.

"Don't go off saying those words, little man. And no. You have to be the bigger person, figuratively, and let it go." ZIM rolled his eyes.

"Fine," ZIM replaced his black and white batting gloves with his black, Easton, pitching mitt and beckoned for Tyler to follow him. The two waited till the play was done before running out and behind the dugout to warm up. ZIM opened the gate and trotted out with Tyler.

"Hey, Z. Nice play." Red said from his seat on the stands with Leslie, Gaz, Tenn, Zee, and Purple.

"I liked the part when he tripped." Purple said.

"I liked that too." Red agreed.

"I liked it when he totally got laid by the other pitcher." Gaz said. Purple and Red burst into laughter. Leslie scowled at her daughter.

"Hah! Yeah! You guys are funny." ZIM growled. "You better not make funny faces at me while I'm pitching." Red and Purple looked at each other.

"That's a great idea!" ZIM groaned. Why'd he have to open his mouth?

**Three Hours Later**

"Ugh! My legs hurt!" ZIM exclaimed, flopping belly down on the couch. "I'm so stupid! Why didn't I stretch?" He asked himself. Red snickered.

"At least you guys won."

"Yeah, but it was a scrimmage! It don't count."

"It doesn't," Purple corrected. "And its got to count for something."

"Hey!" Tenn called from upstairs. She stormed down the steps and glared at Purple. She was holding something behind her back."Guess what I found on my bed!" Purple shrugged.

"What?" Tenn whipped the object from behind her and it revealed a dead ferret.

"Hey! I was gonna dissect that!" Tenn threw the lifeless animal at his head. He ducked and let it fall to the floor.

"Gross, Pur." Red said, wrinkling his nose. Purple picked it up.

"I put this in the freezer. How'd it get in Tenn's room?" Purple asked looking at ZIM who smiled innocently.

"Good question … it's like a … ghost ferret or something." He said. The front door opened and Leslie and Gaz entered the house. Gaz sat on the couch next to ZIM whereas Leslie popped a squat on Red's lap.

"Hey baby." Leslie whispered and kissed Red deeply. Purple gasped.

"Oh my goodness! You can't do that shit in front of me! It's yucky!" Purple cried. ZIM giggled.

"Oh, Purple. You make me smile and laugh at the same time." ZIM looked over to his brother. "Hey! Get a room!" He yelled throwing a pillow at the two. The couple broke off from their kiss and glared at him. "Disgusting kids."

"You wouldn't mind watching Gaz tonight would you, Pur?" Leslie asked. Purple shook his head.

"I have a date tonight." Red cocked a brow.

"With who? You didn't tell me this."

"With a dead ferret. Imma cut it open and spill it's guts." Gaz's eyes widened.

"Can I help?"

"Heck yeah!" Purple puffed his cheeks and puckered his lips making a very fake aggressive face and high five'd her. "I don't know how making that face helped …"

"Nah it … wasn't relevant at all. Maybe it makes you feel empowered." ZIM said as he listened to some music on his Imp and reading an Irken magazine. "You can't help him. I'm gonna do your hair tonight, Gaz."

"What did you have planned this time?"

"I don't know. I was thinking crimping and teasing tonight … Oh my Yahweh! That sounded nasty!"

"Yeah it did." Red said in disbelief but was very amused all at once. ZIM sniggered adjusting his ear buds.

"No what else is nasty? This song. It's like … ick. _Baby, take off your clothes and come on, Turn off the lights 'cuz girl it's on! Now that we are all alone, I want you to sex me- _Hey!" Red ripped the Imp outta ZIM's hand and deleted the song and smacked his little brother upside the head.

"I have a feeling you're going to grow up to be one of those horny, douche bag, jerks." Red muttered.

"You know I don't need the song to sing it." ZIM said looking at his Imp and noticing the song was gone. "_So fellas grab your ladies and make it real wet-_" Red slammed his hand over ZIM's mouth. Leslie burst into laughter and Purple rolled his eyes. ZIM grabbed Red's hand with his own two hands and pried the hand off singing a lot faster so he could get the words out before Red stopped him again. "_Slow baby! Slow baby! Steady as we go! Up and down to a sixty-nine tempo!_"

"Zeiden!" Red picked ZIM up and walked to a slider glass door on the other side of the living room. He slid it open and threw ZIM out into the back yard and quickly shut and lock the door. ZIM sat in the grass and looked toward Red with big puppy dog eyes. Red turned away, knowing he'd cave in if he saw them. "Sorry about that." He apologized. Leslie was still laughing.

"Don't apologize. That made my day!" She gasped. "Oh! What an amusing brother you have." She looked out the window to find ZIM suddenly jumping up from his sitting position screaming and running around the house to the front yard. "And now he just ran off …" The front door crashed open.

"Oh! I hate snakes! Gah! It touched me! It was so ick! Nasty! Grossness! And now I need to take a bath. Eeugh!" ZIM shook as if he'd just seen the most horrifying scene in the universe.

"You overreact so bad." Red said. ZIM sighed and tried to calm down.

"I-I left my Imp out there I think." ZIM said walking across the living room and looked out the window. Sure enough there was his Imp and the snake was about to coil itself around it. "Red, will you get it for me?"

"No! It's only a little garter snake."

"Red! You know I hate snakes!" Gaz rolled her eyes.

"I'll get it, you little wuss."

"Oh sure, let the younger girl get it for you, ZIM." Purple teased. ZIM shuddered.

"Oh my gosh. I just- ugh! I hate snakes so much!" ZIM looked close to tears. Gaz opened the slider door and walked fearlessly to the Imp and snake. Purple followed her then whispered something in her ear. She smiled and nodded. She picked up the snake and walked around the house with it as Purple retrieved the phone.

"Where is she going." ZIM asked.

"She's disposing of the snake. She'll be back." Purple handed the phone over to ZIM. Seconds later Gaz came back in and with out a word she trotted up the stairs to the bedrooms.

"Well we better get going, Red. You guys have fun and stay outta trouble. That means you Peder!" Leslie said sternly. Purple looked at her with innocence.

"I always stay outta trouble, woman!" He declared. Red rolled his eyes.

"Bull shit."

"Lets go, babe." Leslie said tugging on his arm.

"Be sure ZIM gets to bed on time. He's been loosing sleep and he's cranky." Red told Purple. Purple saluted and waved as the couple left.

**Later**

"Wow." Red said happily. Leslie smiled and kissed his cheek. They were sitting on top of Red's truck staring at the sunset from the tallest dune in the Silver Lake sand dunes state park. He had just received a blue 200cc Yamaha on and off road dirt bike. "But why would you spend so much on my birthday. It's a brand new bike and everything."

"My cousin works for a motocross dealership and I get top of the line bikes and buggys for reasonable prices." Red beamed. "I'm glad you like it." She said breathing on his neck.

"Love it." Red and Leslie leaned in to kiss one another. Tongues dancing in each other's mouths. "Well we better get going." Red said. He slid off the roof and let Leslie hop on his new bike and let her drive it out to the parking lot. He got in his truck and started it up and drove out. As soon as the two stepped into Red's house they were greeted by a scream coming from upstairs.

"Ahhhh!" Following was several Irken and English and even aboriginal curses and cuss words. ZIM practically flew down the steps and ran directly toward a laughing Purple and tackled the much taller Irken to the ground and screaming more profanities at him. "Why would you do that to me! My Irk! I hate you now! Damn you!" Red grabbed ZIM by the arms and pulled him off Purple.

"What's going on?" Red asked noticing ZIM was shaking really hard.

"Gaz, put that snake in my bed! In it!" ZIM shook with fear. Tears formed by the corners of his eyes. He was absolutely terrified. "I was laying in bed and it crawled in my shorts." ZIM whimpered and started sobbing, knees buckling. Red couldn't help but burst into laughter as well as Leslie and everyone else present. Red knew ZIM had an extremely unhealthy fear of snakes. "You guys are horrible!" ZIM cried and teared away from Red's grip.

"It's okay, Zimmy. You can- you can sleep with me tonight if it'd make you feel better." Red suggested. ZIM threw his arms around Red and buried his face into Red's thigh. Gaz came down the steps holding the snake by the tail and came up behind ZIM and rested the reptile on his shoulder. ZIM froze then slowly turned his head to see what was touching him. He screeched, trembling. He then wheezed a bit before his eyes rolled to the back of his head, fainting from the scare and sudden hypertension in his normally hypotension blood. Red caught him before he hit the ground.

"Oh god! Did I just kill him?" Gaz asked concerned. Red pinched a sensitive nerve on ZIM hoping that would revive him. It didn't. Red sighed.

"No, throw that snake somewhere outside. I'm gonna have to take care of him." Red picked ZIM's limp body up bridal style and placed him on the couch. Purple guffawed happily taking the snake from Gaz and did as told. "That man … has no self-control." Red shook his head, a smile still evident on his face. Leslie looked down at ZIM's face.

"Poor ZIM. Little guy is too weak of heart to take scares like that."

"Yeah, he faints like a goat when his blood pressure goes from low to high like that." Red said. Leslie put her arms around Red and kissed his neck. Red stood and turned around to embrace her.

"You my baby." Leslie said.

"I'm yo' baby." Was Red's response. The couple giggled and kissed again.

"Ew, as if I haven't seen enough gross things today." ZIM moaned finally waking up. He usually only blacked out for a few seconds before reviving himself. "Did I fall asleep here?" He asked.

"Nah. You fainted, Hun." Leslie informed. ZIM sat up.

"I'm gonna- Wait! There is a snake in my bed!"

"I'll wash your bedsheets. Purple already took care of it. Go to my bed." Red said. "Me and Leslie want to be alone."

"Leslie and I." ZIM said, sounding a lot like Purple. "And fine. But I'll warn ya' I sleep pretty rigorously."

"Rigorously. That's a new word for you." Red said. ZIM smiled and winked, tapping the side of his head before trotting upstairs. Leslie wrapped her arms around Red's neck and pressed her lips against his.

**April 12, 1996**

ZIM shook his head. Then again. Then nods when his catcher made a good call. ZIM readied himself on the pitchers mound and wound up and released a fiery slider into the strike zone. "Strike three! Batters out!" The ump shouted. The opponents second batter walked to the dugout miserably. The opposing team was currently loosing. Seven, oh. And ZIM was pitching a perfect game. ZIM cringed as he bit his cheek from the gum he was chewing. He adjusted the visor of his team hat to block the powerful sun outta his eyes. "Batter up!" ZIM smiled at his team mates behind him and to the side of him. The smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"Two down!" ZIM shouted. "Plays at first!" ZIM prepared to pitch the ball. He threw the ball with fury.

"Strike!" ZIM caught the ball that was thrown back to him from the catcher. ZIM took a deep breath and pitched another. "Strike two! Oh-two!" ZIM smirked.

"Yeah baby." ZIM said.

"Go fiver!" Someone shouted from the stands referring to ZIM's jersey number. Red told ZIM that he had several fans in the crowd that came to every game. ZIM pitched the ball but made the mistake of making it a slow pitch. As the ball sailed to the strike zone the batter's bat connected with the ball spot on and hit a direct line driver straight towards ZIM's …

"Ack! Jesus!" ZIM fell to the ground in crippling pain and gasped for air. He placed his hands over his crotch in pain and curled up in a fetal position on his side. "Uuh! Why?" ZIM bit his lip and closed his eyes tightly. Before he knew it, every team mate, opponent, coach and ump was surrounding him as he rolled on the ground in complete and utter agony. ZIM whimpered in pain and embarrassment. When he opened his eyes again he saw Red and Purple looming over him with amused smirks on their faces.

"Hey. Does this mean I'm not getting any nieces or nephews from you?" Red asked. ZIM growled and weakly punched his brother's arm.

"I got 'im, Red." Coach Johnson said picking up the pained Irken and carrying him to the dugout. The coach set ZIM in a lying position on the bench. "Get your hands out from between your legs, boy, and ice it." ZIM didn't move. He bent his legs up and together and just cringed and let a few tears slip from his tightly closed eyes. The coach sighed. "Eric! You're in for ZIM. Warm up with Tyler." Red stepped into the dugout with Purple with a bag of ice. Red threw the ice at ZIM and it landed on his chest. ZIM opened his eyes and grabbed the ice removing his hands and replaced it with the frozen water.

"Ooh! Irk!" ZIM tried to relax on the hard bench but was having a hard time when the benchwarmers kept trying to talk to him. "Red! Give me drugs." Red quirked a brow and looked at Purple.

"I have acetaminophen." Purple said.

"What?"

"Tylenol, ZIM." Red clarified.

"That's for girls when they're … acting up." ZIM huffed. "Gah! It hurts so bad!"

"Calm down, ZIM. You're freakin' out your teammates." Red said.

"The pain!"

"Shh. I know. I was there once too ... But only it was a wiffle ball ... so it probably didn't hurt as bad." Red said trying to sooth his baby brother.

"Owwwwies."

"Stop being such a baby." Purple said. "Irken males have that protective sheath for a reason." ZIM glared at him.

"It still hurts like a be-yotch." Purple and Red snickered showing no sympathy. ZIM sighed. "May I trade you guys in for two more sisters?"

**April 14, 1996**

"It's too tight." ZIM said pulling away from Leslie. The woman rolled her eyes and grabbed the Irken's arm so he didn't go anywhere.

"Hold still, babe." Leslie said re-tying the solid dark blue tie around ZIM's neck. He looked over to Red and saw him attempt to tie it but it ended up in a knot. "Oh for crying out loud, Red. No wonder this kid doesn't know how to tie! You can't even tie your own!" Leslie said finishing up with ZIM's then went over to Red to assist him. ZIM looked down at his attire in disgust. Charcoal pants with a navy blue blazer that matched his tie and a plain white dress shirt and a pair of brown shoes.

"I look like a square." ZIM muttered adjusting the black kippah with a golden star of David on the top, on his head. They were going to church for the first time since they left Australia. In fact, they've never been to church, only messianic synagogues. But today they were going to Leslie's church. Leslie told a few members of her congregation and elders that her boyfriend's little brother was a singer and they invited ZIM to the morning service for ministry in music. In other words, he had to sing for them. ZIM hoped they fit in because he wasn't Christian Reformed like Leslie's church but rather belonged to a different faith.

"We gotta go before we're late." Leslie said. "Thank you for doing this again, ZIM." ZIM smiled.

"Pleasures all mine. I haven't sang in awhile."

"You sang yesterday for practice." Red said.

"In front of a whole bunch of people? No I haven't." ZIM added.

The car ride to the church didn't take too long. They finally pulled in to a dirt parking lot. This church actually doubled as a Christian summer camp. Grace Adventures was a big church where the sanctuary was also the gym. ZIM knew the acoustics would sound horrible but he didn't think anyone would notice but him. ZIM observed the stage then turned when someone poked his shoulder. A teenage boy.

"Greetings, space-being, where do you hail from?"

"Wha- … Well, I was born in Darwin, Australia but I moved here almost two years ago."

"You Christian?" The boy asked. ZIM furrowed his brows. This kid was no doubt bullied in school.

"No, the majority of Irken people are a type of Jew of some sort. I'm a Masonic Jew." ZIM said. '_Why is this freak talking to me?_'

"What's that?"

"Uh, it's a Jewish religion but unlike the Jewish law we believe in Yeshua, or as you guys call him, Jesus Christ as the messiah and actual son of Yah- I mean, God." ZIM explained.

"That's so cool! I was always interested in the jewish faith. My name is Cam by the way."

"ZIM." ZIM smiled, trying not to gag at the older boy. '_He's just trying to be friends with a stranger ... I guess._' ZIM thought. "I have to get ready. I'm singing for you guys today. " ZIM said feeling his kippah. It was a bit scratchy. His sisters were lucky, they didn't have to where kippot.

"Well I gotta go now. See ya around." Cam darted off.

"Good riddance. Freak." ZIM mumbled. He had a lot of weird conversations with strangers before but that probably topped as number one. Red came up to ZIM.

"You ready?" ZIM nodded. Twenty minutes later ZIM stood on the stage looking out to the crowd of people. Red was playing piano for him as he strummed his acoustic guitar.

"_Some glad morning when this life is o'er, I'll fly away;_" ZIM sang sweetly into his mic plucking the strings softly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Cam in the front row making a heart with both hands to ZIM. The Irken ignored it and continued to sing. "_To a home on God's celestial shore, I'll fly away. I'll fly away, Oh Glory I'll fly away; (in the morning) When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away (I'll fly away)._" Red was singing back up and harmonized nicely with ZIM. The verses continued and eventually the congregation joined in for the choruses. After that song they sang two more songs and then were done.

"Thank you Zeiden and Red for sharing your gifts and talents with us this morning." The preacher said standing up from his chair behind the pulpit. ZIM smiled at the man as he stepped down from the stage and sat by the rest of their family. ZIM slouched in his seat and stared at the ceiling then before ZIM knew it everyone was standing to receive God's blessing then being dismissed. ZIM walked back to the stage and grabbed his guitar case and shut it.

"Hey, ZIM. Great job." Gaz said coming from behind him.

"Thanks, Chica." ZIM said sitting down on the edge of the stage. He felt the cap on his head lift up. He looked and noticed Purple putting it on his head.

"Look at me! Now I'm a Masonic Jew!" Purple said making the 'Live and long and prosper' Star Trek signal with both his hands. ZIM shook his head.

"You're so weird." Red walked up to the two.

"You guys ready to go?" He asked. Purple looked at Red's cap and yanked it off.

"I like yours better." Purple said putting Red's on his head and giving Red, ZIM's kippah.

"They are exactly the same." Red said.

"ZIM's is smaller. Let's go now to the synagogue or something to worship some more." Purple declared head held high as he left the building the kippah still on his head.

"That man." Red whispered. ZIM finished for him.

"He's odd." ZIM looked over and saw Cam again waving vigorously at him. "But not as odd as him."

**June 12, 1996**

"_Out in the country past the city limit sign! Well there's a honky tonk near the country line!_" ZIM kicked and stomped his feet to the right dance moves of the song while singing louder than necessary. "_The joint starts jumpin' every night when the sun goes down! They got whiskey, women, music and smoke! It's where all the country folk go to boot scootin' boogie!_"

"ZIM! Look alive! No singing and line dancing!" Coach Johnson yelled to the tiny Irken.

"You shouldn't of put me in the outfield!" ZIM shouted back. "I get no action out here!"

"I told you I wanted to try something different now pay attention! I'm gonna hit a ball your way and you gotta catch it!" ZIM huffed, crossing his arms. He hated the outfield! How dare the coach stick him out there! He had way more skill than any outfielder ever had! "Heads up! Its yours, ZIM!"

"Wha-?" ZIM was caught off guard. The next thing he knew something collided with his left eye and he fell back to the ground. "Ugghh." He moaned in pain holding his stinging face.

"Shit!" He heard the coach run over to him and several other team mates. "Okay, you in the outfield, bad idea."

**Later That Day**

"How did you get that?" Purple asked as soon as ZIM sat in the passenger seat of his car. Purple picked him up when baseball practice was done and ZIM now had a black and blue eye from where he got hit in the face earlier during the practice.

"Don't want to talk about it." ZIM muttered. He looked out the window so Purple wouldn't see it anymore.

"Let me look at it."

"No."

"Why not?"

"'Cuz."

"That doesn't answer my question." Purple took ZIM's face in his hands and turned it toward him. "Owies. My poor smeet! What did they do to you?" Purple exclaimed in a motherly tone.

"Just take me home! I have a headache!" ZIM pulled away from the older Irken's grasp.

"Wow, someone is cranky."

"Leave me alone!" ZIM's voice cracked.

"Did I say cranky? I meant emotional." Purple said. "ZIM, why are you crying?"

"I don't k-know. Johnson gave me some- prescription drugs to ease the pain … crap I wasn't supposed to tell you that." ZIM said calming himself down. "I think it's just a side effect." Purple quirked brow as ZIM's mood changed from sorrow and self-pity to neutral.

"Whatever." Purple drove through down town Silver Lake and past many shops. "I kinda wanna stop at Summer Strip Mall before we go home first okay?"

"Why? That place is for tourists." ZIM said.

"Um. Hello? I need Summer Strip Mall stuff. Err durr!" Purple said. ZIM rolled his eyes. Minutes later the two pulled into a small strip mall on a dock that runs along a lakes water edge. "I just need to get some surfboard wax for your brother and sunglasses for me since some how my other ones miraculously disappeared by themselves." Purple said eyeing ZIM accusingly.

"It wasn't me!" ZIM defended. Purple gave ZIM a hard look then chuckled.

"You look so stupid with your black eye." ZIM huffed and opened up the car door. He trotted to keep up with Purple when something caught his eye. He looked to his right and saw a small puppy cowering near a trash bin, shaking uncontrollably. ZIM watched as Purple entered the store. ZIM stayed out to get a closer look at the dog. The little Irken made his way to the trash can and bent down to the puppy's face. ZIM reached a hand out and let the little dog sniff his hand before petting it's head.

"Hey, you. What are you doing out here by yourself?" ZIM asked in a really dorky tone. "What are you?" ZIM evaluated the dog for a moment. It's fur was purest of whites and very, very thick. "A Samoyed? Yeah, you look like a Samoyed. Origin; west Serbia and Northwest Russia. Known for herding reindeer and pulling sleds." ZIM said as if he were filming a wild life documentary. He usually only did that when people were around to appreciate his ability to classify animals. The puppy whimpered a little and limped out from by the trash bin to get closer to ZIM. "Doh! You're so cute!" ZIM said happily. The Irken looked around to see whose dog it could be. No one was around. "Abandoned, Eh? No tags. Nothing. That's a shame. Maybe …" ZIM picked up the Samoyed in his arms holding him gently. ZIM and his new friend waited outside the door of the shop Purple went in for him to come out again. He waited for another minute before the older Irken stepped out of the store holding a single bag. He looked at ZIM and then the creature in ZIM's arms. ZIM smiled up cutely at the man.

"Aw, hell no!" ZIM's smile deflated. "Put it back where you found it." Purple said thickly.

"C'mon Pur!"

"No."

"But-"

"No!"

"I-"

"No!" ZIM sighed.

"I really didn't want to have to use this." Purple cocked a brow at the younger.

"What are you- oh gosh!" Purple shielded his eyes away from ZIM and the puppy's adorable faces. ZIM widened his eyes, or tried to with his semi-swollen black left eye, and stuck his bottom lip out slightly and made it quiver a bit making a perfect pouty face. "Zeiden, stop!" Purple said. ZIM didn't back down.

"Pweeaassseee, Purry? For da widdle poopie?" ZIM held up the dog to Purple's face. The little puppy's tongue was sticking out slightly and it's eyes were wide like ZIM's. The puppy licked Purple in between the eyes. The older Irken groaned.

"It's up to your brother."

"You are my brother."

"You're other brother."

"You are my other brother."

"You're biological brother, Zeiden! Gosh. Fine just get in the truck." ZIM smiled triumphantly. One brother down, one to go.

**Later**

"But I gotta keep him! I named him Tyson!" ZIM exclaimed. Red rubbed his temples.

"ZIM, remember when you had your pet wallaroo?"

"Joey roo. And this is different! It's a dog!"

"Yes. But Purple doesn't like dogs."

"So?"

"So we shouldn't torment him by-"

"You get a say in the matter you know." ZIM interrupted.

"Huh. Cuz my opinion doesn't matter." Purple huffed.

"C'mon, Red! It's not like my kangaroo. It's totally different. It's like a dog."

"I know it's a dog but-" Red was cut off.

"I wanna pet."

"I'm aware. But I really need to know if-"

"I wanna pet."

"Yes, ZIM, you said that. But I want to know if you'll-"

"I really wanna pet!"

"Zeiden! You can keep the dog just take care of it!" Red blurted out before his little brother interrupted again.

"But Red, this dog needs me! It can't live out on the streets! It'll die- wait you said I could keep him?" Red nodded slowly. "Uh. Thanks." ZIM stood up from sitting on the couch and hugged Red with Tyson in his arms.

"Yeah, welcome. Now tell me, where'd you get the shiner?" Red touched ZIM's eye gently.

"Heh. Outfield." Was all ZIM mumbled. The youngster turned on his heals and set the dog down. ZIM trotted up the stairs with the tiny white puppy on his heals.

**June 15, 1996**

**8:30 AM**

"_Anything new happen while I was gone?_" ZIM shook his head but realized Tak couldn't see him when he did that over the phone.

"No. Except, I gotta doggie. His name is Tyson."

"_Aww. What kind?_"

"Samoyed. You know. Those big white dogs."

"_Never heard of a Samoyed. But nice. Can't wait to see him when we visit again._"

"I'm sure he's excited to meet you too, right Ty?" The little dog yipped at the mention if his name. Tak giggled.

"_Well, I'll see you next month, Zimmy. Love you, bye now._"

"Bye." ZIM hung up the Imp.05 and laid back in his comfy bed with his dog curled up by his side. "She's crazy." ZIM put a hand on the dog's soft head and stroked his ears. Someone opened his bedroom door and Zee's head popped in.

"You ready for your last game?" Zee asked. ZIM frowned.

"No." Zee huffed and entered fully making her way over to ZIM's drawers. She pulled out a pair of white, long, boot cut baseball pants with a black belt around the waist and a short sleeve, red with black lettering jersey. The sleeves were black like the letters then the body of the jersey was red. On the front the number five was on the chest over the left breast along with the team name. On the back the number five was directly in the center with the name 'MACALE' above the number. Zee threw these articles to ZIM and then went to his closet and grabbed his black and white Nike cleats with metal prongs at the bottom.

"Get dressed, ZIM. We're leaving in a couple minutes." ZIM hopped out of bed and dressed himself properly for the upcoming game. Tournament actually. If his team wins the first game then he's gonna have to play another one against another team. And if they win that one then they would win the local championship and select one player from each local championship team around the county and travel all around Michigan to compete against other counties. ZIM was almost positive that if they won they'd pick him to be on the all-star county team. Once clothed in his uniform ZIM wrapped his wrists with black sweat bands and grabbed his pitchers glove and batting gloves. He trotted downstairs, Tyson following closely behind. Red and Leslie were talking in the kitchen whereas Purple and Tenn were arguing and Zee was trying to keep the peace.

"Hey, Squirt." Red said noticing ZIM. "Big day, Eh? You get any sleep last night?" ZIM nodded.

"Only five hours. But I'll be fine." Purple cocked a brow.

"Boi ya need tah sleep moar! Not good only gettin' five hours of sleep, ya know?"

"Pur, you sound like white trash when you talk that way." Tenn said. Purple shot her a glare.

"You would know."

"Shut up you two." Zee groaned rubbing the sides of her head.

"She started it." Purple said.

"Grow up." Tenn said.

"Just get in the vehicles guys." Red butted in. He set a hand on ZIM's shoulder. "C'mon mate. Lets go." ZIM smiled up at him as he smiled back down.

"Tyson, come." The little dog barked and followed ZIM to Red's truck. Leslie put her arms around Red's neck and kissed him.

"I gotta pick up Gaz from my mom's and we'll head to ZIM's game right after." Leslie kissed Red's lips and walked to her car. "See ya in a bit, babe." Red waved at her as she pulled out of the drive way. Red opened the door to his truck and saw ZIM sitting on Purple's lap and Tyson strapped in the middle seat. Red scoffed.

"Cute."

**Baseball Diamond**

**11:25 AM**

ZIM wiped the sweat off his brow. The sun beat down harshly overhead. He adjusted his team hat and wound up for another pitch. Once the ball was released ZIM stumbled a bit. "Strike!" The umpire called.

ZIM sighed and closed his eyes. He forgot to take his medication that morning and was feeling nauseous and dizzy. The little Irken was also getting tremendously painful muscle cramps. He caught the ball the catcher, Tyler, threw back at him. ZIM wiped another droplet of sweat off his forehead. When Irkens sweat, it usually isn't a good sign because they're bodies don't normally sweat unless the Irken was feeling sickly.

ZIM glanced toward the stands and saw Red staring at him closely. He must know ZIM isn't feeling too well.

"One out! Runner on third! Plays at home!" ZIM shouted to his team mates. ZIM immediately regretted shouting so loud. His head was pounding and the sun and sweat was making him uncomfortable. They won the first game and if they won this next game they'd be the local champions. ZIM stood at his regular pitching stance and wound up for another screwball to the batters strike zone. The motion of firing the pitch made ZIM wobble and fall to his hands and knees. He realized he was on the ground and quickly stood up. But a little too quickly. As soon as ZIM stood his head felt immense vertigo and his vision went white. He swayed a bit before falling back to the ground again. This time flat on his left side.

"Time! Time out!" The umpire shouted. ZIM soon regained consciousness and cracked his eyes open. His vision was blurry and the world was spinning. He turned and laid on his back for more comfort. He put his hands to his eyes.

"Ugh. I'm fine! I'm fine!" ZIM tried sitting up but collapsed back down. "Nnnnh." ZIM moaned, bending his legs up and covered his face with his hands again. It felt like there was a gerbil in his head eating his eyes and his brains away. He could feel himself start to shake vigorously. ZIM ripped his hands away from his eyes and cried out in pain. "Red!" Tears swept down ZIM's cheeks.

"ZIM! ZIM, what's wrong?" Coach Johnson asked concerned. ZIM shook hard and made a humming noise his mouth slightly agape with drool dripping from the corners of his mouth. "Red! I need ya out here!" The coach shouted to the stands. Red was already making his way over to the pitching mound with Zee. ZIM suddenly lashed out and struck the coaches cheek on accident. "Oof." Johnson grunted. He told ZIM's team mates to stand back as he grabbed ZIM by his arms.

"Don't restrain him." Red said calmly. "He's having a seizure." Zee studied her brother. She looked at the symptoms then a look of horror crossed her features.

"No. It's not a seizure, it's a heat stroke. We need an ambulance here, stat." Zee looked at the coach. Johnson nodded and pulled out his cellphone and dialed 9-1-1 then spoke to the emergency operator. "It's alright, Zei. You'll be okay." ZIM opened his eyes and instead of seeing his sister he saw a tall man in a trench coat grabbing at him. Obviously he was having bad hallucinations.

"No! Get away from me!" ZIM cried. Zee was taken aback.

"What? Zeiden, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you." ZIM's visions got worse as he saw not only just a man in a trench coat but several wasps and snakes, something he absolutely abhorred, on his body as well.

"Get 'em off me!" ZIM thrashed widely trying to rid his body of the apparent vermin. ZIM turned himself and flopped belly down to the gravel dirt pitching mound. He started clawing a the dirt ground and whimpered.

"We got to get him out of the sunlight." Zee instructed. Red nodded and picked ZIM up bridal style and carried him off the field and under a nearby shady tree. Zee crouched down and started to strip ZIM down to nothing but just his boxer shorts. "I need water and icepacks." A crowd started to gather around the sick Irken. "Someone!" A few parents ran to get her what she needed. Red sighed glad he had a sister in the medical profession. Finally Zee had received four icepacks and several bottles of ice water. The oldest Macale sister put two ice packs under each of ZIM's armpits then another one over his groin and one over his forehead. Red poured water onto ZIM as the little Irken shuddered and vomited water he drank earlier. In the distance sirens could be heard.

"You're okay, Z." Red said caressing ZIM's moist cheeks. "You'll be fine."

**The Next Day**

"Consider yourself lucky, kid. Strokes can be life threatening. It puts some people in a strange mental state if they survive." Purple said to ZIM who was on bed rest. Red just brought ZIM home from the hospital after an overnight stay. ZIM cuddled in his blue and orange blankets, sore from everything that has happened.

"Uhhh." ZIM moaned. "Irkens are tougher than humans."

"I know. But you still got to take it easy for the next few days." Purple sat down on the edge of ZIM's bed and smiled broadly at the boy. Purple had his hands behind his back.

"What do ya got?" ZIM asked curiously sitting up in his bed. Purple's smile got even wider when he pulled out a metal, a small trophy, and a two certificates from behind his back. ZIM's eyes widened.

"We won? How'd they win when I wasn't there to pitcher the last half of the second game?"

"Eric pitched for you. Damn does he stink. No wonder the coach never played him. But it was a good thing you guys were 5-1 before you had your spell. After Eric was done it was 9-7." Purple put the metal over ZIM's head and handed him the trophy of a golden boy hitting a ball with a bat.

"What are those?" ZIM asked eyeing the pieces of laminated paper.

"Your 'Most Valuable Player' certificate and your 'Certificate of Adoration and Achievement'." ZIM beamed.

"Well, of course I'm the MVP! But what about the player that would move on to the county's team? Was it me?" Purple's smile faded and looked at the bed sheets not meeting ZIM's eyes. "I'm sorry, ZIM."

"What? I don't understand. I played my best! Why didn't the coach or judges recommend me for the all-star county team?" ZIM asked loudly.

"I never said you didn't make it! I was gonna say, 'I'm sorry to tell you this but you're gonna be playing baseball throughout the summer because you made the all-stars team'. But certain people like to jump to conclusions!" Purple said, jokingly. ZIM stared at him for awhile before jumping up on his bed and squealing, attacking the older Irken. "Gah! Gee, ZIM! I had nothing to do with it! Why are you hugging me?" ZIM let go.

"'Cuz … more baseball." ZIM said cutely. Purple nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, more baseball."

**June 19, 1996**

"I'm so glad everything worked out alright." A Irken female said. Her bright sapphire eyes sparkled as ZIM and her looked off into the sunset on and pier on one of Irk's oceans.

"I am too, Mer." ZIM said facing her. They smiled at each other and leaned in closer. And closer still. ZIM and Mer's lips met. She opened her mouth as did he and let her press her lips fully onto his in a very passionate kiss. Both closed their eyes savoring the others flavor. ZIM wrapped his arms around her waist as her's went up to rub his chest and face. ZIM was glad he could reach Mer's lips unlike the other girls he kissed. She was practically the same height as him. Mer pulled away first then she spoke these words;

"Why don't we go home, Levi?" ZIM smiled and kissed her again.

"Cut, that's a wrap!" The director shouted cheerfully. ZIM sighed with relief glad that scene was over as well as the movie. ZIM originally was gonna have a small role but the original star got fired so they put ZIM on the spot and asked him if he'd do it. If he didn't the movie would be cancelled. ZIM had no choice then. He agreed to do the lead role.

The cast and crew shouted and cheered with glee. The girl who played Mer hugged ZIM. "It's been great working with you, ZIM."

"You too, Tress." ZIM said. He saw Tak behind the director glaring at him. He warned her about that scene. She didn't like it … one bit. Tak walked over to ZIM and hugged him tighter than what his co-star, Tress, did.

"Lets go home." She said. ZIM nodded and pulled his transporter out from one of his bags. "Lock in the coordinates. I gotta change." ZIM walked to his dressing room and quickly changed back into his street clothes. When he left the room Skoodge stopped him.

"Yo! I'm going home with you and staying the night. My dad will be busy tonight." Skoodge said. His dad was the producer for the film they both just starred in.

"'Kay, dude. But you're sleeping on the couch." Skoodge frowned.

"Why? Your little girly-friend sleeping with you tonight?" Skoodge asked looking at Tak who just gave him a cocky grin in return.

"No! Because last time you slept in the same bed as me my brother was almost convinced I was gay!"

"Did you tell him you just didn't want to make your guests sleep on the floor?"

"Yes! I came up with every damn excuse I could think of to get me outta that dumb assumption my bro made." Tak chuckled.

"Alright, guys. Let's just go now, 'Kay?" Tak butted in. ZIM locked in the transporter's code and beamed them to earth. Once back to earth three made their way to the roof's edge and jumped down to the bed of ZIM's brother's pick up truck. Discovering that ZIM could not fix the transporter in order for it to land them on the ground, they've grown used to the fact that they had to jump off the roof of ZIM's home.

"_Wait. So your brother probably thinks I'm gay too._" Skoodge said. "_After all, when he walked in on us to wake us up I was kinda snuggling against you in your sleep._" He admitted. ZIM looked at the chubby Irken with disgust.

"You what?" ZIM asked, switching the language back to English. Skoodge needed to get used to that fact that they spoke English when on earth.

"Nothing!" Skoodge said hastily. Tak burst into laughter as ZIM shot Skoodge a death glare.

"Know what? You can sleep on the streets tonight." ZIM mumbled opening the front door. The three walked to the living room. And saw Gaz playing a video game against Purple. Purple loosing and about to quit looked up at ZIM and his company.

"Hey! It's ZIM's gay friend!"

"I'm not gay!" Skoodge defended. Purple brushed him off. "My Irk. What's wrong with you guys?" Gaz and Purple just cackled.

"Ignore them. They feed off of other people's distress- Oof!" ZIM tripped over something soft and fuzzy and fell to the ground making Gaz and Purple laugh harder. Tyson got up from his laying position to see if his master was alright by licking his face numerous times. "You wretched ami-nal!" ZIM shouted and tackled the small dog. "You is so naughty! Why you trip me?" The puppy barked playfully and pawed at ZIM's chest. ZIM picked up the dog and snuggled it close making cooing noises. "My pooopie! Mine! My poopie, not yours! Hims my puppy-snuggle-doggie and he is mine! Puppy!" ZIM exclaimed hugging the puppy close. ZIM started to sniff and buried his face into the dogs snow white fur. "I'm sorry guys, I-I cry at cute things sometimes."

"Oh ZIM, you're so sensitive." Purple said with a chuckle.

"I know!" ZIM squealed into the puppy's fur. The little Samoyed barked and licked ZIM's head again. ZIM sat on the couch next to Gaz and watched the game. Skoodge and Tak sat around him as well. Red and Leslie descended from upstairs.

"Hey you're home! And you brought your gay friend too!" Red exclaimed.

"Okay!" Skoodge shouted getting up from the couch. He grabbed Tyson from ZIM's arms along with a cordless telephone from the stand next to the couch. "I'm leaving! And I'm taking these with me!" Skoodge said dramatically and walked towards the front door. ZIM rolled his eyes and slouched back down on the couch.

"He'll be back in a minute."

**June 21, 1996**

"Run! Run! Run! Run! Faster! Don't quit on me! C'mon boys! You're on the all stars now!" ZIM cringed as the coach for the Oceana county, Sandstorms continued to shout at them as they ran around the bases over and over again. "Come on boys! You only ran around the bases three times! You still have two more!" ZIM effortlessly ran the bases still not winded whereas his human colleagues seemed like they were about to pass out at any given moment. ZIM frowned as he past a particularly tired boy.

"C'mon, Derek. Don't think about how tired you are." ZIM said. "We're almost done." Derek didn't answer wanting to save the much needed breath for the last two laps. ZIM soon found himself in the lead and even lapped the group of boys. This impressed the couch. "Lets go, mate." ZIM said to another player. By the time ZIM was done with his five laps the other team mates still had one more to go. ZIM stopped in front of his coach.

"Macale! 'Mere, I wanna talk to you." ZIM looked at his coach.

"Yes, Coach Jay?"

"Are you tired?" ZIM shook his head. Coach Jay pointed out a chubby boy lagging behind the group of boys. "He still has three laps left. Go jog with him so he's not alone." ZIM smiled and nodded.

"Yes, sir." ZIM said enthusiastically. ZIM ran out to the chunky boy he knew as, Jake. "Hey, buddy! How you doing?" ZIM asked cheerfully running along side of Jake. Jake wheezed in reply. "You're doing great! Three more laps!" ZIM continued his encouragement. Tears started to slip down Jake's face.

"I … can't!" The boy slowed to a halt and fell to his knees in defeat. "I-I … I'm too … fat, man." The boy sighed. "I can't … do this!" ZIM stood by him.

"Don't say that." ZIM said noticing the other boys were done and waiting for Jake to finish. "If you couldn't do this they would have never of asked you to be on the all stars! Get on your feet, boy!" ZIM grabbed Jake's arm and heaved him up. "I'm not going on without you. Lets go." ZIM ran slowly to stay at Jake's side as the boy panted and wheezed. "We're almost done! One more lap." The boys from the sidelines started to encourage Jake.

"Lets go, Jake!"

"Yeah buddy!"

"Way to be, bro!" This seemed to fuel Jake. He started to run faster.

"Finish strong!" ZIM called to him. Jake ran even faster until he was full out sprinting to home plate. "That a boooi!" Jake stepped across the plate and raised his arms victoriously. The other boys clapped and cheered for him giving high fives and all sorts of encouragement.

"Macale!" Coach Jay shouted. ZIM snapped his head to the direction of his coach.

"Yes sir?" The coach put a brawny hand on ZIM's fragile shoulder. The big man bent down to ZIM's eye level with a proud look in his eyes.

"I'm proud of you." He said with a twinkle in his eyes. "You remind me of my son." ZIM smiled. Jay's teenage son died last year in a car accident; so ZIM, by the way he acted, reminded Jay of his son probably was an honor. "We've had three practices now and now I've decided who should be cut from the team." ZIM nodded. "The very first person I thought I should cut from the team was a young man with lots of encouragement and great attitude and terrific skills." ZIM cocked a brow.

"If he has so much skill why are you cutting him?" The coach held up a hand.

"Zeiden, you're that young man." ZIM heart skipped a beat.

"Wh-what? Why? What did I do? Whatever it was I can change it! I swear! I'll change! Please don't cut me!" ZIM said. "I'll play harder than I already have! Give me another chance!" Jay covered ZIM's mouth with his hand.

"Shh. Child, the reason why I cut you from the team was because you're too good to be playing minor league baseball."

"So? That doesn't mean you should cut me because I'm too good." ZIM said. He felt like he was going to cry … or punch the coach.

"Please, Zeiden, let me finish." ZIM quieted. "ZIM, I recommended you for the junior major league west Michigan team." ZIM's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

"You … did that?" The coach nodded. ZIM sat for a moment in silence then out of no where he squealed loudly catching the attention of the other players. ZIM jumped up and down and crushed Jay in a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! I love you! Oh my Irk! You're the best!" ZIM released Jay then turned to his team mates and tackled the first player he saw in a hug. "He recommended me! Ahahahahaha!" ZIM started to run off in all sorts of directions while shouting things like, 'Me!' and 'I love people!' making the other boys laugh at his antics until Jay finally grabbed the hyped Irken and held him up in the air, chuckling.

"I'm glad you're happy, Zimmy. But I need to talk to you seriously for a moment." ZIM tilted his head up to look at the coach who was holding him. "You're small. The boys that will be on the team are bigger, stronger and older. You must know your place on that team. You can't act as if you're the best player. You can't act as if you're never wrong. You need to learn how to except criticism. And most of all, don't bad mouth anyone from other teams. That will give you and immediate expulsion from any game. Your old coach said you had a problem with lipping off at other players." ZIM nodded. "Also, I highly recommend you hire a personal trainer to help you get started." The coach set ZIM back down on the ground. "Here a some forms you need to fill out. Recommendations for trainers. Dates of try outs and practices. Places you need to go and a whole bunch of additional information you'll need to know." Jay pulled a thick note packet out of his messenger bag and handed them to the small Irken.

"Thank you, coach. I really appreciate it." ZIM said calmly. Jay smiled and whispered.

"You know. I think you're good enough to skip the west Michigan junior major league team and go straight on for Michigan team where you play against other states." ZIM beamed.

"Or maybe even the MLB!" Jay looked at ZIM unsure of how to respond to that. "... Or what you said. That's what I'll aim for coach!" ZIM chirped. ZIM noticed Red's truck waiting for him in the parking lot near the diamond. "I'll see ya coach. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm totally gonna trick my brother into thinking I got cut from the team." Jay chuckled.

"Take care boy!" ZIM waved and trudged to Red his head hung low.

"How'd it go, bud?" Red asked nonchalantly. ZIM looked up at him with big sorrowful eyes.

"I-I … was cut from the team." ZIM gulped sliding into the truck.

"What? Why?" Red asked. ZIM started to fake sob.

"I-I was playing too good." Red cocked a brow.

"What? That doesn't even make any sense! I'm gonna go talk to that man!" Red said about to get out of the truck.

"No, Red! That'll just make it worse!"

"I don't care! I'm gonna talk to him. Maybe I'll get ya back on the team." ZIM gulped.

"I don't want to be on that team!" Red stopped and looked back at ZIM.

"Why not?" ZIM smiled hugely at Red. This confused the older Irken to no end. Why was ZIM smiling when he just got cut from the team of his most favorite sport?

"I was recommended for the west Michigan junior major league baseball team!" Red's jaw dropped.

"Shut up!" ZIM smiled and shrugged. Red playfully punched ZIM's arm. "No way!"

"Way!" Red laughed.

"My lil smeet is a pro at baseball! I personally would of thought you'd be better at footy or cricket."

"Cricket is boring. I still kinda wanna play footy. But baseball is my main priority right now! … And I need a personal trainer."

"What for?"

"Um, junior major league baseball only excepts people with lots of skills and talent. I need more." ZIM said browsing through the papers. "Mark Heckle, Jessica Merda, Philip Lee, Tommy Cack, or Sam Coi." ZIM pulled out his Imp. "I'm calling one right now." Red looked at him.

"Why now?"

"Why not? We need to start as soon as possible. The first meet for my new team starts on July 1." ZIM dialed a number into his phone. He was starting from the bottom of the list. "I wonder why they have a girl as a personal _baseball_ trainer. Shouldn't this Jessica Merda character be doing softball?"

"_Hello?_" A feminine voice finally answered on the other end.

"Hi, is Sam Coi available?" ZIM asked.

"_This is her_." ZIM was taken back. He thought Sam was going to be a guy.

'_Samantha not Samuel ... this is embarrassing._' ZIM thought to himself. "Oh. Um," Not wanting to be rude, ZIM continued to talk to her. "I hear you're a baseball trainer, correct?"

"_Yes, sir_."

"Do you think you'll be able to be my personal trainer? My name is Zeiden Macale and I was just-"

"_Hold up! Did you say Zeiden Macale?_"

"Yes."

"_I've heard of you! You're famous on Irk for singing and modeling. I'll be happy to be your trainer!_" The woman exclaimed. "_What days are you open?_"

"Uh, Saturdays between the times 11 AM to 9 PM and Tuesdays through Thursdays anytime." He heard the lady scribble something down on the other end.

"_Let's start our first meet tomorrow, Saturday at 11 and go till 1 at Shelby High School baseball diamond. Sound good?_"

"Yes ma'am."

"_Perfect! We'll talk about payment later! Can't wait to meet you Mister Macale. See you tomorrow._"

"Same here. Ciao." ZIM hung up. After a moment of silence. ZIM turned to Red "She already knows me apparently."

"That's odd. Usually humans don't keep up on Irken news. They have their own problems here." Red said.

"Maybe that lady is one of those social butterflies who constantly needs to be updated on news everywhere."

"Or she really like Irk."

"That could be it too." ZIM said.

"So your personal trainer is a woman." Red said.

"Yeah, _Samantha_." ZIM stressed. "If it don't work out then I'll get someone else."

"Doesn't," Red corrected. "Well either way, Zeiden Macale Junior, you got on the West Michigan junior major league baseball team! What are you going to do now?" Red asked like an announcer.

"I'm going to Disn- actually I'm probably gonna bust my butt to make sure I stay on the team."

"Good idea." A tint of blueish-greenish-red on ZIM's leg caught Red's attention. "Are you bleeding?" ZIM looked down at his calves.

"Where?"

"Your left leg."

"Oh. I slid into second, again, no sliding shorts. It was totally rigorous." Red smirked at ZIM using the word 'rigor' again.

"Oh ZIM. What am I going to do with you?" ZIM shrugged.

"I dunno! I silly boy!"

"Yes you is." Red patted ZIM's head.

**Next Day**

**June 22, 1996**

"It's nice to meet you, ZIM." Sam Coi shook ZIM's hand.

"Feelings mutual." The lady smiled at ZIM. They were meeting at Shelby High School's auxiliary gym then they'd move to the diamonds. At first glance ZIM saw that Miss. Coi was beautiful young woman with a deep burgundy hair color cut semi-short and a medium skin color with bright vibrant brown eyes. Sam was as pretty as Leslie, ZIM thought. She played for the Florida Gators softball team and coached baseball and softball. She was like a woman baseball revolution leader.

"Well lets get straight down to business. To warm up I want you to run around the gym twice then stretch then run again three more times." ZIM saluted her.

"Oui madam! I shall run! Then stop! Then stretch! Then run again! But only for you baby-cakes!" ZIM said darting off to do his task. Sam laughed at his excitement.

"You got chutzpah, kid!" Sam called to ZIM who was already half way around the gym.

"Chutzpah: originated from the Yiddish language. I know this 'cuz I speak a little Yiddish. Anyway! Definition: Shameless audacity! Audacity: the willingness to take bold risks! What I'm trying to say is, you know me pretty well already." ZIM shouted as he ran. Sam chuckled again.

"I can tell I'm going to have fun training with you, Zeiden."

"You better! If you don't then I'll have to try harder." ZIM finished his laps then slowly stretched out his muscles.

"How you feeling, ZIM?"

"Great! I feel like I could run another mile … or ten! Do you know what steroids feel like? I feel like I'm on them." ZIM said bouncing. Sam grinned.

"Very enthusiastic, aren't we?" In response ZIM raised his fists into the air and said very calmly.

"Yes, I am." ZIM took off again running around the gym three more times. "Actually the real reason why I'm so hyped is because I forgot to take my adderall." Sam cocked a brow.

"You have ADHD?" ZIM shook his head.

"Not necessarily but I do have a hyper active disorder that doesn't mess with my attention at all! The doctor just told me … hey there is a basketball stuck up in the rafters … anyway, the doctor told me to take them so I can be normal! I'll be like this for awhile! But in an hour or two I'll probably crash! Once I fell asleep during a baseball game this past season from not taking my medications! It was when I was batting too." ZIM shouted running around the gym faster and faster. He started to run directly toward one of the walls.

"Wow. Sounds like you have a lot of energy without taking your pills!"

"I do! I still have energy even if I take my meds but I just don't show it!" ZIM ran faster to the wall.

"I see. Energy all around and- ZIM watch out!" Sam shouted. ZIM smirked and ran up the wall and flipped off it doing his ever so rare and famous backwards wall flip. He landed like a cat on the ground. "Oh my God, kid!" Sam exclaimed clutching her chest. ZIM smiled and ran back to her.

"Sorry, my brother doesn't let me do that so the only chance I get to do it is when he's not around." Sam huffed.

"Well I can understand why he doesn't let you do that! Geez, you scared me." Sam said.

"I'm pretty much a pro at everything I do … 'cuz I'm rigorous and stuff … pretty much … So what are we doing now?" Sam put a hand on his shoulder.

"We just met. So first off we are going to just play catch and talk to one another. And since we're gonna be working together for awhile, this will be a good opportunity to get to know each other better."

"Oker-dokes." ZIM grabbed his black Easton pitching glove. Sam threw the ball to ZIM and as he caught he asked her, "How long have you been a personal trainer and how many clients do you currently have?"

"I've been a personal trainer for three years and currently I have one client and that is you. But that's okay because that means I'll have more time to work with you." Sam said. "I see you're a lefty." She noticed when ZIM threw the ball at her with his left hand.

"I'm ambidextrous. I prefer my left over my right though."

"Are you really? Great in a way. But that means we're going to have to train you using both of your arms and when you're batting just in case you want to change during a game because you're sore or something." ZIM nodded in agreement with her. "Have any brothers or sisters?"

"Two older brothers. One isn't related to me, he's actually my biological brother's assistant scientist but we treat him like he's our brother. My oldest brother is Red, he's also my legal guardian. He raised me since the day I was born. Peder, we call him Purple, is my non-related brother, Zee is my oldest sister and Tenn is half a year younger than her and my other older sister. I'm the youngest." Sam nodded understanding.

"And where were you born? You have a … peculiar accent." She asked. Darn it. He could of sworn he did a nice job hiding his accent.

"Darwin, Australia." He said letting his accent take over. This shocked Sam.

"I thought so. I thought your accent was fading but-."

"I was hiding it from you."

"Are you embarrassed of it?"

"Not really. It just annoys me when people say, 'Oh my gosh! You have the cutest accent! Let me pinch your cheeks'!" ZIM exclaimed. "Of course it's not as bad as Purple. He was born in Montreal and has the dumbest Canadian accent." ZIM said. "You should meet him! He's a tard but I think you'll like him! In fact. I think he's picking me up when training is done." Sam laughed.

"He single?"

"Yeah, but he's smooth with the ladies and yet he don't gots a girly-friend!"

"He sounds nice. How much older are your siblings than you?"

"They're all at least a decade older. In fact, Red is almost exactly two decades older than me." Sam's eyes widened.

"Wow! That's crazy!"

"I kuh-no! I don't like being so young! It makes me feel … young."

"One more question before we move on."

"Shoot."

"I want to know what makes you tick and what makes you happy."

"Why?"

"Useless bits of knowledge is significant for me to learn more about you."

"Okay," ZIM said. "Well, things that make me tick are people hugging me without my consent, Olive Oyl, golf, when I attempt to play tennis and people say, 'ZIM! That's a tennis racket! Not a baseball bat!'-"

"-Olive Oyl?" ZIM shuddered.

"Well, she's ugly and her voice annoys me. I hate how everyone is fighting over her constantly. You wanna see a real cartoon babe, Miss. Boop is your girl."

"You have a crush on Betty Boop?" ZIM scoffed.

"Huh! Who doesn't?" ZIM said before continuing. "Human toddlers annoy me, the fact that volleyballs are white, I think they should be grey, and something that _really _bothers me is Ken … you know? Barbie's boyfriend? Like, what does he got that I don't?" Sam burst into laughter. "For the things that make me happy are, shiny things, sparkles, doing and styling girl's hair, puppies, baseball, singing and dancing, koalas, and pretty women. That reminds me! I have to make a move on you!"

"What?" Sam asked through her laughter. ZIM made her bend down to his level. He put an arm around her shoulder and stared into her eyes.

"Hey baby, hows about you and I gets tah know each udder a bit bettah, Eh?" ZIM said with a wink. Sam laughed harder. "What? That pickup line didn't work for you? How 'bout this one? Polar Bear ... huh, I just wanted to break the ice. Hahaha! That one sucked." Sam didn't know how to react with a child hitting on her but she found it both amusing and pathetic at the same time.

"Sorry, Sweetheart, but you're twenty-two years younger than me." ZIM pouted which made Sam coo. "Aww. Don't feel bad. How 'bout we get started now and get your mind off of me." ZIM sighed, rolling his eyes.

"I guess!" He said exasperatedly. ZIM thought for a moment. "One last try." He told her. "I would die a million deaths just for you!" He said dramatically. Sam raised a brow.

"How about a million and one?"

"I wouldn't go _that _far." Zim said shaking his head. "Okay, let's just get started."

"Good. Now get a helmet on. We're starting with the batting cage."

**Two Hours Later**

"Hey, Z. How'd it go?" Purple asked ZIM entering the gym. ZIM looked up at him with a happy smile. Sam was holding on to his foot pushing it forward, stretching his thighs that had gotten tight from all the practice. He sat up from his laying position.

"Great! This is _Samantha_ Coi, my trainer!" ZIM pointed to Sam. She waved at Purple. Purple smiled big.

"Well, hello Miss. Coi." He said, winking at her. ZIM rolled his eyes,

"No use, Pur. I already tried to put a move on her. If she won't take me, there's no way she would take you." Purple shot ZIM a glare and slapped him upside the head making him yelp in pain.

"Sorry about him. We understand that he can be very annoying." Purple apologized. ZIM crossed his arms.

"Our whole race is annoying! We are _Irk_ens, afterall!"

"Oh. He ain't so bad." Sam said.

"Yeah! In the last couple hours Sam and I have developed a beautiful life-long friendship that will soon evolve into more than friendship then we will end up getting married, having eight kids named, Do, Re, Me, Fa, Sol, La, Te, and Chuck, and moving to New Hampshire for no reason whatsoever! The best part is she's gonna be the one working and I'm gonna be the stay at home dad!" Sam and Purple stared at him for a long moment.

"... Um, yes to the first part but the second part wasn't as accurate." Sam said. Purple gave her a sly smile. She smiled back lost in his hypnotic violet eyes. She caught herself and cleared her throat. "Well then. I have to get home and get ready for work." Purple nodded.

"You have fun at work then." He said. He bent down and picked up ZIM and rested the tiny Irken on his hip. "Lets go little, hyper active, man!"

"Oker-dokes." ZIM said as Purple carried him out of the gym.

"Damn, she's hot." Purple muttered. ZIM glared at him.

"Okay when I put a move on her she rejects me! When you do she be all like, 'Oh my gosh! He be soooooooo hot!' Gah! I hate you."

"Hey you have, Tak." ZIM smacked Purple on his shoulder. The purple-eyed Irken smiled at this and dropped the youngster. ZIM landed on his butt and got up to chase Purple all the way to the parking lot.

**Three Days Later**

"But I saw a ... Whoa! Where am I? What happened to my fiiiinnnger! It's not where it should be!" Red snickered at ZIM who was currently confined to a hospital bed.

"Your finger is fine, Z. It's your head and arm you need to worry about."

"What's wrong wiv my bed?" ZIM slurred.

"No, ZIM, your head."

"Oh … I do like- … did you say bread?"

"Head!" Purple laughed. "My goodness. I think the doctors gave you enough anesthesia to last you a year."

"Orphans? I kinda wish I felt bad for dem. All homelesssss. Ahahahahahaa!" ZIM wiggled on the bed as he laughed insanely. "What the fff- huh? Ahaha! Who told you I was a homozygous? Andy! Was it Andy Dirks? That bastard can't keep his mouth shut." ZIM grumbled looking at Red who laughed in response. "Where is da margarine? I-I wanted to paint a butt-erfly! Butter-fry. Flutter by- Oh! Get it? Margarine? Butterfly! That's funny. Nyeah! Hahahah! Ooooh myyyy, myyyy, myyyyyyy! Ahahahah! Eh, yeah. It's funny 'cuz I'm making it funny." Red and Purple laughed with ZIM. Both were secretly glad that ZIM got hurt during his meeting with Sam again. Part of his conditioning warm up, Sam had him dive back to first arms and head first. Unfortunately he landed funny on his left arm. He also managed to smack his head pretty hard on the home plate. Good thing his arm was only dislocated. The doctors still put him on anesthetics to dull the pain and as they pushed the bone back into place.

"Hey ZIM, how ya feeling now?" Purple asked.

"Like whooooa! Oh my gaaa-sh! Hahaha! Yeahahah! Hhh. I'm- … w-will you help me?" ZIM asked Red.

"With what ZIM?"

"Everything! Dude, dude! I see elves everywhere!" ZIM said eyes wide with wonder. He cackled again. "Ahahahahahah! Wow! That needle the doctor stuck in me was _magical_!" Red and Purple shook their heads and chuckled.

"That's our ZIM." Purple said. The doctor walked into the room.

"He's now officially released from the hospital. Come next week for a check up and some physical therapy."

"Nooo! I gotta defend my castle! Bwahaha! Where are you, you little elves?" Red put a hand on ZIM's chest to calm him down. "C'mon man! Something is not right here …" ZIM muttered the last sentence then started to cry uncontrollably lifting his good arm up to cover his eyes. Leslie walked into the room concerned.

"Hey Red. How's ZIM?" She asked. Leslie looked down at the sobbing boy. "Um …"

"A little emotional." Red answered. "Will you comfort him? I gotta talk to the doctor about his medications." Leslie nodded, sitting down next to ZIM and caressing the small boy's face.

"Hey pretty lay-day! " ZIM giggled. Leslie looked at him odd. "Give me a kiss." Leslie smiled knowing he was high off of pain killers. She bent to his level and kissed him between his eyes making him grin dumbly. "You're soooo good to me." ZIM closed his eyes and petted Leslie's long hair.

"I'm so glad he's not my real brother." Purple murmured. ZIM looked at Purple.

"Aw. I wanna kiss from da udder lady too." Purple shook his head.

"Don't flatter yourself, kid."

"Ahahahah! I see myself. In dere! Dis closet. Wiv a-a … a moo-cow." Leslie rubbed ZIM's sore head with her hands in an attempt to calm him.

"Shhh, ZIM. You need to rest."

"What?"

"You need rest. Just lay back and relax, 'Kay?"

"Nooooo." ZIM whined. Leslie stroked his antenna. She uses this method all the time on Red if he's fed up or stressed about something. It seemed to work when ZIM closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. "I wanna play ball."

"Can't right now, sweetie. You dislocated your arm. It's not too bad so you'll be able to play soon. Just take it easy." Leslie softly petted ZIM's face. "We're gonna go home soon. Red just needs your prescription filled." ZIM groaned and sat up. "No, no! Lay down, Zeiden. Rest." ZIM huffed and flopped back down. Red and the doctor entered the room again.

"Alright, he's free to go. Make sure he doesn't do any physical activity in the mean time with his arm." The doctor said. "Nice meeting you folks." The doctor said leaving.

"Alright then." Red sighed. "Pur would you carry him to the truck?" Purple nodded and hoisted ZIM up into his arms.

"I always have to carry him."

**June 26, 1996**

There was a knock at the door and when no one got up to get it, Purple released a long sigh and answered. He opened the door and saw Sam standing on the front step. "Oh, hello there." Purple said in his flirty tone. "Come to visit me?" Sam chuckled a bit.

"Heh. Actually, I came to see how ZIM was doing." Purple frowned.

"What does that kid got that I don't got?"

"Talent." ZIM called from the living room. Purple pointed in the direction of where ZIM's voice came from.

"He's in there. Careful, he's being a moody little brat."

"Shut uuup!"

"See?"

"Peder …" ZIM growled.

"Oh it's fine. I deal with moody kids all the time." The two heard a long groan coming from the living room. Seconds later ZIM came to the foyer.

"What's up, Sam?" Sam crouched down to ZIM's level.

"Just came to check on you. How ya feeling?"

"I've felt better. My arm hurts." ZIM said looking at the brace on his wrist. ZIM leaned up against the wall. "I'm going to Irk for a few hours to renew a contract with my producer and agent. Then we have to discuss things about my movie's premiere."

"Really? That's great! I can't wait to see your movie." Sam said quite enthused. ZIM smiled nervously.

"Um … it's in Irken … and they're not making a english subtitles feature." Sam winked at him.

"I've always been interested in Irken culture and when I found out one of my clients was Irken I started to learn the language. It's harder to learn than Mandarin Chinese but I'm getting it."

"You are? How?"

"Rosetta Stone: Alien Addition." Sam said. ZIM nodded then perked up with an idea.

"Would you like to come with me?" ZIM asked. Sam was taken off guard.

"What?"

"To Irk. You said you were interested in our culture. Consider this trip as a learning experience." Sam thought for a moment.

"Really tempting, ZIM, but are you sure it's safe to bring a human there?" ZIM looked at Purple. He cleared his throat.

"If you're worried about the atmosphere of Irk's effect on humans then it wouldn't harm you. The gravity is much greater and the air is slightly colder than earth's because Irk is far from its' sun ... just bring a jacket."

"It doesn't really effect us since Irkens are hot blooded whereas humans are warm blooded." ZIM added.

"If you're scared for your well being then I'll have you know Irk in general is full of friendly people … except for south eastern Irk. That's like Detroit times ten." Purple said. Sam considered this.

"Well, okay. How long does it take to get there?"

"Five days in a runner. But using a long distant transporter … only a few seconds." ZIM said using his device to lock in the coordinates. "Red! We're going to Irk!" ZIM shouted.

"Ready?" Purple smirked and grabbed Sam's hand. ZIM hit the red button. Sam gasped as she felt the prickly sensation cross her body. She closed her eyes as they were beamed through space. As soon as the feeling came it left and was replaced by a cool breeze hitting her face along with the sound of a dense and busy city. She opened her eyes and her jaw nearly dropped. The city was bright and tall. Thousands of Irkens big and small hustled about in their normal day.

"_Oh my God._" Sam muttered.

"It's Zeiden Macale!" ZIM snapped his head to the side and saw a group of girls hurrying toward him. Sam bent down to ZIM.

"_They all speak Irken here_?"

"_Yeah. I'll translate for you if you need it._" ZIM said back. "Hey girls! Can I help you?" One tall girl stopped right in front of him.

"May I have your autograph? You're gonna be in that new movie with Skoodge Orajesh aren't you? I'm so excited!" The girl said jumping up and down. She thrusted a book in his hands along with a pen.

"Yeah, Skoodge and I are pretty tight." ZIM said while writing. "Who do I write this to?"

"Yout Dinkell."

"_To my dear friend Yout Dinkell with lots of love, Zeiden Macale Jr. _How's that look?"

"Great! Thanks!" Yout said hugging ZIM briefly.

"Welcome." ZIM said as she ran off with her friends, giggling. "_Now lets go renew that contract._" ZIM said to Sam and Purple and headed off to Jalokia's office building.

**July 1, 1996**

"Pick up the ball! Don't lag! C'mon boys! This is the all-stars! You! Get on base! What are you doing? Call for the ball next time! That way you guys don't run into each other! Lets go! Go! Go!" ZIM grabbed his antennas in frustration. His new coach was acting like a drill sergeant and would not stop yelling. ZIM currently was pitching to three different catchers as fast as he could and it was exhausting! He had just gotten his brace off and the doctor let him try out for the team. ZIM was happy he healed so quickly before the try outs.

The sun was beating down on him and no wind to relieve him of the heat. Heck! ZIM should be used to that heat, right? He grew up in the Outback after all. Well that didn't really matter. It was still hotter than the fiery pits of hell. Coach Jay was right when he told ZIM he'd be the smallest on the team. He was only two feet and ten inches tall and seven years old. These boys were twelve years old plus and all more than at least four and a half feet tall. The small Irken looked to the side lines and saw Sam watching him. Smiling big. He must be doing a good job. Purple was with her, trying to talk her up. "Macale! Here now!" ZIM snapped his head toward the direction of the voice. He ran over to his new coach.

"Yes, sir?" The coach glared down at him.

"It's the first day of tryouts. How do you feel you're doing?" ZIM shrugged.

"Well, I guess. It's a little hot and it's making me slower." ZIM said. "Why?" The coach looked at his clipboard with an unreadable face.

"I have your physical here." ZIM gulped. "It says you were born premature, you have epilepsy, hypotension, some form of ADHD, and a long history of injuries and concussions as well as low blood sugar. That's not good." ZIM frowned.

"I'm healthy! I just have a lot of … Uh, problems, is all." The coach got down on one knee and looked ZIM straight in the eye.

"You're also … small." ZIM frowned deeper. "And lightweight."

"That was apart of my birth defects. I may grow one day."

"You have dwarfism? A midget? What?"

"No, it's just common for premature Irkens to never grow that tall." The coach shook his head in a non-approving fashion.

"Zeiden, I hate to do this to a really good baseball player. Now don't get me wrong here, Macale, you really are a good player! A real good one! But … I'm gonna have to cut you from the team." ZIM was horrified. He didn't know what to say, or do. He just stared at the coach with wide eyes, jaw gaped.

"Wh-what?" Was all ZIM could say. The coach gave him a sorry look.

"Sorry, kid."

"Why?" ZIM asked quietly.

"Zeiden, you're just too small and fragile. These boys on the teams are tall and strong and tough. They'll treat you like a big kid because you're on a big boys team. The problem is, you're not a big boy and they could hurt you. Not only that but I heard that you've had seizures during games in the past, even a heat stroke! I'm not cutting you 'cuz you're bad. I'm cutting you because I don't want you hurt." ZIM didn't say anything. His mind was a blur. He found himself slowly turning away from the man and walking off the field in wonder. "I'm sorry." He heard the coach say. ZIM didn't look back. He kept going. Walking past the gate of the field.

"What's the matter, Z?" Sam asked. ZIM didn't answer. He kept walking, and walking, and walking. "ZIM? Zeiden!"

"Hey, Z?" ZIM felt himself being shaken roughly. He looked at Purple. "What's wrong?" ZIM still didn't speak. Purple looked at Sam then back at ZIM. The troubled and distant look in ZIM's eyes gave it away. "Stay here, ZIM." Purple said angrily. He stomped in the direction of the coach on the field. The coach looked up and saw Purple approaching him. "Why?" Purple asked loudly. "I went to everyone of this kid's games and he was perfect! Why would you cut him?" The coach looked confused.

"I'm sorry! It wasn't because he is a bad player. Really! He's a fantastic athlete! The reason why I cut him is because he's epileptic, small, and young. He's prone to injury because of those reasons."

"Is that all?" Purple asked. "That kid is fucking indestructible! I've seen him smack his head on a tree stump! Get his ankle smashed by a dirt bike! Hit in the groin by a line-driver! And a dislocated arm diving into home, as well as several other incidents that include high places and falling off of them! My point is, none of that slowed him down! He got right back up and attacked that task harder than ever! You're a fool for cutting him!" The coach was lost for words. When Purple knew the coach didn't have anything else to say he started to walk back off the field.

"I'm sorry." He heard the coach say. Purple turned. "It's just … I need all my players to be healthy and fully functioning. Zeiden, he's just- … defective." Purple's fist tightened and thought for a moment about killing the man but decided against it. Instead, he whirled around and backhanded the coach with his left hand. Which is considered a great disrespect toward the individual. "Jesus!" The coach yelled holding his cheek.

"How _dare _you!" Purple hissed and shot the man a horrible glare and stalked back off the field to where ZIM was now in the grasp of Sam sobbing sorrowfully. Purple snatched ZIM up possessively and cradled the boy in his arms. ZIM buried his face into the older Irken's shoulder and cried.

"Shh. It's okay, Z. You don't need that bastard. You're beyond him and his stupid league." Purple kissed ZIM's head carrying him to the truck with Sam following. Purple looked at Sam who looked pissed. She was muttering under her breath cursing the coach for being so unfair to her young client and friend. When they got to their truck in the parking lot Purple put ZIM down. The little Irken threw his glove down and cursed.

"All those long hours of practice and work! Damn him! I worked my fucking ass off to impress him! This is what I get? This is how he repays me? Bastard! All because I'm small! Small, young and _fragile_! Why?" ZIM continued his ranting and shouting out profanities. Sam tried to calm him but he was inconsolable. Purple shook his head at the hot tempered Irken, knowing he got that trait from Red. Purple picked ZIM up again and put him in the middle seat and told Sam to climb in the passengers seat. They drove home in silence, except for the small and adorable whining noise that emitted from ZIM's throat every once in awhile.

Once home, ZIM was fast asleep. The little guy slept good when upset or has been crying. Sam carried him inside the white beach house and to the living room where ZIM's siblings were playing a card game, Leslie and Gaz were present too. "Hey, guys, how'd it go?" Red asked. Not looking up from the game. Purple huffed and sat next to his OBFAM on the couch.

"They cut him." Purple muttered. Tenn, Zee, Les, Gaz and Red went quiet, snapping their heads up to Purple. The room was dead silent, minus ZIM's soft breathing of slumber. Red narrowed his eyes.

"Good one! ZIM pulled that same trick on me when he was moved up from the county level to the junior major league." Red said. Purple shook his head.

"I'm serious. His coach said he was too small, young and weak to play on his team." Red bit his lip.

"No bull shittin'?" Red asked.

"I know that coach personally." Sam piped up. "He is considered a jerk amongst most people and a hard coach to please. He knew ZIM was good, he was probably just looking for some lame excuse for him to not make the team because he's prejudice against Irkens. And I guess that excuse was calling ZIM a … defect." Red nearly snapped.

"He did not call Zeiden a defect!" Red shouted, startling ZIM awake. "My boy is not a defect! How dare he."

"What the hell?" Tenn said. "Who is this man? Seriously, I'm gonna kill him." Zee nodded in agreement. Sam didn't know why the Irkens were so sensitive about the word defect.

"What? I'm confused." Sam said. Leslie leaned over to her and whispered to her.

"On Irk, being called a defect is equivalent to calling someone brain dead or generally useless. It's a great disrespect and dishonor to call someone that." Leslie explained. Gaz sat next to ZIM and hugged him around his neck and kissed his cheek as his siblings fussed over the d-word ZIM's coach called him.

"I'm sorry, ZIM." She said. ZIM pouted. "I know how you feel. When I still lived in New Orleans I was cut from the basketball team because I had an abnormally large head which put me off balance often and short, stubby legs." ZIM shuddered. He reached down and peeled off his shirt and laid down on the couch.

"I'm glad you can relate to me. Sorry to tell you this but, I'll be moody for the next couple days. It's not everyday I'm called a … defect." ZIM spat the last word out as if it were poison. ZIM used his shirt to wipe dirt smeared on his face from the practice. Sam came into his view.

"I'm so sorry, Hun. I'll still be glad to be your trainer if you want." Sam said placing a hand on his forehead. ZIM nodded.

"I want to calm down a bit first before we start again, 'Kay?" Sam grinned at him understanding.

"Well, I got to work my shift now. Behave, Z." She said.

"I'll walk you out." Purple offered. He led her to the door and stepped out to the front of the house closing the door tightly. "It's a shame. All his hard work and dedication taken for granted. Not to mention yours." Sam shrugged.

"It happens. It just doesn't usually happens that one of my clients gets cut because of his stature. I swear that kid has potential to one day to be on the pro teams. But they don't except aliens, animals, or toons in MLB. Just human males." Sam said. Purple shook his head.

"If there is one thing ZIM hates more than snakes, it's being short." Purple said. The tall Irken hesitated for a moment not knowing if it was an appropriate time to ask his burning question. "Hey, I know this is a little sudden but, would you like to go out with me sometime?" He asked confidently. Sam smiled sweetly as Purple gave her a big grin. Sam chuckled.

"Yes, Peder. I kinda knew that was coming but, yes I would." She said. Purple was taken back by her definite answer.

"Great. I'll call you later then." Purple winked at her. She winked back and walked to her car.

"Bye, Pur." Sam said before getting into her car and driving off. Purple beamed and walked back into the house feeling sky high. Walking back into the living room he saw Tenn talking quietly to ZIM on the couch and Zee talking with Red about something or other. Probably about the fact that someone called their little brother a defect. That's also like calling the rest of your family defective in some way or another.

"Why are you so cheery all of a sudden?" Zee asked with a quirked brow. Purple looked at her.

"Wha-? Am I cheery? I didn't notice. Why?" Zee rolled her eyes.

"You just look happy is all." She said then looked down at Purple's left hand. "Why is the back of your hand all red?"

"What?" Red asked.

"Not you, Purple's hand is red."

"No, _I'm_ Red." Red said childishly. Zee frowned at her older brother.

"You're acting like ZIM." Zee said. She turned her attention back to Purple who was rubbing the back of his neck, nervously. "What did'ya do?" Purple sighed.

"I- Uh, … backhanded the coach." He said quickly. Everyone present dropped their jaws.

"You did not." Red said in disbelief.

"I hope you made him cry like a little bitch." ZIM growled.

"Zeiden, watch it." Leslie warned, scolding the little Irken. "Why would you do that?" She asked Purple. He shrugged.

"Wouldn't you?" He asked. Leslie opened her mouth to respond but closed it again and thought about it. Red continued to stare at Purple. Still not believing that he would ever hit a guy for Red's little brother.

"Peder," Red frowned at the slightly younger Irken. He then smiled widely and raised his hand up. "Nice, man!" Purple smiled back and high-fived Red. The girls rolled their eyes. Leslie stood up.

"Hey, ZIM, what would you like for supper tonight?" She asked, crouching to his level and brushing his antenna back making him close his eyes and purr softly. ZIM shrugged.

"I don't know. I can't think right now." Leslie kissed his head and went to the kitchen with Zee to get supper started. Tenn came by him and scooped him up. "What are you doing?" He asked. As she sat in his place with him on her lap.

"Just wanted make sure you're alright. You're quiet. What's wrong?" ZIM shot her a glare. Tenn bit her lip and realized how stupid her question was. She just did a, 'ZIM'. "Uh, never mind. Hey, dude, I'm sorry that happened to you. It's not fair what he did to you and he should give you a chance." ZIM's eyes looked into hers. She smiled a bit and stuck her thumb in her mouth covering it with her saliva. She pulled it out and wiped a dirt smudge off his face. ZIM cringed at the moisture on his face and tried to pull away from his sister.

"Yucky." He said. Tenn chuckled and pinched his sides making ZIM snort. Tenn's eyes went wide from the noise he made.

"What was that?" She asked as ZIM clasped his hands over his mouth.

"What was what?" ZIM asked. Tenn smiled and pinched his sides again making him snort and cackle a bit.

"That!" Tenn exclaimed tickling his sides. ZIM squealed and wiggled in Tenn's grip. ZIM started to laugh uncontrollably. Tenn joined in his laughter. She pinned him to the ground and tickled him mercilessly.

"Noooo! … Sto-op!" ZIM shouted between fits of outrageous laughter. "Teeeenn!" He whined as he uselessly pawed at Tenn's chest to make her stop. She grinned as her tickling came to a stop. She hovered over her little brother's body touched his cheek.

"This is the Zeiden I like to see." She whispered, kissing his forehead. "Always happy."

**July 2, 1996**

"I talked to Coach Jay," Sam said. "He said he was sorry you got cut for a really dumb reason and he'll be happy to take you back on his team." ZIM smiled, somewhat sadly, mostly happily.

"I would love that." He said sitting on the edge of the couch in Sam's living room. They just got done with another training segment. ZIM spent the night at her house so they could get started early morning.

"Good. This is short notice, but you can go back to practice today, if you want." ZIM nodded. Sam smiled. "Alright then, go get dressed for baseball. I'll bring you." ZIM hoped up and went to the spare room of which he had slept the night prior. He dressed in a Tiger's T-shirt and long black athletic shorts that went to his knees along with his Nike cleats. He grabbed his ball mitt and batting gloves then trotted back to the living room.

"Lets go." ZIM said, walking toward the door that lead to the driveway.

**Later**

"Glad to have you back on the team, Zeiden." Coach Jay said. "I'm sorry it didn't work out. Huh! Just because you were small and young. What a joke!" Coach Jay said angrily. The man got on one knee in front of ZIM. "Actually, I'm kind of glad you came back. Our team sucks without you." The coach whispered. "We already lost two games! Guess how many games we had total." ZIM shrugged. "Two!" ZIM chuckled.

"I'm glad to be playing again, sir." The coach patted ZIM's head, then pushed the boy towards the pitching mound.

"Tommy! Let ZIM pitch for now! You go play short-stop for Isaac. Isaac, get in the dugout!" ZIM watched as the boys did as told, before walking up to the mound. "We have another game tomorrow, ZIM. Expect to be pitching." ZIM's eyes narrowed in determination. Here we go again.

**July 6, 1996**

ZIM was pissed. The other team was really annoying and disrespectful. Several batters he pitched for would whine and smack their bats on the ground every time they struck out. And as they walked back to the dugout, they'd shoot ZIM an evil glare. ZIM would admit, he had a pretty bad attitude too sometimes but these boys, they were horrid! "Batter up!" The umpire shouted. ZIM sighed as a new batter took his place. "Play ball!" ZIM waited till his catcher made a good call. He wound up for a fastball. He threw it at lightning speed. "Ball!" The ump shouted. ZIM groaned. He wound up for another fastball. He threw it. "Strike! One ball, one strike!" ZIM received the ball again. He motioned for a timeout, which the umpire granted him. The catcher ran up to him. ZIM whispered to him, covering their mouths with their gloves. The catcher bent over so he was closer to ZIM's level.

"Batter's a lefty. Imma throw an inside curveball. If that doesn't work, he seems to hit balls only below the strike zone, so I'm gonna throw a drop ball afterward." ZIM said. The catcher nodded. "'Kay, let's do this."

"Uh, before we start, don't let the opponents bother you. You seem to be getting annoyed by them."

"You have no idea." ZIM muttered. The catcher straightened back up and walked back behind the plate.

"Time in!" The ump shouted. ZIM waited till the batter was ready again. The young Irken looked out to the bleachers to look at his siblings, Sam, Leslie and Gaz. He caught Gaz's eye and she smiled at him, giving him a thumbs up. He smiled back and nodded. Gaz told him several times that he had a funny pitch. ZIM would admit his pitch was an odd one. It was different from the ordinary male pitch. It maybe weird but effective. ZIM got ready to throw his curveball. ZIM let out a grunt as he threw the ball that curved beautifully. The batter took a step back thinking the ball would hit him but instead curved.

"Strike two!" The ump shouted. The batter was awestruck.

"That was not a strike!" He exclaimed. ZIM rolled his eyes.

"It was too, dumb-arse." ZIM said. "Shut your mouth and let the ump make the calls." The batter shot ZIM a glare.

"What did you call me?" The batter shouted.

"Don't worry about it." ZIM said. "Just learn the difference between strikes and balls."

"Boys!" The ump said. ZIM narrowed his eyes at the batter. His patience was thinning down fast. One more retort from the opponents and he would snap.

"Stupid, alien-thing. He should leave baseball to the humans. Hey, why don't you go to your home planet, _dumb-arse_! You're not wanted here!" The batter screamed at ZIM, mocking his accent. ZIM threw his glove on the ground and stomped toward the boy. The batter took a few steps back as he saw the short alien approach. ZIM pulled back his fist and smashed it into the boy's face. The boy fell to on his back to the ground. ZIM growled and grabbed the front of the boys shirt sitting on the boy's stomach so he couldn't move and punched him again and again until he boy was bleeding out of his mouth and nose.

"Zeiden! Stop dude!" ZIM's catcher exclaimed in panic. A crack was heard when ZIM punched the boys nose again. He more than likely just broke the kids nose. But ZIM didn't care, he kept beating his knuckles into the boy. Suddenly, ZIM was lifted into the air by a big burly man, the umpire. The ump roughly put ZIM down and dragged him by the wrist to the dug-out where his coach was waiting angrily, arms crossed. The ump pushed ZIM to Coach Jay.

"He's expelled from the game, and suspended for two games!" The umpire declared. "Get that crazy kid under control." Coach Jay nodded and grabbed ZIM behind the neck and pinched harshly making ZIM cringe. The coach led him to the end of the bench in the dugout and sat him down. Jay turned to the benchwarmers.

"Cover your ears boys. This is for Zeiden's ears ... er ... antennas only." The boys on the bench averted their gaze from the coach and pitcher. "Zeiden Macale! I cannot believe you! What were you thinking? What was I thinking for thinking you could move on to junior major league? No wonder you didn't make the team!" ZIM bit his lip. Not making eye contact. "Zeiden, look at me." ZIM raised his head slightly. "You need to fix that attitude."

"He started-"

"No! Zeiden, listen to me. What you did was so wrong. What has gotten into you? You're my best player!" ZIM didn't answer. The coach sighed. "As for your punishment I want you to-"

"Mr. Jay?" Sam's voice came from the outside of the dugout. The coach turned to her. "I'll be glad to take him off your hands. I have the perfect punishment." Jay looked at Sam then back at ZIM.

"Alright." Jay said. He motioned for ZIM to leave the dugout and go with Sam. ZIM slowly stood up and trudged out. Sam grabbed ZIM by the antenna and walked faster than ZIM could trot. ZIM refused to meet Red's eye as they exited the field. When he did look up, everyone he knew was either glaring or looking at him with disappointed features.

"Get in my car. I gotta talk to your brother quick a minute." Sam said, tightly. ZIM frowned but nonetheless walked to her car with his head hung low. Minutes later Sam came back and slid into the drivers seat.

"Where are we going?" ZIM asked.

"My house. You're spending the night."

"Why?"

"Because you have a big day tomorrow." Sam grumbled.

**July 7, 1996**

"Get up, Macale! Get dressed." Sam said bursting through the door of the spare bedroom of her house, flicking on the lights. ZIM jolted up startled. ZIM closed his eyes so they would adjust to the light. When he opened them he gazed at the alarm clock on the nightstand. 3:45 AM.

"You nuts, woman? It's too early." ZIM flopped back down on the bed. He heard Sam approach the bed. She grabbed him by the arms and yanked him out of bed.

"That's part of your punishment, now get that lead out of your shorts and c'mon." ZIM was taken aback by her harsh voice and demands. Hurt, but not wanting to upset her more, he did as told. He got dressed into workout clothes Sam laid out for him and pulled on his Air Jordan's. He groggily walked out of the room where Sam was waiting in Jean shorts and a tight fit tank top. She led him outside and to her car. She drove to Shelby High School's football field. They walked on the track for a little bit. "Five laps, now, go." Sam muttered. ZIM looked at her.

"That's a mile and a quarter. It's a lot."

"I don't care. Go." ZIM frowned but took off running. As he ran he glanced at his watch. It was now 4:25 AM. He wondered how long he was going to have to do this. ZIM ran the rest of the way, only being slightly winded when he was done. "Drop down and give me a hundred. Then get up and run around the track again. ZIM groaned. Once he got to twenty pushups he was already tired. He had a lot more lower body strength then upper body. He continued anyway. Doing the hundred took him twenty minutes. ZIM stood up and took off running again. Sam sitting on the football team's bench as she watched him struggle.

"Why are you doing this?" ZIM asked, huffing, stopping in front of her.

"Why do you think? Corporal punishment."

"But it's not like you're whipping me." ZIM said.

"No, this is indirect corporal punishment. Now get down and give me a hundred sit ups." Sam said. "Believe me, soon it will be painful." ZIM pouted. "And when you're done with those sit ups, I want you to plank on your elbows until I say stop." ZIM sighed and started his sit ups, when he was done he planked for two minutes straight and kept going when Sam never told him to stop. Every now and then Sam would out her foot on his back to torture him more. ZIM was shaking hard now. After five minutes Sam finally said, 'stop'. ZIM collapsed down on the ground giving his arms a rest. He felt Sam slide her arm under his stomach and picked him up, setting him on his feet. "Run." ZIM shook his head. "Excuse me?"

"I can't Sam! I'm tired!" ZIM cried. "I'm so tired." Sam gently took his chin in her hands and made him look at her.

"Do you know why I'm punishing you?" Sam asked, calmly. ZIM nodded. "Why?"

"I had a bad attitude and got into a fight during a game, not only making me look bad, but my family and you as well." Sam stared at him shocked the he was so understanding. It usually took a bit longer for people that young to get it.

"Good boy," She said, bending down to hug her friend tightly. "One more lap, then you're done." ZIM nodded and ran his last lap. Happy that it was almost over.

**One Hour Later**

"Now behave, okay Zei?" ZIM nodded slightly and opened the car door and stepped onto his driveway. Sam gave him a hard look. "Promise?"

"Yes, ma'am." ZIM said. Sam smiled at him.

"Good, hey could you send Purple out here quick a minute?" ZIM nodded again, turning and opening the front door. He was greeted by Tyson yipping and jumping on him. The puppy was starting to get bigger. Pretty soon he'd be a full grown dog. ZIM bent down and petted the fuzzy creature.

"Hey, Ty-Ty, how's my pooopie?" ZIM cooed. The little Samoyed licked his face in response.

"Zeiden?" ZIM looked up and saw Red standing in the foyer just a few feet away. ZIM swallowed hard.

"Hi," ZIM squeaked. The little Irken knew he wasn't out of deep water yet. Red scowled, arms crossed. "Um … where's Purple?" Red tilted his head toward the living room.

"In there." Purple walked out of the living room.

"I heard my name."

"Sam's outside. She wants to talk to you." ZIM said, weakly. Purple beamed and left the house leaving ZIM and Red alone. ZIM looked down at his feet and shifted uncomfortably as he knew Red's gaze was still on him. The little Irken bit his bottom lip when he heard soft footsteps come toward him followed by a three-fingered hand lifting his chin up to meet the eyes of its owner. Red had a look of severe disappointment on his face.

"I'm sorry for having to do this to you." Red picked his little brother up and carried him up the stairs to his room. Red closed and locked the door behind him. Red proceeded to take off the leather belt he was wearing and folded it in half. Holding the belt in one hand. "Why?" Red asked. ZIM frowned knowing what was coming next.

"He was being prejudice." ZIM muttered. "I didn't like it." Red nodded, slowly. The older brother sat on the bed and sighed. He motioned for ZIM to come to him. The little Irken pouted and trudged to him. Red picked his brother up and laid him across his lap. Stomach down.

"You're gonna get spanked."

"I kinda figured." ZIM mumbled sadly. Red hated doing this to him but it was an effective way for ZIM to learn. Red removed ZIM's black shorts leaving only his boxers on.

"You're getting seven. Then it'll be done." ZIM closed his eyes wishing he'd just get it over with. Red raised his hand he had the belt in and brought it down hard on ZIM's backside making the little Irken yelp from the sting. "You know fighting is wrong." Red whipped him again. "I taught you better than that." Another swat was delivered.

"I'm sorry, Red." ZIM whimpered. Yet another blow to his behind. Now ZIM couldn't even feel it.

"Don't apologize to me." Red smacked him again. ZIM clawed Red's thigh in an attempt to lessen the pain. "Apologize to the kid whose face you messed up." Two more hard slaps to ZIM and finally Red stopped. ZIM was whining from the stinging sensation he had in his rear.

"I was angry, Red. I won't do it again." Red's features softened. He sat ZIM up and forced the child to look at him.

"I punished you because I love you." Red stated, throwing the belt off to the side of the room. "You hospitalized that kid." ZIM looked down. Red cupped his chin and made him look into his eyes again. "He has a broken nose and swollen eyes _and _a concussion. He's out for the rest of the season too." ZIM bit his lip.

"He's mad?"

"Wouldn't you be mad?" ZIM thought about it for a moment then nodded. Red shook his head and sighed heavily. ZIM bowed his head, Red couldn't help but smile. ZIM looked so innocent at the moment. The older Irken kissed the younger's face then set him down.

"I'm sorry I made you look bad." ZIM said quietly. Red frowned slightly.

"I'm over it now, Zeiden. You're grounded for a month. I guess I can't take baseball away from you considering it's the middle of the season, your team needs you and they already limited your playing time so, no friends, no leaving this planet, in fact you may not leave this house unless I say you may, and no phone or laptop usage unless it's for school work." ZIM groaned, shoulders slumping. "And no Tiger's games." ZIM's jaw dropped. He watched every single game of the season. "You brought it upon yourself." Red shrugged. He held out his hand waiting. ZIM slipped off of Red's lap, he dug his hand through the pocket of his shorts that were on the ground and pulled out his Imp and gave it to Red who put it in his own pocket.

"Jalokia is going to be asking for me." ZIM mumbled.

"Again, your fault. Go take a shower." Red said, walking back to the living room to do a report on his new findings. ZIM scowled and did as told.

**December 31, 1996**

Looking back on the last year and a quarter, Zeiden wasn't able to comprehend all that he has done. He landed a single, a record deal, was a local baseball star, co-starred in a movie, was a model, an icon, was in several Irken commercials, had another album released and now a new year was in his grasp. He wondered what it would bring. If it would be a good year or a bad one. He didn't care. He was about to start fresh.

Sitting in Tak's living room at her house in Paddington, London with his siblings, god-parents, and other family friends, they were all waiting for the new year to come. ZIM glanced at Tak who was playing dice with Zee, Tenn, Leslie, Sam and Gaz. He had a surprise for her once the countdown was over and everyone shouted, 'Happy New Year'.

Purple sat next to ZIM. The older Irken was getting tipsy. "One more minute." Purple reported. ZIM could feel his heart start to pound from nervousness.

"Uh-huh."

"You still gonna carry out your plan?" ZIM nodded. "Word of advice before you do, if she doesn't like it, immediately start to pretend you're drunk then she'll think it's the alcohol speaking." ZIM chuckled and pushed Purple.

"Go to bed." ZIM said. Tak stood up from the floor and stood next to ZIM.

"I'm so excited! New years always make me feel so … new. Ya know?" ZIM cocked a brow but nodded nevertheless. "Oh the countdown started!" Tak said. ZIM bit his lip watching as the TV announcer counted from ten.

"Nine, eight." ZIM got ready next to Tak. "Five, four, three." Almost there. ZIM thought as his heart continued to pound like a bass drum in a marching band. "Two, one! Happy New year!" ZIM grabbed Tak's wrist and pulled her into his body. He pressed himself against her closing his eyes tightly, wrapping one of his arms around her waist another stayed on her wrist. He leaned forward and smashed their lips together. Tak's eyes widened as she was taken completely off guard. After a moment, she smiled and started to kissed him back, even getting a little tongue action involved. Tak wrapped her arms around his neck. After what seemed like an hour ZIM pulled away from her, blushing madly. He looked around and noticed everyone was staring at the two, mouths all dropped open.

"What was that?" Red asked. ZIM cleared his throat.

"Em ... New years kiss?" ZIM said, timidly. The adults started to coo except for Red who had a look of suspicion. "Hey! I coulda kissed you instead!" ZIM snapped. Red laughed and turned to Leslie giving her his new years kiss. ZIM looked back at Tak.

"Zeiden Macale, you've changed." She said, grinning. ZIM smiled and nodded.

"That was one … Uh … rigorous kiss of friendship, wasn't it?" ZIM asked rubbing his neck. Tak's grin faded when she heard, 'friendship'. It was replaced with annoyance. She rolled her eyes and muttered something about stupid boys under her breath. ZIM was left feeling confused and embarrassed.

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><p><strong><em>Question for you! Do you think Red is overprotective? If you answer this it'll help me a lot with future chapters<em>.**

**I know I talk a lot in this portion of the chapters and most of you guys don't read it but if you do I just want to say thank you for reading my malarkey that you probably don't care about. Now I'm gonna tell you guys an event that had recently happened and it's quite sad.  
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**One of my best friend's brother has died in a car accident. The reason this happened is because he didn't stop for a stop sign. Now again, you probably don't care but I just wanted to raise awareness for safe driving. This event has impacted me greatly. I barely knew this kid but when I went to his funeral and saw my friend there with the saddest look ever I started to cry. He meant a lot to people, and believe me, you guys mean a lot to someone too, so please, please, PLEASE! ALWAYS! Be a safe driver!  
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**Thank you for reading! And thanks for your comments! I'll also be taking suggestions if you have any!  
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	11. Bound by Love

**Note: ZIM has a cocky and sarcastic accent and whenever he sings it really bleeds through. Just thought that'd help you with imagining his voice. (Look up Frankie Lymon. ZIM's singing voice sounds like that. Later on in the story it will mature a bit more.)**

**Red's singing voice is like that of the lead singer of the band Fun. I think his name is Nate Ruess. His voice can be soft and sweet or loud and boisterous. (If you don't know who Fun. is then look them up and listen to some of their songs. Like 'We Are Young' or 'One Foot' or 'At Least I'm Not Sad As I Used To Be' or 'Some Nights' or something. The lead singer is what I portray Red's voice to sound like.)_ Later on ZIM's voice would change to sound more like Nate's (Red's) voice too. Cuz they're brothers and younger bros tend to take after their older ones._  
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**The type of music ZIM and Red sing is much like the kind Fun. sings all the time. Kind of quirky, upbeat and all around fun to listen to.**

**HEED MY WARNING! There is a sex scene in this chapter. (Some of you are probably excited about that.) For those who aren't comfortable with it you may skip that portion indeed! I labeled it when it starts and when it ends. I also added some hints of Irken anatomy. Please respect my opinion on their organs and I'll respect you. I always thought of Irkens as hermaphrodites and that's what the Macales are going to be in this story just so the plot can thicken a bit more.  
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**Also if you don't support Mpreg, I'm sorry. I don't really support it either but I'm gonna be hinting male pregnancy in this chapter. But keep in mind that male seahorses give birth, so why not male Irkens? I think this part of the story will give it an interesting plot twist, is all. Just keep an open-mind!  
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**So without further ado! Here's looking at you, kid. (A new chapter for your reading enjoyment.)  
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><p><strong>June 6, 1997<strong>

**2:45 AM**

The shrill ring of a house phone pierced the silent atmosphere jolting everyone awake. Red groaned and got up to answer it. "Who the hell would call this early!" He heard ZIM yell from his room. Red was surprised that ZIM had even heard the phone ring. He was a heavy sleeper. Once sleeping through a sandstorm back in Australia. But now that he was awake he'll be very grouchy. Red stumbled over to answer the phone. He picked up the receiver and pressed it against his head.

"Whaaat?" Red mumbled tiredly. On the other end there was a sobbing noise and heavy breath. "Uh, can I help you?" Red asked a little more awake.

"Red! Oh thank God you picked up!" A woman's voice shouted. Red cocked a brow.

"Leslie? What's wrong?" Red asked.

"My mother! I spent the night with her because she was feeling ill! She just woke up and had a stroke, Red, I don't know what to do!" Leslie exclaimed.

"Did you call an ambulance?" Red asked, panicking.

"I did. They said they were on their way!"

"There's nothing more you can do, Les. Just wait till they get there. I'll be there in a few minutes to bring you to the hospital. Just stay calm!" Red said. He hung up the phone. Grabbing his keys he ran out the door shouting to everyone in the house that he was leaving. Red slammed his truck door and started his engine. "Oh Yahweh, _Eil na rafa na la._" Red prayed silently as he backed out of the driveway and sped toward Leslie's mom's house.

**Five Days Later**

Leslie leaned on Red's shoulder as she cried over an open grave. The minister prayed for the newly deceased woman. Red adjusted his black tie and put a comforting arm around his long time girlfriend. "_Yit'gadal v'yit'kadash sh'mei raba, b'al'ma di v'ra khir'utei, v'yam'likh mal'khutei b'chayeikhon uv'yomeikhon, uv'chayei d'khol beit yis'ra'eil, ba'agala uviz'man kariv v'im'ru: Amein. Y'hei sh'mei raba m'varakh l'alam ul'al'mei al'maya_..." Red said Kaddish quietly out loud so Leslie could hear. He continued to pray Kaddish in Hebrew. Leslie made a whining noise and pressed her face into Red's chest. He gently kissed the top of her head when he finished the prayer. He looked down at Gaz who was almost just as distressed. Once the casket was lowered into the grave the trio walked off. Red took hold of Gaz and Leslie's hand in a comforting manner. The Irken sighed knowing the next few days will be a living hell.

**June 12, 1997**

Leslie groaned and threw down the bill she was working on. She was being buried alive by papers from the IRS and other places that were making her pay for her mothers debt. "Five credit cards." Leslie grumbled. "She had five credit cards!" Red frowned on the other side of the table.

"Les, why don't you take a break. I can help you pay those bills." Leslie scowled at Red.

"I don't need your help! I can do this myself!" She snapped. Red shook his head.

"Leslie, you're stressed and need a break. Just let me help you." Leslie shoved her face in her face and cried.

"I can't do this Red! She is- … she was a quarter of a million dollars in debt!"

"That's okay!" Red said holding up his hands and walking over to her and kissing her cheek. "Leslie please, just calm down and I can help you." Leslie sniffed and nodded. She stood up and embraced Red tightly.

"Red, I can barely pay my own taxes and house bills. What do I do?" She asked. Red perked up with an idea.

"You are always welcome to live with us." Leslie pushed away from slightly.

"Really?" Red smiled and nodded. Leslie smiled back at him and kissed him.

"I was gonna tell you this awhile ago before your mother … you know, but I didn't want to upset you, but now that you're going to be moving in, I guess it doesn't matter."

"What is it?"

"We're moving back to Australia." Leslie was shocked.

"When?"

"Almost exactly a month from now." Leslie bit her bottom lip.

"Are you sure you want to take Gaz and I all the way there?" Red nodded.

"It's fine. Don't worry about these bills now. I'll take care of them." Leslie shook her head.

"I need to pay these on my own."

"Les, it's fine. What's mine is yours. Now go get ready for work." Red said. Leslie nodded and left the kitchen table to change into her uniform. She worked as a dental hygienist at a local dentist office. The pay was alright but it sure as heck wasn't enough to pay off her bills. Red sighed as she left.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Purple asked, tapping on Red's shoulder.

"Well, Leslie and Gaz are gonna move in with us." Purple beamed.

"Really? That's great."

"Yeah, Pur," Red said. "We're moving back to Australia soon." Purple frowned.

"Oh yeah," Purple said. "What am I going to tell Sam?" He asked. Red shrugged.

"Well, if you want, we don't have to sell this house and we can visit whenever we want." Red suggested. Purple nodded.

"Okay, she won't like it that you're taking me away from her though." Red rubbed his head.

"I know, I'm sorry, mate." Purple shrugged. Red looked down at the ground in thought. "We can visit America whenever you want to see her again." Red suggested.

"Yeah, I guess we could. Before we leave for Australia again I'm gonna take a holiday and visit my parents and sister in Montreal."

"Sure thing," Red said.

"Now if you'll excuse me. I need to make a phone call to Miss. Coi." Purple said sadly leaving the room. Red sighed. Darn them for getting too attached to this country.

**July 1, 1997**

"Is that some sort of mountain range surrounding this place?" Gaz asked, referring to the giant mountain range-like rocks surrounding Alice Springs.

"Nah, it's not surrounding the Alice all the way." ZIM said. Gaz looked around the city with squinty eyes.

"It's beautiful." She said.

"I missed it." Zee said, shutting her jeep door and walked up the driveway to their old house, unchanged from their last stay three years ago.

"This is a nice house." Leslie said gazing at the rather large home.

"Uh, thanks, it was my grandparents before they died."

"How?"

"Grandfather O.D.'d on prescription drugs and my grandmother is actually still alive living in an aborigines tribe up north more. If you want we can visit our families tribe." Leslie smiled and nodded.

"I'd love to."

"We visiting Nana Arnurna?" ZIM asked excitedly eavesdropping on his brothers conversation.

"Yes, soon, but right now we need to get settled in, 'kay?" ZIM pouted. Red pushed past him and unlocked the door and walked inside. "We need to call a maid! All dusty."

"Why don't you clean the house yourself?" Gaz asked. Red turned to her.

"Uh hello? That would be work." Red said sassily. ZIM chuckled a bit.

"We don't do that kinda work. We'll mess up. That's why we hire professionals." ZIM added. "C'mon Gaz, I'll show you your room." ZIM said entering the house all the way and bounding up the steps by the foyer. Gaz looked around the house. It was quite identical to the Macale's home in Silver Lake with it's tall ceiling and wide living room and windows everywhere. Gaz followed her friend up the steps.

**January 15, 1998**

ZIM dribbled the soccer ball between his feet as he ran up the sideline to the goal on the opposite end of the field. He had just recently joined a soccer team and was now one of their main strikers. It was a tie game and there was only three minutes left on the clock and ZIM's team was relying on him to make the winning goal. He ran with agility as he dodged the opponents. He was so close to the goal now. He readied himself to make the final kick into the net. Then, Thwack!

ZIM gasped, eyes rolling to the back of his head. He felt … dizzy. The last thing he saw before blacking out completely was a taller, large boy on his knee asking if he was alright.

**Meanwhile**

"Blimey, for not having played in a few years he's pretty good." Tak said to Gaz on the bleachers at the field. Gaz nodded.

"He's so gonna get the winning goal. You just wait and see."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did." Tak said.

"You girls say that, but if ZIM is under pressure and determined, he tends to mess up." Red butted in. The two girls scoffed. Red rolled his eyes knowing it was true. They continued to watch. The crowd were on the edges of their seats to see what would happen next. His brother was getting close to the goal now. Red squinted to see a big boy run toward ZIM full speed. His eyes widened. "ZIM! Watch it!" He yelped. It was too late. The large boy threw his elbow into ZIM's right temple hard. Red sucked in his breath and held as he saw his little brother fall to the ground with a sickening thud. He fell like a deer that just gotten shot in the head.

"God!" Purple squeaked. He jumped off the bleachers along with Red and ran out onto the field. Once they got to ZIM's side after pushing referees and coaches as well as teammates out of the way they dropped to their knees to inspect him.

"Zeiden?" Red asked, placing his hands on ZIM's face. "ZIM?" He lightly slapped ZIM's cheek to revive him with no avail.

"He's out, Red. He got hit pretty hard." Purple observed. The red-eyed Irken groaned not liking the news.

"I'm sensing a pattern here, he signs up for a sport and he gets hurt." Red grumbled. Purple shrugged.

"ZIM is small and reckless, that's why he gets hurt all the time." Purple and Red felt themselves being pushed and pulled away from his brother. Paramedics surrounded ZIM's small body next. One medic approached Red and Purple.

"He your brother?" Red and Purple nodded. "He'll be out for awhile. When he wakes up he'll more than likely have a bad concussion so don't overwhelm him."

"I totally saw that coming." Purple muttered. "I'll take the girls home." Red nodded. The medic spoke up again.

"C'mon, you can ride in the back of the ambo."

**Later That Day**

"Red?" The tiny voice startled him awake from his chair. He jumped up and ran to the side of the hospital bed ZIM was laying in.

"ZIM?" Red whispered. ZIM's eyes where wide and blank looking. "How ya feeling, mate?" ZIM took in a deep breath.

"I can't open my eyes, Red." Red cocked a brow.

"You're eyes _are _open, Zei-Zei."

"Then turn on the lights." ZIM muttered.

"What are you talking about? The lights are on, ZIM." Red said getting nervous.

"But … I can't see." ZIM said, squinting. Red bit his lip and waved a hand in front of his brothers face. Usually that would make him flinch but the Irken remain motionless still trying to see.

"Shit! Nurse! I need your help!" Red called running to the door. "Nurse!"

**The Next Day**

"Watch your step, Z." Red said holding ZIM's hand leading him up the steps to their home. ZIM stumbled and stubbed his toes as he tried to climb the stairs.

"Ow! Red, I can't do it!" Red frowned. ZIM tripped completely and fell on his face. ZIM whined and sat down on the stoop and teared up. "Why? Why did this have to happen to me?" ZIM cried. Red sat next to him and hugged him closely.

"I booked you an eye doctors appointment on Irk. Next week, they'll fix your eyes and your sight will come back if not stronger than when it left." Red stood up and picked ZIM up and rested him on his hip walking through the doors of the house. "We're home!" Red called. Everyone came out of their hiding places to meet them.

"How is he?" Leslie asked.

"He's …" Red swallowed a knot in his throat. "Temporarily blind." Everyone looked shocked.

"What?" Tenn asked.

"He can't see and he's concussed."

"Oh! The poor child!" Leslie grabbed ZIM from Red's arms and hugged and kissed him. "I'm so sorry, Zeiden. That's horrible."

"You're telling me." ZIM mumbled using his hand to touch her face just to make sure he knew where it was.

"Will he ever get it back?" Tak asked concerned as she looked into his vacant eyes. They looked normal, as if he could still see.

"Yes, we're visiting doctors on Irk to help get his vision back." Red said. Leslie put ZIM down. Tak hugged him next and kissed his cheek.

"Who's that?" ZIM asked.

"It's me, ZIM." Tak whispered in his antenna. ZIM pouted.

"I'm sorry, I can't see you."

"I know, ZIM, I know." Tak embraced him tightly.

"C'mon, Z, you should take a bath." Zee took his hand and led him to the nearest shower room to bathe him.

**January 17, 1998**

Red wouldn't let ZIM sleep alone, so for the next few days ZIM was sleeping with him. Which was a good thing because ZIM also had a concussion. He got very sick, vomiting and had several seizures both mild and a severe one that caused even more hospital visits.

Red sat on the couch with ZIM's head on his lap. Leslie was sitting by Red with ZIM's body stretched out on her lap. The little Irken was sleeping peacefully.

"I feel bad this happened to him." Leslie said.

"I betcha I feel worse. I keep thinking that his injury is my fault. I shouldn't of have let him play. He's way too competitive and he always finds a way to get hurt. If I keep this up he'll end up paralyzed … or worse." Red frowned. Leslie grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her.

"_Don't _talk that way. There is no way it could've been your fault. You didn't know that Zeiden would end up blind from playing soccer. Stop taking it so hard and accept it. Accidents happen. This accident just so happened to be a serious one but it's not like his life just ended. Now when ZIM wakes up I'll go take him and give him a bath. I'll let you talk to him later about it. Ask him if he thinks it's your fault. Believe me he won't. There is no one to blame." Leslie said in a ranting tone. She bent over to get in ZIM's face and whispered. "ZIM? Honey wake up," Leslie set a hand on his cheek. "Get up, baby." ZIM moaned and opened his eyes, of course not seeing anything.

"Who's that?" He asked.

"Leslie, Hun. C'mon, let's give you a bath." Leslie pulled him all the way into her lap and cradled him a bit before standing up and walking over to the stairs and slowly climbed them up. When they got to the bathroom Leslie put him down and prepared the bath, filling it with warm water. She turned back to ZIM who was trying to undress himself but kept fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. "Here, lemme help ya'." Leslie said, unbuttoning the shirt for him. She then pulled off his pants and underwear and picked him up setting him in the tub. He gasped when he felt the water touch his skin then realized it wasn't gonna hurt him. It was normal to be paranoid if you lost your vision.

"Leslie," ZIM started. "Is Red mad at me?"

"No, Hun. He's very scared though. He thinks your incident was his fault."

"How?"

"I dunno." Leslie said, she wiped a washcloth over ZIM's smooth skin. "You're gonna have to talk to him later." ZIM whined a bit when Leslie touched the bruise on his head where he got hit. "Does that hurt?" ZIM nodded. Leslie smiled and kissed him gently there.

"You know this means he's gonna be like an overprotective parent for the next few months, right?"

"Can't blame the guy, Z, you always seem to get hurt."

**Later That Day**

The two brothers laid on the floor next to each other in their living room. The older lovingly rubbing the younger's antenna. Both quiet until the younger piped up.

"It wasn't your fault, Red." Red stopped rubbing ZIM's head and looked at him sitting up.

"What?"

"The reason why I'm blind. It wasn't your fault." ZIM repeated.

"How did you-"

"Leslie told me you were angry at yourself 'cuz you thought the incident was your fault." ZIM said, eyes open, staring at the ceiling. Of course not being able to see the ceiling.

"I told mom- no, I _promised _mom that I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you. Yet I did. I let you play sports with people much bigger than you and-"

"You can't keep me in the nest all my life. Someday I gotta learn to fly."

"That was … very profound. Where did ya hear that?" Red asked. ZIM shrugged.

"Don't remember. I always wanted to use that analogy though and that was the perfect time too." Red cocked at brow but shook his head getting back on the other topic.

"Zeiden, you don't know how much that promise meant to me and mum. She was on her _deathbed _when I told her I'd take care of you."

"She said to take care of me. Not be overprotective." ZIM mumbled. Red frowned. He wasn't overprotective. But if ZIM got hurt one more time, he'll consider it.

"I just want you safe and in one piece, Z. You've already had, like, five major injuries in the past two years." ZIM sighed, finally sitting up.

"Sorry, Red. I don't know what it's like to be you and raise a kid who constantly gets hurt and makes dumb choices. But I guess I can see where you're coming from and why you're so overprotective." Red rolled his eyes.

"I'm not overprotective." Red whispered under his breath.

**One Week Later**

"The procedure was a success," An Irken eye doctor said. "He'll need to wear glasses for a couple months maybe even an entire year till his sight comes back entirely. And when it does comeback he'll be able to see in the dark better and see things from longer distances. Now let's fit him with some glasses then we'll release you." ZIM looked around for the first time in a week. His vision was super blurry but he took the doctors word. His vision will improve tremendously to the point where he'll have better than 20/20 eyesight or 'hawk vision' as the optometrist had described. ZIM shifted in his spot in front of the counter where all the glasses were hanging up for display. ZIM looked up at Red and smiled. Reaching out to touch his big brother but missed completely when he started to see double.

"What are you doing?" Red chuckled. ZIM squinted and reached out again. Red grabbed ZIM's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "Just think, ZIM, once you get your glasses you may fool people into thinking you're smart." ZIM frowned.

"That was a low blow, bro." The Irken doctor came back with three different glasses for ZIM. All had black rims with rectangular lenses, the only thing that made them different was the rims thickness.

"Here you go master Macale." The doctor said addressing ZIM. Red picked up once pair of glasses and placed it on ZIM's face. When the glasses were on ZIM blinked as his vision went from blurry to perfectly clear. The little Irken beamed.

"I can see! I can … wow, I sound as if I've never seen anything before." ZIM mumbled. Red smiled and patted him on the back.

"Why don't you take a look in the mirror." He instructed. ZIM turned his head to a mirror on the counter. "You look so handsome." Red was right, he did look handsome, sophisticated and intelligent in those glasses. What made it even better was that they weren't the ugly nerd glasses but rather the, 'sexy' glasses the actors wear sometimes.

"You like those?" The doctor asked. ZIM nodded.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, 'cuz you'll be wearing them for awhile." ZIM shrugged. At least he looked smart.

**March 6, 1998**

"Did you get it?" Leslie asked excitedly. ZIM smiled proudly and nodded.

"Right here!" ZIM said pulling out his wallet and took out a piece of paper.

"He passed his drivers test with flying colors. The instructor said she's never seen a better driver." Red said patting ZIM's head. Although the driving instructor did actually want to fail ZIM for almost not being able to reach the peddles and barely could see over the steering wheel. Red convinced her to pass ZIM anyway. He was still a great driver and when he first started out he had no problems either. They just needed to push the seat way up and put the steering wheel way low and fix the peddles so they stuck out more. A booster seat was also necessary. But ZIM was a natural at driving despite his smallness. Leslie took the paper from ZIM to inspect it.

"So when do you get your real license? The platinum one?"

"Couple of weeks. I get a small heart on it by my name! I signed up to be an organ donor when I'm dead." ZIM said. Leslie grinned, bending over to hug him.

"Good job, Z."

"Well thank you!" ZIM said. His Imp beeped in his pocket. "Uh, I do believe I'm late for a press conference on Irk." ZIM said pulling out his transporter.

"You ain't going alone." Red said. "Purple! Go with ZIM to Irk!" Purple poked his head from a doorway.

"I'm busy." He grumbled.

"If you're dissecting another bandicoot it can wait." Red said firmly. Purple scowled.

"It's not a bandicoot … this time. It's a snake."

"Red, I can go alone. I'll be right back." ZIM insisted. Red bit his lip in thought then sighed remembering ZIM thinks he's overprotective. He'd prove him wrong right now.

"Okay, fine. But if I find out you've been anywhere else-"

"Don't worry about it." ZIM said locking in the coordinates. "There and back, I swear." With that final note he hit the send button and was beamed millions of miles to their native planet. Red looked down then at Leslie.

"Did you put him on any restrictions for driving yet?" Leslie asked. Red shook his head.

"No, why?"

"I think we should. It can be dangerous. How about he can't drive before nine AM and after ten PM? Then he's limited to only the Alice Springs area no further. He cannot have anyone in the car with him unless it's family." Leslie suggested. Red pondered in this for a second.

"Okay," Red said simply.

"Okay?" Leslie repeated. Red nodded.

"Yeah."

"Alright then. When he comes back you make those rules official with him." Leslie said. "Now, can you please tell Purple to get that snake out of the kitchen. It stinks."

**November 30, 1998**

Tenn tapped on the counter in the kitchen waiting impatiently for her brother to come down stairs. She's been waiting for five minutes now. Finally ZIM trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen wearing one of his best dark blue three piece suits. "Bout time." She muttered standing up brushing her dark red dress down.

"Leslie isn't here to tie my tie." ZIM grumbled.

"We were supposed to be at the soirée ten minutes ago." ZIM shrugged.

"We'll be fashionably late." Tenn rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, ZIM. We're taking your car. Leslie has mine." ZIM grabbed his wallet and opened the door, walking outside to the driveway, Tenn following him.

"Hello, Baby!" ZIM chirped when he saw his silver 1998 Toyota Supra. Tenn smacked her forehead. Red spoiled that kid with a car that nice. ZIM opened his door and slid in. Tenn got in on the passenger side. She was planning on driving but then she'd have to adjust the seat back and put the steering wheel up, change the mirrors, etcetera, and that would take awhile. ZIM put the keys in the ignition and started it up. Tenn clicked her seat belt in when she heard peeping noises coming from the backseat. She looked at ZIM who didn't seem to care.

"Did you hear that?" Tenn asked. ZIM looked back at her.

"Hear what?"

"Something-" Tenn looked in the back seat and saw three ducklings and a poult in ZIM's backseat. "Why the heck are there ducks and a turkey in your car?" ZIM looked over his shoulder.

"Oh. I got them shipped over here from Wyoming in the states. Those are an experiment I'm working on for home school. How ducklings and poultry reacts to outback heat. If they adapt and all that…" He said trailing off. Tenn reached back there and grabbed a brown and gold duckling and held it.

"You are so weird." She murmured. ZIM ignored this, backing out of the driveway. "Tak is gonna be there. Her parents dropped her off earlier today and she's gonna be living with us for a few months, maybe an entire year. Her parents are on Vort for a business trip." ZIM raised a brow, excitedly.

"Really? That's awesome. Now I'll have a dance partner tonight."

"I also know you're gonna be the entertainment. The band never showed up so Red volunteered you." ZIM's eyes widened.

"That … jerk!" ZIM squeaked. Tenn chuckled.

"Relax. It won't be that bad. You sang in front of lots of people before."

"That was in front of a church congregation. Those people aren't allowed to judge you! This is a science convention dance thing!"

"Same diff." ZIM frowned. Why'd Red have to speak up?

**At the Soiree**

"... _Now that you are loosing hope, I cannot help but feel you are fighting for a lost cause__,_" ZIM continued to sing while strumming his guitar. He was quite bored after singing three of his most listened to songs on Irk. It was hard to quickly translate them from Irken to English, but it worked out alright. "_Ya don't need to run away anymore, Together we'll stand and face this debt. No use in hiding, now that the chaos is evident, there is no turning back now, so take my hand, stand with me, we can face the tyranny together, and now that you're not alone- _ack! Choo!" ZIM suddenly sneezed into the microphone dropping his guitar in the process. All eyes were on him. ZIM blushed, giving them all a big dopey grin and picking up his guitar. "Uh … who likes Michael Jackson?" ZIM asked. The audience chuckled a bit and went back to what they were doing. ZIM started to strum _We are the World_. "_There comes a time, when we heed a certain call,_" Red shook his head amused by his brother.

"That was bad." Red said. Leslie pinched his leg.

"He couldn't help it, Red. Stopping a sneeze is harder than trying to yawn with your mouth closed." Red sighed and looked over at Tak who had amazingly grew very tall and developed a lot since he last saw her.

"So when do your parents plan on coming back?"

"Three to four months." She said. "Did, ZIM get his license?"

"Yeah, he got a car too." Red said.

"It's infested with birds." Tenn mumbled. Red and Tak looked at her funny. "Never mind." ZIM finished his song and stepped off the stage, apparently having enough of no one listening to him. That or he was bored. ZIM smiled at Tak and grabbed her hand yanking her up to her feet. His smiled immediately deflated when he saw she was about five inches taller than him now.

"Day-um!" ZIM exclaimed. Tak smirked. She slipped out of her high heels and now stood only three and a half inches taller. "Still." ZIM whispered. ZIM shook his head. "I missed you." He said. Tak hugged him.

"C'mon, Zimmy, I wanna show you something." She said, pulling him outside of the convention hall and onto a balcony. "Here," She reached in her purse and took out a piece of folded paper. ZIM took it and opened it.

"I was born on a leap year." ZIM said getting distracted from the note. "I also share my birthday with Justin Timberlake, Jackie Robinson, and Minnie Driver … whoever she is." Tak's mouth dropped open.

"How was what you said relevant?" ZIM shrugged.

"I found that out yesterday. I wanted to tell you before I forgot ... Jackie Robinson is one of my baseball hero's. He was the first black man in the MLB, that inspired me to be the first alien." ZIM said. He then looked back at the note.

"You're such an idiot." Tak whispered. ZIM chortled as he read the paper. His expression went from smiling to confused.

It read,

_Zeiden,_

_This is weird since I'm usually out-going around you. I also know this is a little kindergartener-ish, but I couldn't think of any other way to ask you without verbally asking you.  
><em>

_Would you be my boyfriend?  
><em>

_Check YES or NO_

ZIM took in a deep breath. Looking back up and noticed Tak wasn't even on the balcony anymore. ZIM glanced back at the note, full of regret. She was asking him out. ZIM noticed a pen laying on the edge of the balcony. ZIM looked at the slip of paper before making his decision. He quickly circled one of the options and folded the paper back up shoving it in his pocket. He walked back into the ball room and saw Tak by the table where his siblings were. The young Irken quickly placed the paper next to Tak. She looked embarrassed if the blush on her face was any indication. Tak never met his eye as she quickly unfolded the paper. Her heart pounding hard she could almost hear it. When it was finally open her heart sank when she saw a dark circle surround the word, 'No'. Tak stood up with tears in her eyes and started to walk away with haste. Red looked at the note, then at ZIM, then to Tak who was storming away.

"What was that all about?"

"I'll explain later." ZIM said, hurriedly then chased after Tak. "Takayla!" He called. She didn't turn around. "Tak wait!" She sped up. Tak was about to enter the girls bathroom. ZIM groaned and ran after her instead of walk. He grabbed her arm and turned her around. Not caring who was watching ZIM placed his lips over hers. Tak looked shocked. ZIM parted looking deeply into her violet eyes. "It's taboo for the woman to ask the man out unless it's a leap year." Tak gave a nervous laugh.

"I shoulda asked you the year you were born, huh?" ZIM smiled warmly at her.

"Or you could of waited till the year 2000." He replied. Tak nodded slowly. "Tak, I'd like to date you. Would you date me?" Tak laughed and nodded again. ZIM inwardly groaned in irritation as some members of the party awed and cooed. Tak brushed ZIM's antennas back and hugged him around his neck, kissing his cheek. The whole time ZIM kept looking over his shoulder to see Red with a look of uncertainty plastered on his features. "Sorry, if I scared you." ZIM said, sweetly. "It won't happen again. Now, how 'bout a dance?" Tak shook her head. "Why not?"

"You're the music." ZIM raised a brow with realization.

"Oh yeah."

**Later**

ZIM lay in bed still fully clothed and wide awake thinking about what happened that night. He sorta saw it coming. He always knew that some time or another Tak was gonna ask him. He heard his bedroom door open. "Zeiden, I need to talk to you." He heard his older brother say.

"What's up?" ZIM asked, not moving from his position on the bed. Red sat on the side and looked down at his little sibling. Red sighed and unbuttoned ZIM's overcoat, undressing him for bed.

"You're now a couple with Tak?" Red asked, making sure his assumptions were right.

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing, it's just, I'm not sure if I want you dating yet." Red said, carefully. "You're only ten." Red reached down and plucked ZIM's glasses off his face, setting them on the nightstand. "You have hundreds of years to date yet."

"But, Red, Tak has been waiting for years to ask me. You know how much she likes me and how much I like her. We've been friends for ages and you're telling me-"

"All I'm saying is that young couples often leads to heartbreak." ZIM scoffed as Red pulled his shirt off of him revealing his frail green chest.

"That won't happen. Just trust me, if it doesn't work out then Tak and I will still be friends." Red bit his lip. He fumbled with ZIM's belt and pulled it out of the loops.

"Whatever you say, Z. Just be careful." Red said while pulling off ZIM's pants leaving him in his boxers. "Word of advice, on Irk whoever in the relationship is older, smarter, stronger or taller than the other, they are considered the dominate ones. Are you okay with being the passive one because she has you beat at all those traits?" ZIM scowled and punched Red's arm. The older Irken chuckled and kissed ZIM's cheek. "It's okay ZIM, Leslie has me pretty much whipped too. Dad always told me a happy wife is a happy life. Just accept it and move on." ZIM rolled his eyes and turned on his side.

"Goodnight, Redward."

**December 5, 1998**

"Oh! Look at those earrings!" Tak said, looking in the window of downtown Maijour, Irk. ZIM made the mistake of taking her shopping. Now he was buying her everything she wanted. ZIM grunted under the weight of six full shopping bags and looked at what she was pointing at. Big, rare blood diamond earrings imported from Plookesia.

"Damn! Those are nearly a grand!" ZIM said. Tak looked at him with big eyes.

"You should get them! I could wear one and you could wear one." ZIM smiled nervously and pulled her away from the window.

"How about we think on that one. Besides, I like my earring stud." He said, twitching his already bedazzled left antenna. "How about we go home now?" Tak curled her lips downward.

"Fine." Tak said.

"Thank you. Now could you get the transporter from my back pocket and bring us home." Tak leered at his back pocket and dove her hand in his pocket, pinching his hind end in the process purposely. ZIM gasped. "Gentle, please. I'm delicate." Tak gave him a smug look and beamed them home. When they were back they found themselves in ZIM's room. The exhausted boy dropped all the bags and stumbled to his bed, flopping onto it. Belly down, he buried his face into the plush blankets and pillows. Tak jumped on his bed and pull him all the way up. ZIM turned around so he was facing the ceiling. Tak loomed over him with a big grin. "What?"

"Nothing. You just look so …" She said trailing off. She cradled his head in her lap and fiddled with his antennas making him moan with delight. After awhile ZIM lost himself. He closed his eyes at the pleasant feeling. Tak moved her lips across his skin to his neck and nibbled there. He tilted his head so she had better access to it.

"Oh, Tak." He said weakly. Tak smiled at his submission. She kissed his forehead when someone burst through the door. Tak froze as well as ZIM. Both Irkens slowly turned their heads to see who the intruder was.

"Alright you two, break it up." Leslie said, pulling Tak away from ZIM. ZIM who was clearly embarrassed for getting caught, quickly thought of a way to get out of trouble.

"I'm so glad you came just on time! I was nearly raped!" Tak rolled her eyes. Leslie smack ZIM upside the head. "Ow," ZIM yelped. He looked at Tak who was glaring at him. "Hey! It really seemed like you were!"

"Go downstairs. Both of you. Oh and ZIM," Leslie said. ZIM turned to her. Leslie pointed at her neck. "You gotta hickie starting to form." ZIM gasped and bolted from the room and into the bathroom to cover it up before anyone else saw it.

**February 14, 1999**

"Do you think it's not possible to love someone at my age?" Tak asked Zee, Tenn and Gaz. They were they only people home. Red and Purple were out working, ZIM was with them. Leslie was getting groceries. Zee's face lit up already knowing she was talking about her little brother.

"You've known ZIM since the moment he was born. I know you love him and he loves you. Red and Leslie on the other hand. They weren't friends before they met each other years ago. But after while I think they started to slowly fall in love with each other. Are you asking about the theory of love at first sight?" Tak thought for a moment.

"I guess I am."

"Well, I'm sure you didn't love ZIM the first time you saw him. You were only two years old. Sure, it's safe to love him now. Why do you ask?" Tenn said.

"Well, I think I _do _love him in a more than friendly kind of way."

"Love is gross." Gaz muttered. The Irken girls stared at Gaz for a while.

"Humans." Tak scoffed, pointing at Gaz.

"So Red and Leslie are going on a date today." Tenn said, winking at the girls. Zee beamed but the other younger girls didn't know what was so special.

"So? They go on dates all the time?" Gaz said.

"Yes, but-" Zee started looking at Tenn.

"This date is special." Tenn finished.

**That Night**

"Where did you say we were going again?" Leslie asked riding in the passenger side of Red's jeep. Out of no where Red asked her to go out tonight to celebrate Valentines day or as Tenn called it, 'Single Awareness Day'.

"Top of the ridge. I wanted to show you the sunset from the top of the mountains." Red said.

"Oh that's sweet." She said. Leslie looked out of the window at the outskirts of Alice Springs. It was a gorgeous day and soon the sun would disappear behind the horizon.

"'Ere we are." Red said pulling off to the side of the road. He got out of the vehicle. Leslie followed. He grabbed onto her hand and led her up the steep hill. It took about twelve minutes to get to the top but it was worth it. Once there Leslie gasped at how far she could see. The desert was endless it seemed.

"Wow," She murmured. "You're so lucky you've been living here all your life." Red shrugged.

"It gets old after seeing it all these years." Leslie smirked. She sat on a rock gazing out at the horizon then back down at the town. Red sat down next to her and kissed her cheek. She smiled warmly. The two looked at the sun just starting to set. The clouds turned pinkish in color. The sky turned numerous colors including orange, red, yellow, pink, blue and dark blue.

"It's gorgeous." Leslie said. Red nodded in agreement. They watched in silence for a moment longer. Now only half the sun was visible. It was either now or never. Red turned to Leslie.

"Can I ask you something?" Leslie turned to face Red as well.

"Anything." Red weakly slid off the rock and got down on one knee in front of Leslie.

"Leslie Strud, I love you and it took a lot of courage build up for me to ask you this." Red started. He slid his hand in his pocket and pulled out a black leather box and opened it. A big diamond ring twinkled under the moonlight. "Will you marry me?" Leslie clutched her chest. Leslie started to tear up. Before Red knew it he was tackled to the ground. Leslie started to scream, 'yes' over and over as she kissed him numerous times. Red stood up and held on to her tightly.

"I love you! I love you so much, Red!" Leslie gasped for air she was sobbing so hard.

"I love you too, baby." Red whispered in her ear. She pulled him in for the biggest kiss she's ever given someone. They went home right away, being too excited to sit around any longer.

"Gazelle!" Leslie shouted, bursting through the front door. Gaz jumped. Leslie picked her daughter up and swung her around. "I'm getting married!" Tenn, Tak and Zee squealed hugging Leslie. Purple squealed and ran jumping into Red's arms and kissing his cheek playfully.

"You is such a man!" Purple chirped. ZIM looked confused, sitting on the ground petting Tyson.

"You're getting married?" Gaz asked. ZIM perked up.

"That means I'll be your uncle!" He exclaimed. Gaz cringed at the thought.

"And I'll be your aunt!" Tak added. ZIM looked at Tak with a looked of pure horror.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Tak ignored his question. She ran up to Red and yanked Purple off of him.

"Congrats!" She said jumping into his arms.

"Thanks, Hun." Red said as Tak kissed his cheek.

"Wait a minute!" Everyone looked at ZIM who was seething. "What if I wanted to marry Leslie?" Red snorted.

"Then we'll have to fight for her." ZIM smiled cheesily and ran full speed at Red attempting to knock him down. Red chuckled and picked ZIM up and swung him over his shoulder. ZIM screeched and kicked his legs. Tyson started to yip.

"Wait! Wait!"

"I ain't waiting to beat you." Red softly threw ZIM to the ground and tackled him pinning the much smaller Irken down and tickling his sides. ZIM screeched loudly and placed his feet on Red's chest to get him off.

"Mercy! Mercy!" ZIM laughed. Leslie grabbed ZIM's wrists and pulled him out from underneath Red and kissed the little boy.

"I'm too old for you anyway." She said putting him down. They heard quacking and a gobbling sound come from the living room. Soon ZIM's ducks and turkey were running around in the kitchen. Sliding and tripping over each other. They seemed to be attracted to loud noises. They must've heard ZIM's shrieks.

"Oh I … thought I locked those guys in my room." ZIM said. The ducks started to crowd around the base of ZIM's feet and quack loudly as if demanding something of him. "I'll just put them away." The turkey flew up on the counter of the kitchen and gobbled annoyingly. "Shhh! You're the most annoying bird I've ever raised. I can't wait for thanksgiving."

"That's an American holiday." Purple pointed out.

"Silence!" ZIM shouted. He suddenly threw his hands up and declared, "Come my children! Follow me!" He left the room with the ducks following in a line behind him. The girls cooed at this.

"That is too cute." Tenn said, pushing the turkey off the counter and onto the floor. The fowl chirped and followed ZIM upstairs as well.

**May 13, 1999**

Red walked to Leslie's room, bored and hoping to get to talk to his lover. She was laying on bed watching T.V. absentmindedly. She looked at him.

"Hey, sexy." She said. Red hopped on the bed next to her. She wrapped her arms around him, cuddling him, kissing his head.

"What kind of wedding do you want?" Red mumbled. Leslie ran her hands up and down his arm.

"I always kind of wanted a Greek wedding since I am Greek in blood. What about you?"

"Well, aborigines celebrate their weddings a lot differently than most people. My parents had an aboriginal wedding and so did many of my cousins." Red said. "And I'm a Mesonic Jew, and Irken so I think our wedding will be very culturally diverse."

"An Irken wedding!"

"What?"

"Lets have an Irken wedding!" Leslie exclaimed. "It would be out of this world. Literally."

"Are you sure? You're not Irken and it's different from the earth celebration."

"So? It will be a new experience." Leslie said. Red thought for a long moment.

"Alright. But if you want the theme to change just ask."

"It's fine, Red. Really."

"Huh, okay then." Red said. "I warned ya."

**Three Days Later**

"Fighting? At a wedding?"

"Part of the ceremony is to see who of the couple is strongest, fastest, smartest, and has the most leadership. So they have the couple fight each other to see who is dominate of the two." Leslie cocked a brow.

"That's weird."

"Hah, you think that's weird, wait till you hear about the traditions at the reception."

"Oh God."

"Oh _Yahweh_."

"Shut up, Red." Leslie slapped his arm. Red snickered. "Alright, lets go talk to the planner about our Irken wedding."

"We'll have to go to Irk if we want to plan it."

"Why?"

"You can't have an Irken wedding on earth! That's stupid."

"Fine, we'll go tomorrow." Leslie said shifting on their couch. "Gaz and Tak have been gone for awhile."

"I called Tak. They were at Hollister waiting in line at the checkout." Red said. Reclining on the couch, he closed his eyes, tired for not getting much sleep from the night prior.

ZIM slept in his room because he had a nightmare that his bed was infested with snakes. The poor little guy was still convinced there were snakes even after he woke up. When ZIM woke up at one in the morning he came walking cautiously into Red's room, he crawled into bed with his stuffed koala, Mioka. He then tapped on Red's shoulder, waking him and demanded to sleep with him for the night. Red wouldn't turn ZIM away, especially if he knew his little brother was frightened, so he let the little guy stay with him. Big mistake. ZIM had bad allergies and that night they decided to act up. Who knew such loud snoring could come from such a small Irken.

"Will they be home soon?" Leslie asked. Red opened his eyes.

"Yeah, half hour." Red mumbled.

"Guess what I found out!" Purple exclaimed. He seemed to come out of no where. He does that sometimes.

"What?"

"That plant that we found yesterday has a never before seen bacteria on it! It eats flesh!" Red cringed.

"Were'd you put it?"

"In a container in the fridge. I labeled it, 'Do Not Eat'. Now ZIM is probably gonna eat it."

"I'm gonna eat what?" ZIM asked walking through the back door. "I found a dead kookaburra on our sidewalk by the way, I named her Kora. She's my friend."

"ZIM if you have only dead animals as your friends, people will think you're strange." Purple said.

"Says the man who gets excited about flesh eating bacteria on a plant." Red mumbled. Purple frowned at him.

"You get excited about stupid things too."

"No I don't." Red defended.

"Do too! Remember when you saw a blue-colored turtle and flipped out?"

"Nuh Uh! I just said, 'Oh look a blue turtle!'. I was calm." Red insisted.

"No you weren't!" Purple countered.

"You're lying!"

"Shut up, both of you." Leslie snapped at them. Red closed his mouth and gave her puppy-dog eyes.

"He was being mean."

"Grow up. You just turned thirty-one years old. You need to act your age."

"Yeah, act your age!" Purple sneered. Leslie shot him a glare.

"You too."

"What did I do?" ZIM rolled his eyes as the adults continued to argue. The phone started to ring but none got up to get it. ZIM sighed an answered it.

"Yellow, mistah!" ZIM said, happily.

"_Hello there, is Mr. Macale in?_" Came a man's voice.

"This is him." ZIM said.

"_Pardon me, you must be Red's little brother._"

"Oh you're asking for the other Mr. Macale! Yeah he's arguing with his fiancé about not acting his age." Red heard this and snatched the phone from his baby brother.

"Sorry about that. ZIM isn't all there in his head." Red apologized.

"Hey! Lets be kind here!" ZIM shouted.

"_It is fine. Dr. Macale, this is Dr. Isaac Kanga from the biology department for the International Science Center. The corporation you work for._"

"... 'Kaaay?" Red said.

"_You're former boss, Dr. Walker, has retired and I'm the one who will take his spot in the bio department._"

"Uh … welcome?"

"_Yes, thank you, thank you. But the reason I'm calling you is because we no longer need your research. You're being laid off along with your colleague, Assistant Doctor Peder Kinley._" Red jaw dropped. "_Do not fret for we have a list of jobs you can take up. We will mail them to you along with your paychecks. We'll keep you in our contacts if we ever need you again. Goodbye, Doctor._" There was a click then the dial tone. Red was shocked. All those years of studying to become a biologist and they laid him off! Red slammed the phone down.

"The nerve." He growled.

"What's wrong?" Leslie asked. Red turned to her.

"They laid Peder and I off."

"What!" Purple asked. "Why would those bastards do that?"

"They don't require our services at the moment." Red said. "They're gonna send us a list of biology jobs through the mail with our paychecks." Purple steamed.

"God, I finally get a job that I'm proud of and this happens." Purple muttered. ZIM perked.

"Jalo would hire you if you're interested in singing." Red and Purple both looked at ZIM.

"I can't sing." Purple said.

"I don't sing." Red folded his arms.

"You sang with me when we first met Jalokia! We sounded good together! Try it! Please?" Red shook his head. "C'mon? Just try it. If you don't like it then don't get a full contract. Please?" ZIM made his eyes big and glossy-looking, jutting out his lower lip that quivered ever so slightly for a perfect pout. "Pleeeeaaaase?" ZIM asked again. "Don't make me get the dog to double the cuteness."

"I'll think about it, okay?" Red said. ZIM scowled.

"You think that just because you say that you'll think about it, that I'm going to stop bothering you? You pulled that one on me numerous times. I maybe dumb, but I ain't stupid, Red. Gimme an answer now." Red snorted. Mostly at what ZIM had just said.

"Fine! If it doesn't work out I'm not-" Before Red could finish his sentence, ZIM fist pumped and bolted from the room. Probably to call Jalo and his agent, Mevlo. "That kid ... is so strange." Red looked back to Purple who looked rather sad. "What's the matter? Besides the fact that we just got laid off."

"I'm going back to Canada." Red looked down and nodded.

"It's probably a good idea to live with your family for awhile. You barely see them anymore."

"I'm going to ask Sam to come with me to meet my parents." Purple said. "I've been waiting to ask her to meet them but we were so caught up with work that …" Purple trailed off. "I'll be back in a few months to live with you guys again. But for now, I need to be with my family. It's been a long time."

"It has." Red agreed.

"You'll visit for our wedding right?" Leslie asked.

"Of course! I wouldn't miss that." Purple said. "I better book a plane ticket and call my parents."

"You're leaving?" ZIM asked coming back into the room. Purple nodded slowly. "No! I'll miss you and stuff!" Purple chuckled and hoisted ZIM in the air.

"And I'll miss you and stuff! But I need to see my family!"

"We are your family, you fool!" ZIM shouted half angrily, half jokingly. Purple smiled.

"I meant my blood related fam." Purple clarified. ZIM sulked and hugged his OBFAM around his neck.

"You're a jerk for leaving, ZIM." The little Irken muttered. Purple kissed ZIM's temple.

"You'll get over it." ZIM tittered.

"I'm already over it. Now leave us. We're sick of you." Purple feigned heartbreak.

"Now who's the jerk?" Purple asked. He bent down and pushed ZIM to the floor nearly knocking the glasses off of his face. "Now fear the wrath of Poipul!"

"Oh Yahweh." ZIM squeaked. Purple snickered sat on ZIM's torso so he was immobile. "Ack! I can't breath!" ZIM wheezed. "I … can't … ugh!" ZIM kicked out his legs.

"Had enough of my awesome power?"

"You're sitting on me!" ZIM coughed. "Get off!"

"Say you love me." Purple said.

"I love you in a brotherly, no homo, kind of way! Now get off … please?" Purple stood up and grabbed ZIM by one of his ankles and held him upside down. This time ZIM's glasses did fall off his face. "Uh! No! You're just like Red! He don't know how to carry children either!" Purple laughed and swung ZIM back and forth making him turn blue from the blood rushing to his head. "I'm gonna black out." ZIM whimpered. Purple set ZIM down before he did black out. Zim grabbed his glasses, putting them back on his face so he could see again.

"I'm gonna … leave before I get abused some more." ZIM said cautiously and bolting out of the room. "It sucks being small!"

**June 9, 1999**

"Have you taken singing lessons before?" Jalokia asked. Red sat in front of his desk answering tons of questions thrown at him.

"I've taken various types of music lessons. Including singing."

"What other music lessons did you take?"

"Guitar, piano, percussion, and when I went to public high school I was the section leader for the trumpets in the school's marching band for one year and a drum major another year."

"So you're musically inclined too." Jalokia said. "Perfect. You'll be easy to work with. Now I do know you sang with ZIM five years ago but I don't remember your voice. Would you sing a verse or two of any song. It can be one of your earthy songs. I just need to hear your voice." This caught Red off guard.

"Uh … can I get a guitar. I don't sing a Capella." Jalokia looked around his office.

"We have an Irken instrument that is almost exactly like a guitar on the wall over there. Help yourself." Red looked at the wall of Jalo's office and saw a bright blue bodied guitar-like thing hanging. Red grabbed it and strummed a few notes adjusting the chords if necessary.

"Alright," Red sighed. "You don't mind if I sing a Dolly Parton song do you?" Jalokia tilted his head confused.

"Huh?"

"Didn't think so." Red started to strum the guitar to the song he was going to sing. "_If I should stay, Well, I would only be in your way, And so I'll go, and yet I know,_" Red sang sweetly and calmly. He saw Jalokia's mouth drop open. He must've been doing good. "_That I'll think of you each step of my way, And I will always love you, I will always love you._" Red finished the song right there knowing Jalokia heard enough.

"You're voice is near perfect! It sounds like you've been singing for years now."

"Why thank you." Red said.

"I'll sign you up for a one hit wonder for now but if you want to continue just say so. I think you and ZIM should form a band. Make you're own indie music. You could be called like the Macale Brothers or something." Red shook his head.

"Maybe, but first I got to see if I actually want to pursue in the career."

"That's fine. I'll write up a song for you. Come back tomorrow and we can rehearse it." Red nodded. He took ZIM's transporter out of his pocket.

"Thanks Jalo."

"Sure thing, Red." Jalokia said. Red hit the button to bring him home. When he arrived he found himself in the kitchen. Gaz was there doing homework at the table. On the other side ZIM was getting mad at Tak for distracting him while he was taking a test.

"Go away. I need to work."

"I told you I need your laptop. Mine broke and I need to message my parents!"

"Later! I'm taking a timed test!"

"Pause it, stupid!"

"I can't!" Red rolled his eyes.

"Like an old married couple." Red muttered leaving the room before he got caught up in that mess.

"Can you get those two to shut up." Zee asked sitting on the couch watching a soccer game. Tenn was in a chair next to the sofa. "They've been at each others necks for ten minutes now."

"I'll let them settle their differences themselves." Red said sitting next to her.

"How'd it go?"

"I think Jalo likes me." Red said.

"Someone actually likes you?" Tenn asked. Red glared at her as his sisters chuckled.

"Surprised? I'll have you know several people find me likable. And many more find me lovable."

"ZIM's lovable, Zee's likable, you're just a background character no one pays attention to." Tenn said. Red gave out an extremely fake laugh as he stood up to leave.

"Mean girls." Red said. He decided to go back to the kitchen where he wouldn't be tormented. Or if he was tormented he could easily over power and out smart the youngsters. "Hey kids," Red looked down at the floor where ZIM was on his stomach. Tak sitting on his back.

"Red, get Tak off me." ZIM said. "Her fat ass if crushing my spine." Tak scowled. She reached out and pulled ZIM's antennas hard, making sure to be careful of his overly sensitive left antenna with the earring stud. "Ow! Owies!" Tak took the glasses off his face and held on to them. "Tak, I can't see! Give them back!" Tak got off him.

"Catch me first!" Tak giggled running off to the upstairs rooms. ZIM groaned. He stood up as well and looked around confused. He bolted in the direction he thought Tak went but ended up colliding with a wall. He fell back. Red and Gaz burst into laughter. ZIM moaned in pain, holding the area his nose would be. He looked at his hand. He didn't need to have perfect eye sight in order to see the blueish-red substance on his hand. He was bleeding pretty bad.

"Taaaak! I give up! You can borrow my laptop! I want my glasses back." Tak came trotting back down the steps. She looked at ZIM on the floor holding his minuscule nose pores that were bleeding.

"Gosh, you look horrible." Tak chuckled. ZIM got up, snatching the glasses back from Tak.

"I hate you." He muttered.

"Sure you do." Tak said. She went to the table and started to type to her parents.

"Hey ZIM, I got big news for you." Red said.

"Jalo liked you?" ZIM asked.

"Well yeah, but that's not it." ZIM looked confused.

"What else?"

"Sam is living with Purple and his family now so guess who will come with Purple when he comes to visit again?"

"Mama Kaddie?" Red sighed and shook his head.

"No, Z, well she's coming too but Sam is coming."

"Sam is coming?"

"Yes." ZIM thought on that for a moment. Suddenly he threw up his arms.

"Samuel!" ZIM said. Red rolled his eyes.

"You're such a dork."

**July 27, 1999**

"No, ZIM! You'll just have to wait."

"Please? I wanna hear it! C'mon! Just a sneak peak!"

"You have to wait just like the rest of Irk." ZIM pouted. Red was done recording his song and it was going to be released in two days. They were driving to the airport to pick up Purple and his family. They were coming to visit for a month then Purple's parents and sister would leave but Sam and him would stay for three months more, unless he gets one of those biology jobs from the list that was mailed to them then he was going to live with the Macales again.

"Ahh!" ZIM screamed exasperatedly.

"Ahh!" Red mocked poking ZIM's stomach. The little Irken giggled.

"Fine. I'll wait." ZIM said. "Are we almost there? I want to see Poipul! ZIM hasn't seen him since May!"

"Is ZIM excited to see OBFAM?"

"Yes! ZIM is most enthused!"

"Good, 'cuz we're almost there." The rest of the ride was pointless conversations and one argument about whether or not Antarctica had land underneath all the snow and ice or not. They pulled into the driveway of the airport and got out waiting for the Kinleys to show themselves.

"Redward!" The familiar voice rung through the crowd of people waiting for their planes and such. Red looked in the direction of the voice and saw Purple running towards him.

"Purple Nurple!" Red squealed. Purple flung himself on Red and swung the slightly older Irken around just like those dramatic scenes in the Hollywood movies.

"Excuse me!" ZIM shouted over the men. Purple looked down at him and picked him up embracing him tightly.

"My little brother! I missed you!" ZIM kissed Purple's cheek.

"Where's Sam?" ZIM asked. Purple looked behind him.

"She was following me."

"We're right here." Kaddie said popping up next to her son.

"He wasn't asking where you were mom!" Purple snapped. Kaddie pouted.

"Mama!" ZIM reached out for her from being held by Purple.

"Darling! How are you!" Kaddie asked taking ZIM from Purple. "My … you haven't … grown a bit." ZIM frowned.

"I grew half and inch in the past year and gained a pound."

"Okay you've grown a little. How old are you? I can't remember."

"I'm eleven."

"Short for his age." Purple's dad, said. Kaddie hit her husband's arm.

"Paige!"

"What? I'm not saying he won't grow!" Paige defended. He ruffled ZIM's antenna. "How are ya kiddo? Man, something is different about you."

"Ace! I got glasses in the past year. I was knocked in the temple during a footy … erm, soccer game. I lost my vision."

"Oh my! That's terrible!" Kaddie exclaimed. "Do you have to wear glasses all the time now?"

"Uh huh, In a few years my vision will come back stronger than it did before it left. The eye doctor said I'll be able to see in the dark like a cat!"

"Well I guess with every bad thing there's a good." Marzi grunted walking up to the family holding tons of luggage. Sam was with her also carrying bags. "Peder get your ass over here and help!" Purple assisted his sister by taking three big bags from her.

"Common let's load up and head out." Red said also helping Marzi. Kaddie set ZIM down. ZIM turned to Sam and hugged her.

"I missed you! I've been noticeably worse at baseball when I stopped taking lessons from you!"

"I missed you too kiddo. Don't worry, I'll help you with that." Sam said, patting his head. "You were born here?" She asked.

"No, I was born in Darwin. About eighteen and a half hours from here. North."

"That's quite a drive." Sam said. ZIM nodded.

"So anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Purple asked.

"I recorded a song and it's coming out in two days." Red said.

"Oh yeah. Are you even any good at singing?"

"You heard me sing before."

"ZIM's voice covered yours. He's louder and more fun to listen to."

"Yes, Jalokia said I was a great singer." Red asked. Purple shrugged.

"I'm glad for you. I can't sing worth shit." Purple said getting in on the passenger side door. The rest of his family and ZIM got in the back. ZIM sitting on Marzi's lap and more than likely hitting on her and Sam. Probably just to annoy them, that or he found both attractive and he did that to every girl he saw when Tak wasn't around.

"I play soccer and baseball."

"Oh that's so cool!" Marzi feigned interest.

"I play hockey!" Purple called from the front seat.

"I play soccer too, and cricket, and rugby … and lacrosse." Red chimed.

"Okay, shut up, both of you." ZIM muttered. "Changing subjects!" There was a moment of silence.

"Red's getting married." Purple said simply.

"What?" Kaddie asked.

"You never told us this." Marzi said. Glaring at Purple.

"Uh … surprise?" Purple said sheepishly. Red snickered.

"When?" Paige asked.

"The planning went kind of fast. Next month. I'm having my bachelors party the week before and the rehearsal is the night before." Red said.

"I'm the best man!" ZIM interrupted. ZIM looked at Purple with a challenging look. "Me. _I'm _the _bestest _man."

"Get over it, ZIM, cuz he's my secondary best man." Red said. Purple smirked and stuck his tongue out at ZIM. ZIM's jaw dropped.

"Aww, man. For real?"

"Well we'll just stay at a hotel until then. We won't leave until I see you walk up the aisle with your gal in your arms." Kaddie said. "I don't believe I ever met your financé. What's her name again?"

"Leslie. She has an adopted daughter named Gaz."

"I can't wait to meet them." Kaddie said.

"If anyone cares, Tak and I are getting married in less than a year." ZIM muttered. Red looked back at him.

"No you're not. I wouldn't let you."

"I'll go to Vegas to one of those drive through weddings!"

"Uh uh." Red said. "I forbid it."

"Aww." ZIM said sadly. "Fine. Then I'll get secretly married in my room. You'll be none the wiser."

"You just told me and why do you want to get married so bad?" Red asked.

"Yeah? It's not a good thing at all." Paige said. Kaddie smacked her husband upside the head. "Ow! You see?"

"I don't. Tak is mean to me." ZIM said.

"Then why are you dating her?" Purple asked.

"… uhhh, huh … Cuz she's not really mean to me. She's just overprotective." ZIM said.

"Aww. Is it young love?" Marzi said. ZIM thought on that.

"Love? That's a strong word. It might be."

**July 29, 1999**

"Did you feel the same way I feel right now when your first song came out?" Red asked.

"I was more nervous, I'm sure." ZIM said.

"Your song is after this one, Red." Jalokia said. They were in the lobby of Jalokia Studios waiting for Red's new song to play.

"People will love you!" ZIM chirped. "Not only just because you're related to me!" Red fiddled with the hem of his shirt. His heart was beating hard.

"Is okay, Reddy! You has a pretty voice!" Purple said.

"I know, it's what people will think of the actual song." Red muttered.

"_You're all familiar with the young, hottest commodity of the Irken Empire, Zeiden Macale Junior AKA ZIM._" The radio announcer said, excitedly. "_It seems that he's not the only member if the family with some talent, here he is, Red Macale! The older brother of ZIM, with his new song, Sheila!_" The announcer's tone suddenly got serious. "_Now this song has a story behind it. When Red was nineteen years old he lost his mother, Mioka Macale, by cancer attacking her heart. Just weeks before her death, Red's father, Zeiden Macale Senior, was deported for war on another planet for the Irken army, he was captured and is now a prisoner of war. The song is about Red's father's sacrifice. Enjoy the song. It's a touching one._" The announcer's voice was replaced with quiet, soft music coming from a variety of Irken instruments. Ten seconds into the song Red's calm singing-voice sounded.

"_It was for something bigger than us, but I never understood, why you were taken from me, to do a duty like no other. You were scared but did not show it. All because you wanted me to stay strong._" ZIM bit his lip at the meaningful words. A few versus passed along with a strong, full music, chorus. "_Sacrifice, a good deed for an awful price. But I'm hoping one day, you'll come back, but for now you're still an Irken sacrifice._" Red's voice ended strongly. ZIM looked at Red. He was smiling. ZIM smiled too as the song faded.

"Not bad." Red said. ZIM squealed and jumped in Red's arms.

"That was great! Way better than my first song!" Jalokia handed Red a copy of the song on a small disc.

"For your future wife. A gift from me." Jalokia said, winking at him.

"_That song brought a few tears to my eyes._" The radio host spoke up again. "_Red Macale, will no doubt follow his younger brother down a path of fame. He deserves it._" Red grinned and hugged ZIM tightly. His sisters and Purple did a big group hug, giving Red a bunch of congratulations.

"Let's go home and show this to Les and Gaz." ZIM nodded, he punched in the coordinates and bid Jalokia goodbye before beaming them to earth. In the kitchen Gaz, Tak, Leslie and Sam were waiting. Leslie stood up and ran to Red, giving him a big kiss on the cheek.

"How'd it go?" Red pulled the disc from his pocket.

"ZIM, get your Imp and play the song." ZIM took the tiny disc from Red and shoved it into his Imp. The song started to play. Leslie and the others sat in silence as the music played. Leslie the whole time was holding Red's hand. When the song was done Leslie looked at Red with sincere eyes.

"That was amazing. I could tell the lyrics really mean something to you." She said kissing his lips. Sam looked at Purple. "Why don't you sing?" Purple scoffed.

"You hear my voice? It's ridiculously high with an annoying Canadian accent, according to ZIM." ZIM looked at Purple confused. He only heard his name being called.

"I like your voice." Sam said, hugging Purple.

"It's annoying." ZIM whispered, jokingly. Purple glared at him and smacked him lightly upside the head. "Ouchies! I was kidding!" Purple rolled his eyes.

"I'm glad you like it." Red said to Leslie interrupting his brothers spat. He turned his head and kissed her. ZIM covered his eyes.

"Eww, what would Jesus do!" Red chuckled at his baby brother.

"Why don't you go watch the Tigers game or something. I got worldwide satellite TV just for your obsession with baseball."

"Yes and I thank you for tha- the Tigers aren't even playing today. It's the Yankees versus the White Sox." Red pushed ZIM out of the kitchen to the living room along with the rest of his siblings and friends so he and Leslie could be alone. How he loved his lone time with his fiancé.

**The Next Day**

ZIM sighed a long breath looking at his net backstop with a speedometer attached to it. He wound up to pitch the ball. Once the ball was released, it went hurtling toward to red square on the net. ZIM looked at the speedometer. It read forty-two miles per hour. ZIM threw up his arms in frustration. He grabbed another ball and got ready to pitch again. This time hoping to clock in at, at least fifty-five. He threw the ball. This time the speedometer picked it up at thirty-eight miles and hour.

"Gah! What is wrong with me?" ZIM screeched at himself. Now angry, he picked up another ball and pitched it. Forty-five miles per hour. "Oh my- God damn it all!" Red looked up from the book he was reading on the patio behind their house to see why ZIM had a sudden outburst.

"Zeiden Macale!" Red scolded. ZIM shot Red a glare.

"Red, I'm trying! I used to be able to pitch sixty to eighty now I can't even reach fifty!" Red shook his head.

"Sounds like a personal problem."

"Red, help!"

"Ask Sam! She's your trainer." Red grumbled. As if Sam knew she was being summoned, she came outside to the backyard.

"What's up, ZIM?" She asked.

"I can't pitch!" ZIM yelled, he put a hand over his face, trying to calm himself down. "I don't know what happened."

"I was watching you. You're accurate and quick."

"But not quick enough! And did you see my change ups? They were crappy!"

"They were okay. Your sliders were better."

"Okay, okay, check out my fastballs which really seem like slowballs." ZIM took a deep breath and pitched another ball. The speedometer read it as forty-six miles per hour. "See? I'm throwing as hard as I can!"

"ZIM, you don't need to pitch ninety mile per hour fastballs every time." Sam said, putting a hand on his back.

"I won't ever make it in the MLB with my skill level though." Sam sighed.

"ZIM, I told you before, aliens and toons aren't allowed in MLB. That's for men. You could always tryout for-"

"I'm gonna bring baseball to Irk. That way my people will appreciate the sport." ZIM said staring off into space. "Sam, I shouldn't be this bad at baseball! I'm normally great!"

"You aren't bad. Just a bit rusty. You'll be just as good as you were when your latest season just ended by the time you throw three more strikes." ZIM looked at the ground.

"Do you think it could be because of my glasses? They're throwing me off or something?" Sam shrugged.

"Possible." ZIM snatched the black framed glasses off his face and handed them to Sam. "Oh, ZIM, I'm not sure-"

"Let me try." ZIM squinted trying to adjust his poor eyesight. He forgave the guy who made him blind long ago but sometimes he really wished he could go back and biff the kid. ZIM threw the baseball. It hit the backstop and bounced back at him hitting him in the stomach. "Oof!" ZIM grunted stumbling to the ground. "Ooo. Not a good idea." Sam sighed and helped him up. Putting the glasses back on his face. It the distance he could hear Red chuckle. ZIM sighed and removed his glove from his right hand and sat in the grass. Now being able to see the speedometer with his glasses he realized he had just thrown a fifty-nine mph ball. ZIM lay back in the grass. "So close." He muttered.

"You keep practicing, Z. I'm going inside." Sam said leaving him alone. Alone, that is until Tak came out and Red went in.

"Heya." Tak said sitting next to him and rubbing his stomach. ZIM clenched his torso muscles.

"What you want?"

"I wanted to see you. Is that a problem?" Tak asked. ZIM sat up only to be met with Tak giving him a lung bursting hug. ZIM pulled away from her.

"Gah. I never get a chance to breath when you're around." ZIM muttered. Tak crossed her arms, frowning at him.

"Sorry for trying to be affectionate."

"Go be affectionate somewhere else."

"Wow, who ate all your Vegemite this morning?" Tak asked.

"I don't even eat Vegemite! Holy stereotypes!" Tak chuckled. ZIM was cranky today. "Now what do you really want?"

"I really want you to just show affection back. Don't you like me?" Tak asked. Her thick cockney accent rung in his antennas. ZIM let out a groan and kissed her cheek.

"Better?"

"… Yeah, sure." Tak sat in silence with ZIM. "Are you excited he's getting married?" ZIM bit the corner of his lip.

"A little. I'm afraid that he'll start to ignore me though."

"He won't do that." Tak said.

"How do you know?"

"Because of the promise Red made long ago on your birth date and your mom's death date. He said he'd always be there for you. Key word: _always_. Don't worry about it, Z. Be happy for him he's found a girl he loves."

"I am happy." ZIM insisted. "C'mon, lets go inside. It's getting muggy out here."

**August 25, 1999**

"Oh my God, I'm so nervous." Red muttered, standing in front of a congregation on Irk at a local synagogue. The Irkens in the crowd was eitherr fans of Red or family. Leslie only had a few friends as her brides maids.

"Chill, all you gotta do is say some crap then it'll be done." ZIM whispered. Red fixed his tie so it wasn't so tight.

"I'm chill. I'm more afraid of looking like a fool in front of Irk." Red said. "Did you know our wedding is being broadcasted as we speak?"

"Irkens love it when celebrities get married." Purple said from behind ZIM. Red fiddled with his crimson tie before tucking it into his matching vest. His suit itself was white with a red tie, vest, and cummerbund. His kippah was white too with the exception of the red Masonic Jewish symbol on the top of the cap. Every male there was wearing on even Purple, who wasn't Jewish, wore one. White and red colors were Irkens national symbols of marriage for the groom. For the bride it was a lighter red, almost pink, and white. Red's grooms men and best men wore traditional black and white suits with red vests. Red looked down the line of his guy friends. ZIM was closest to him, followed by Purple, Red's old Vortian friend Lard, then three of his cousins after Lard. Looking out to the crowd again, the red-eyed Irken saw family and friends and people he's never seen before who he assumed were Leslie's friends and family. Out of the corner of his eye, Red could see Purple wave to Sam who was sitting in the audience. Red felt someone nudge his side.

"She's coming, Red." ZIM pointed out. Sure enough the whole congregation stood up for the arrival of the bride. Red looked down the center aisle as a few security guards opened the door. In came Leslie as beautiful as ever with her long flowing gown dragging slightly on the floor. She held a bouquet of blood red roses that matched her sash. Her red-brunette cascaded down her shoulders and was curled flawlessly. She had a small smile on her lips and her icy blue eyes shined brightly as they locked onto Red's hypnotic ruby ones.

"My God." Red whispered. In Leslie's head when she saw Red she couldn't help but smile more. He was gorgeous with his snow white suit, antennas raised high and eyes gentle and soft. Normally people would be too shy to approach him but he looked so inviting at the moment Leslie could just run up there and jump in his strong arms. She managed to contain herself all the way up to the alter. She stood beside Gaz on her right and Red on her left. The rabbi finally spoke up in English.

"You may be seated." The ceremony was gonna be in English for Leslie and Gaz but will be subtitled for the mostly Irkens audience. Every now and then there was gonna be some hebrew since Judaism and masonic/orthodox Judaism is Irk's national religion. The crowd followed the order and sat quietly. Red and Leslie faced each other. The rabbi then had the two say the Shema together. Red spent a good hour teaching Leslie the Shema and now she had it down good. After that the rabbi continued to say the seven blessings and a bunch of stuff Red didn't really pay attention to. The only thing on his mind at the moment was Leslie … and the annoying kid behind him that kept poking his leg. Then the rabbi talked about the Irken half of the ceremony. "The scripture says in Jeremiah 31:22 'For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall surround a man.'" Leslie proceeded to walk around Red like she was instructed to do at the rehearsal. Then finally the vows came. "Do you, Red Elias Macale, take Leslie Marie Strud as your lawfully wedded wife, to live with her in obedience to the Most High and trust in the Messiah?" The rabbi started.

"I do, Yahweh helping me." Red responded. The rabbi nodded then turned to Leslie.

"Do you Leslie take Red to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live with him in obedience to the Most High and trust in the Messiah?"

"I do, God helping me." She said. The rabbi looked at ZIM who had the rings.

"Please present the ring, child." ZIM patted his pockets for the rings and reached inside. Second later he gave Red the ring he was going to put on Leslie. He took the ring from ZIM and grabbed Leslie's hand sliding the ring on her finger as he spoke.

"I, Red Macale, choose you, Leslie Strud, to be my wife, to respect you in your successes and in your failures, to care for you in sickness and in health, to nurture you, and to grow with you throughout the seasons of life." Leslie beamed at Red. She got her ring from Gaz. She then looked at Red's hand suddenly getting nervous and confused, not knowing which finger to put it on. He only had three. Leslie took a chance and slipped it on his middle finger as she said her vows.

"In the presence of God and these our friends I take thee to be my husband, promising with divine assistance to be unto thee a loving and faithful wife so long as we both shall live." Once she was done with her vows, Purple handed Red a chalice which he held onto.

"Recognizing the authority of the Holy One alone in ordaining marriage, Who gave proper instruction through the Laws of Moses, I declare this union sealed in the name of Adonai, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So also in cooperation with the statues of the Commonwealth of Virginia, I pronounce you Red and Leslie, husband and wife." Red set the chalice down on the ground and smashed it with his right foot. He then wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her passionately.

"Mazel tov!" The audience cried loudly. Suddenly shofars started to sound. There were several men on the sides of the synagogue blowing into the instrument. Red released Leslie smiling widely.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you more." Leslie kissed him again. She let him go and saw ZIM covering his face, crying. "Oh honey."

"I'm so happy for you, Red." ZIM sobbed, flinging his body on his older brother. He buried his face into Red's leg and cried harder. "You better treat him right, Leslie!" ZIM screamed through Red's leg. Red smiled down at ZIM. He picked the distressed Irken up and kissed his cheek. Red knew ZIM was just scared that he was going to be ignored by Red because he was married now. "Why did you have to get married?"

"Shh, Zeiden, it's fine. I'll always be here for you, Zei-Zei. I love you." Red kissed him again. Leslie took ZIM from Red.

"Don't worry, ZIM." Leslie said. "I won't hog him. We'll share." ZIM attempted to dry his tears with his hands.

"Alright." ZIM whimpered. Leslie hugged him then passed the little Irken over to Purple to take care of and calm down. Leslie clasped her left hand with Red's tight and walked down the aisle to the limousine that would transport them where they'd have the reception. It was gonna be on one of Irk's oceans on a beach that looked a lot like the Great Lakes beaches, only difference was the waves would be huge enough to surf. The reception was more like a barbie with an Irken twist. It was going to be great.

**Later at the Reception **

It was a beautiful hot day at the beach. The sand was tan and the waves were big. Everyone changed out of their tuxes and dresses into nice beach clothes. The girls wore sun dresses and the guys wore swim bottoms and a t-shirt. But before they could do any fun activities the bride and groom had to finish the ceremony. Red switched out of his tuxedo and into Irken warrior clothes and armor as well as Leslie who was in female warrior attire. Now they had to fight. It was a long lived Irken tradition that wouldn't die any time soon. The newly weds had to battle to see who was gonna be the dominate one and Irken judges would come with a conclusion. The reason why Irkens did this was because sometimes the automatic leader of the house doesn't always make the best choices for the family or the relationship which most the time ended in divorce or tragedy. Thus several trials testing the couples willpower, strength, smarts, and wisdom is customary.

Red had an advantage when it came to the trials because he was Irken and he knew the what the judges were looking for. On the other hand, he didn't really care who, 'wore the pants' in their relationship. He was just happy that he's married to his long time lover. Red adjusted his chest plate. They'd be fighting with hand-to-hand combat weapons. If they used guns then that would be deadly. He looked at Leslie in her armor.

"Red, must we fight?" Red nodded.

"It's part of the tradition. It'll be fine, Les. Just have fun while doing it."

"But doesn't it determine who's the boss?" She asked. Red nodded. Leslie smirked. "You're going down." She growled jokingly.

"We'll see." Red gave her a sly smile.

"New couple!" One of the judges called. "Get in the ring and prepare to fight." Red kissed Leslie's cheek and grabbed his sword. She took her own in her right hand and followed him to the white ring drawn in the sand. "Here's the objective, you'll be fighting for one minute. Once that one minutes are up the judges will decide who gets how many points they get." Leslie and Red nodded. "Stay in the white circle. If you go outside then you'll loose points." They nodded again. "Alright fighters, touch swords then begin." The judge quickly left the ring to join the crowd that was observing. Red tapped the end of his sword against Leslie's. He was definitely gonna go easy on her. She probably knew nothing of swordsmanship.

"Ahh!" Red dodged a well aimed thrust to the chest. "Whoa, girl!" Leslie smiled at him and slashed at him. Red blocked the slash with his sword. Again he knew what the judges were looking for, and attacking the opponent with everything you got isn't it. Red should've warned her about that. Leslie went in for another stab. These swords would break on contact to skin so they wouldn't hurt if you were to stab someone. "Geez, Leslie it's like you actually want to hurt me!"

"You know I wouldn't do that." Leslie grunted and swung her sword again, this time at Red's legs. He jumped to avoid getting hit. "C'mon, fight back. It's like you're not even trying."

"_That's because I'm not_ _trying_." Red thought to himself. Leslie lifted her sword to thrust again at Red's chest plate covered chest. He parried the move and for a brief moment thought about doing a counter attack but decided against it. There was only a few seconds left. Red suddenly felt himself get knocked down by a kick Leslie aimed at his lower spooch. "Ugh!" Red grunted falling to the ground.

"Time!" One of the judges said. The audience that surrounded the white circle cheered. "The judges have decided who gets how many points. The scale is from one to ten. Leslie's score is," The judge was handed a folded white paper. Leslie perked up from panting hard. "A five." Leslie's jaw dropped. She thought she was fighting pretty good. But then again, Red didn't fight back at all. "Red's score is a nine!"

"What?" Leslie asked confused. Red approached her and put his arm around her.

"Let the judges explain." He said.

"Red got those points by not fighting his wife back. This shows that he'll be gentle, kind and patient with her. These are good traits to have in a relationship." The judge clarified. Leslie huffed. "But if we were judging on how they fought, Leslie would have came in first, her fiery moves show that she'd protect her family at all costs." Leslie smiled slightly at that.

"Where'd you learn those moves?" Red asked her.

"Huh? Oh, I took two years of fencing and five of martial arts when I was in grade school. They just stuck with me."

"Impressive." Red said.

"Red! You fight like a pansy!" Red turned to see ZIM on Purple's shoulders and yelling at him. "You got your arse kicked!" Red frowned slightly.

"Shut it or I'll sic Les on you."

"You can't command me like a dog!" Leslie said hitting Red's arm.

"Newly weds, it's time for your next trial. Wisdom." The judge announced. Red rolled his eyes when his brother shouted at him again.

"Crap, Red! You're screwed!"

**One Hour Later**

Red slouched in his chair, exhausted from all the trials he's been through. The wisdom stages, Leslie managed to beat him eight to four, for willpower they tied three and three, with street smarts one was also tied, eight and eight. Now all they had to do was wait for the results. The judge walked up to a podium in a pavilion where most of the reception was held.

"The results for the couples dominance trials are a tie. Both scored twenty-four on their trials. So to break the tie it'll go to the taller and older of the couple." Red sighed and stood up along with Leslie. They seemed to be the same height and if that was the case then they'd share their dominance and everything will be totally based off of equality. A tall Irken came up to them with a device that would take a scan of their body and find exact height. The Irken scanned both of their bodies and waited for the data.

"Red is five feet eight inches." He reported. Red smirked. "Leslie is five' seven." Red looked at his wife.

"It's official. I'm awesome." Leslie rolled her eyes.

"Yes but I'm older than you, ya' boob." She said. "Two years older." The judges whispered quietly.

"It's official. You both are equals. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Macale Strud." Leslie raised a brow.

"So we keep both our last names." Red nodded. "I see. So I'm Leslie Marie Macale Strud and your-"

"Red Elias Strud Macale." Red finished. Leslie smiled. "If let's say it was you who were dominate then I'd be known as Red Macale Strud. The dominate ones name is the last one."

"I like your Irken traditions. Though confusing, they're quite … interesting."

"_Uk paj_!" Purple shouted. Red sighed. He pulled Leslie up to him close and kissed her lips passionately. Seconds after the surprise kiss Red pulled away.

"What was that?"

"_Uk paj_, is Irken for kiss. Whenever the crowd shouts it we have to do it. Kinda like how earthlings click their glasses." Red informed. "So … you wanna learn how to surf?" Red asked. Leslie shrugged.

"I'll get in my swim suit." She said. She ran to a changing area with her hand bag to get out of her yellow sundress. A few of her friends went with her including Sam. Red turned his attention back to a mopey looking ZIM and an excited Purple.

"You alright, mate?"

"I'm fine." ZIM said, somewhat sadly.

"Zeiden," Red challenged. "Something is bothering you, what is it?" ZIM didn't meet his eyes. He kept looking down at his feet buried in the sand.

"I'll go so you can talk alone." Purple said. "Is it okay if I go drown Tenn?" Red looked at him as if her were crazy. "Err … never mind." Purple darted off in a random direction.

"Sit, Zeiden." Red said, leading ZIM to a small dune. The older Irken sat the younger one down and stared at him. ZIM still wouldn't look at Red. "Zei-Zei, please tell me what's wrong."

"You're mine, Red! I shouldn't _have_ to share you with anyone!" ZIM said, tearing up. Red cocked a hairless brow. So it was a jealousy issue. "I'm happy your happy but now you won't have enough time for me because Les is your wife, Gaz is technically your daughter and now you have lots of fans who'd love to hang out with you all the time too!" Red's eyes softened.

"Zeiden, it's true Les is my wife but I don't have legal rights over Gaz, I just have the title as her father because I married her adoptive mother. And I would never hang out with my fans before I hang out with you. There is always room for you in my life, I promise." Red said, petting ZIM's antenna. "I remember a time where every morning I would wake up to you entering my room then you would crawl into my bed. You'd snuggle up to me for five to thirty minutes before I'd get up to go make breakfast and you'd follow asking to help."

"I still do that." ZIM muttered. "But I won't be able to anymore."

"Why not?" ZIM looked at Red. "Just because Leslie would be in the same bed doesn't mean I won't make room for you to do our morning routine. Besides, Leslie gets up earlier than either of us to work." ZIM still was frowning and Red was getting concerned. "Zeiden, please smile. I'll prove to you that I won't change just because I'm married now." ZIM nodded slowly.

"Okay," ZIM stood and brushed the sand off of him. He started to walk away before Red scooped him up in his arms and swung him around and kissing his cheek several times. "Eeeh! Red! Stooooop!" ZIM giggled loudly.

"How about we have a competition, Z." Red said. "Wake-boarding competition?" ZIM turned his head up to look at Red who was still holding him.

"Really?" Red nodded. ZIM grinned. "Yeah! Sure!"

"Hey, Purp!" Red beckoned for Purple to look at him. "Have you ever driven a speed boat before?"

**Two More Hours Later **

**Sundown **

The day was full of excitement. Red won the wake boarding competition. ZIM knew he was gonna loose. He wasn't as good as Red. Now they were all having a big feast at a nearby building on the beach. It was pretty dark in the reception hall except for a few dim lights. ZIM sat next to Red and Purple was on the other side of him.

"The best man will now say a few words to the new couple." Suddenly a microphone was thrusted his way by the wedding coordinator who had just made the announcement. The whole hall went quiet as a spot light shined down on the little Irken. Everyone went quiet as they stared at ZIM.

"Um … I guess I'm gonna say a … few words." ZIM glared at the coordinator. Red smiled at his little brother, resting his head in his hand as he listened to what ZIM had to say. ZIM stood up on his chair. Not being tall enough to stand on the floor. "Red has been my brother since the day I was born … uhh, I just realized what I said and how dumb it was." The party guest laughed with ZIM. He went on. "What I meant to say is, Red isn't just my brother, legal guardian, and attitude adjustor. He's my … God this is gonna sound corny, he's kind of like a friend but more of like a father-" ZIM groaned. "Know what? I'm gonna start over again. Red Elias Macale is the bestest brother Yahweh could have given me. He put up with me and after all these years it's a wonder that he's not sick of me yet. He deserves an award for raising me and two younger sisters while mourning the loss of our mother and father and juggling a part-time job as well as taking college classes all at once." The crowd ZIM was talking to started to make cooing noises or some sound of sympathy. "But he managed. He pulled through because he's arguably the most emotionally strongest man in the world. Unlike his little brother here who cries at everything." ZIM said. He felt like he was going to cry again if he kept talking. He continued anyway. "Red, I'm happy for you, I really am. I can't even describe how hard I'm trying not to cry right now. It's like just a few years ago you were all mine and now …" ZIM gulped. Nearly loosing it. "You have a wife I need to share with." ZIM's voice finally failed him. It cracked on the last word and he went into violent sobbing fits, dropping the mic on the ground. He covered his eyes with his hands to hide his shame. Red stood quickly and hugged the distress Irken.

"Shh. Shhh. Zeiden, calm down mate. Shhh, it's alright."

"I'm sorry, Red! I'm trying to be strong for you! It's your day and I'm being selfish! I'm trying but-" Red cut ZIM off by picking him up and embracing him tighter.

"Yeah, I know this is hard for you, Z." Red kissed his baby brother on his head. "Believe me, when you get married I'd probably be crying as hard as you too." ZIM sniffed and pulled back so he could look at Red. The tears in his eyes shimmered under the dim lights. ZIM forced a smile.

"I bet you would." ZIM said. He went in for another hug. Leslie stood up and wrapped her arms around both brothers kissing them both.

**That Night (Rated M)**

The midnight waltz was beautiful. The moon was full and the stars shined bright. Once the dance was over Red sent his siblings to their downtown Meijour home as he and Leslie went to a high class hotel. "What do you want to do tonight?" Red snapped out of his trance. He switched his gaze from out the limousine window to his wife. Red gave her a cocky grin.

"What did you have in mind?" Red growled, getting closer to her.

"I was thinking about staying up for a little while actually." She said.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. You like that plan?"

"I sure do." Red whispered kissing her lips. The limo stopped in front of a grand hotel. The limo driver looked back.

"I'll bring your luggage to your room then I'll check you two in so you can be alone." He winked at them.

"Thank you." Red said pulling Leslie out of the long vehicle. A doorman opened the door for them. They reached the elevator to make their way up to their floor. When the elevator doors opened Red picked Leslie up bridal style and carried her to their room. A hotel worker was there expecting them and opened that door for them, giving them his best wishes then left. In the room was a hot tub in the corner and a bed with red silk sheets. Red walked over to the edge of the bed and plopped Leslie down. Red lay down on the bed next to her. He closed his eyes tired from the long day. He furrowed a brow when he felt the belt of his pants start to unbuckle. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Leslie's hands over the strip of leather. He reached down to assist her but she swatted his hands away.

"I can do it." She said. Red smirked.

"Stubborn." He watched as she finally unstrung the belt from it's loops. She then worked on unbuttoning his shirt and peeling that off of him revealing his lean, muscular body with beautiful tone skin. Leslie ran her hands down his torso over his pecs and abs.

"Nice." She bent down and caught his lips with her own. As she distracted him with the kiss her hands trailed down to the hem of his pants. She slowly pulled them down to his ankles. She pulled from the kiss to look into his deep red eyes. Her eyes then drifted to his boxer shorts. Red smiled and kicked his pants off from around his ankles. "Do you want me to?" She asked.

"Go ahead." Red replied. Leslie bit her lip and stuck a finger behind the elastic band of his boxers and pulled them down. She closed her eyes so she didn't see anything till the boxers were totally off of him and he was laying naked in front of her. When she opened her eyes she frowned a bit. Staring at his crotch there was nothing but a slit between his legs.

"Um, I do remember a time where I gave ZIM a bath because he had a concussion and he said his 'man parts' were tucked up inside behind that slit thing." Red nodded. A blush apparent on his face for being nude in front of his lover for the first time ever. "How do I get it out?" Leslie asked.

"It usually comes out when aroused after the first time. But since I'm a virgin you'll have to do it manually." Red said. Leslie looked at him for a long time. "What?"

"Will it hurt you?"

"Only a bit. I'll be fine." Leslie looked back and forth from Red's face to his groin. "Here, let me help you." Red scooted all the way to where the bed met the wall. He leaned against the wall and bent his legs upward and spread them apart far enough that the slit parted slightly by itself.

"I just reach in there?" Leslie asked a bit confused. Red nodded.

"Can you hurry? I didn't stretch before this." Leslie chuckled nervously and placed her hand by his crotch close to the parted slits. She narrowed her eyes at the lips to see if she could see his member from there. Leslie really wanted to just dig her hand in there but the slit was so small that she was afraid she'd rip his skin and hurt him bad. "Just do it." Red muttered. "It won't hurt that bad." Leslie hesitated. Red groaned and slumped back. "Leslie, I promise it won't hurt me too bad." Leslie rose her hand up to Red's mouth. He smirked and took her fingers in his mouth, lubricating it for her. "Taste salty." Red sputtered with the fingers in his mouth. Leslie removed her hand and used her right index finger and slid it into the slit making Red gasp from the intrusion. Leslie stopped for a moment so Red could get used to the feeling. Moments later she slid her thumb in. Red groaned at the stinging sensation. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "All the way in Les." Leslie pushed her fingers further into him until her fingers were a good half inch in. She hit a back wall with what felt like a tight hole in the center of it. That's when her finger bumped into a nub underneath the wall in it's own little pocket. Red arched his back and yelped. "You found it."

"That's it?" Red nodded. Leslie took the nub between her index finger and thumb and tugged on it.

"Ahnn."

"Do you want to lay down?" Leslie asked. Red nodded laying back down with her fingers still inside him. She continued to pull on his manhood until it finally emerged from the sheath. Leslie stared at it. It was the same color as his skin, it lacked testicles, it was long, thick and hard. It was also smooth and not wrinkly like a human man's was. It had a head with a small hole at the tip. The thing was moist from it's cage inside of her husband. "Wow." She said. Red looked down at himself closing his legs a bit.

"Hey buddy, I forgot what you looked like since my last hospital visit." Red said.

"Can I … put my finger back inside you? I thought I felt a hole above your penis on one of your walls."

"Below my- Oh." Red paused for a moment thinking if he should tell her. "This might sound a bit odd but some Irkens are hermaphrodites. I have a vagina, so does Zeiden. It's a trait that we develope from our mother's if they are carriers." Red said. Leslie cocked a brow.

"A what?"

"That hole you felt beneath my penis was my female reproductive organ. Some Irkens are born with both organs. Like some plants are."

". . . So you could bare a child? ... Get pregnant by another man?"

"Uh yeah. Some Irken females have penises too like Tenn, Zee and Tak. But if you were talking about me and you, yeah I could still get pregnant, if the penis is unable to cum then it latches onto an egg and pulls it back inside my body and fertilizes it later then soon enough a smeet is born! Isn't Irken sex interesting?"

"Why didn't you tell me you are able to conceive?" Leslie asked. "I thought since I am barren we wouldn't have any chance of having children."

"That's kind of an odd topic to talk about with your girlfriend when you're going steady, don't ya' think?" Leslie shrugged.

"I didn't think we'd have to use this tonight but since you can carry a child . . ." She trailed off and handed Red a condom which he took gratefully. Red sat up after putting on the protection and helped Leslie out of her dress. Slipping the sundress over her head so she was wearing only her leopard print bikini. Red pulled a string that undid her top. Her breast popped out of their restrictions. Red ogled at how large and perky they were. "You like them?"

"They're huge." Red whispered. Leslie stood up on the bed and dropped her swimsuit bottoms. Red was taken off guard by that, her crotch had a small tuft of hair the rest was shaven or waxed. But what really caught him by surprise was when she tackled him and pinned him down kissing him vigorously. She straddled his hips and placed her vagina directly over his penis but didn't put it in her just yet.

"Are you ready for this, babe?" She asked rubbing his penis to make it become hard.

"Yeah, yeah I am." Leslie slowly lowered her hips to his. The woman closed her eyes and bowed her head at the penetration to her body.

"Ah …" Leslie bit her lip at the pain. Red stared up at her with loving features. Leslie felt his gaze on her and looked down at him. "I'm gonna start." Red didn't say anything. He lay his head back and planned on enjoying being ridden. Heck, why take action, this way he didn't have to do any of the work. Leslie rocked her hips slowly at first then gradually sped up. Red moaned at the pleasure emitting from between his legs. He grabbed Leslie's hips and helped her roll her groin on his.

"Faster," Red whined, claws digging in her hips. Leslie didn't have to be told twice. She immediately picked up the speed. Red sat up slightly. He grunted before changing his position so Leslie was beneath him and he was laying on top. He spread her legs more so his wide hips could rest easily in-between hers. He followed her actions by bucking his lower body. Leslie's legs curled around his prominent hips. She ran her finger nails down his back all the way to his ass.

"Ah! Red!" Leslie whipped her head back in ecstasy. The Irken grunted in reply. The pleasure was too intense for words. In the heat of passion Red could feel himself getting close to climax. First time Irkens tend to come a lot quicker than one that has done it plenty of times before. Leslie took his face in her hands and pulled him down to her to kiss him. This didn't stop Red in his hip actions, they just got faster.

"Uuh." Red moaned. He brought his hands up to Leslie's chest and groped her breast, not releasing from the kiss. Leslie wrapped her hands around to Red's ass and squeezed his muscles there making him whimper. He craved her hands roaming every square inch of his body. It was like he almost needed it. The heat between the two was getting hotter. Finally, what seemed to be ages Red arched his back and came. "Leslie, my god." He bit his lip riding out the orgasm. Leslie scowled when he stopped moving and flopped down tiredly upon her.

"I didn't orgasm yet." Leslie growled and switched positions again so she was on top. She humped him harder making Red cringe in pain.

"Ow! Leslie! That hurts." Red squeaked. His legs started to shake as his head whipped from side to side at the convulsions surging through his body. He clutched to the bedsheets, trembling. The woman took a hold of one of Red's antenna and stroked it in a comforting manner. Leslie gave two more hard thrusts when she came. She let out a loud sigh hugging Red's waist with her thighs. She twisted off of Red laying next to him. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her husband bend his legs upward and looked down at himself. "You hurt me." He whispered. Leslie smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Sorry, Hun. Forgive me?" Red looked at her and returned the smile.

"If I didn't you wouldn't want to touch me for the rest of the night." Leslie blinked twice, placing a hand dangerously close to Red's manhood that was still out of it's sheath.

"I kind of want to explore your body a bit more. You okay with that?" She asked scissoring her fingers. Red got the message of what she wanted to do with him and smirked.

"You know it."

**August 26, 1999 (Normal Rating) **

**On Earth**

"I told you to come right back!" Tenn shouted.

"I tried to come right back! I just got caught up!" ZIM shouted back.

"Don't raise your voice at me, Zeiden! I gave you specific orders to come home right after the game but you didn't!"

"I told you I lost track of time! I'm sorry!" ZIM crossed his arms as Tenn and Zee continued to scold him for being late coming home the other night. He went to Skoodge's after the reception to hang out. Zee said he could only stay for a few hours before he had to come home. A few hours turned into several and it wasn't until it was two AM before he realized he had overstayed his visit. It was now three AM and Tenn and Zee were still up trying to get a hold of him. When he did get home they flipped. It wasn't the first time he came home late.

"Just … ugh! Go to bed, Zeiden. We'll deal with you later today." Zee mumbled. ZIM huffed and climbed the stairs to go to his room. When ZIM reached his room he jumped on his bed and sighed. Today was actually the day where he was gonna try out for Alice Spring's u16 baseball team. That means anyone under sixteen could play but you had to be really good to stay on the team. He was probably gonna be the youngest one trying out for u16 because everyone else in his age group is either in a rookie or little league. He planned on joining the Blacksox team.

ZIM closed his heavy eyes and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. It was gonna be a big day for him.

**10:25 AM**

"Zeiden," ZIM jumped as he was startled out of his sleep. He looked around to see who spoke. A blurry figure loomed over him. He scrambled to get his glasses off of his night stand. Once the figure was in focus he could clearly see it was Purple. "Zee is off applying for a job at a hospital and Tenn is on a date with her friends. They left it up to me to bring you to your tryouts." ZIM groaned.

"I can just drive there."

"Tenn took your car. Plus you're grounded."

"What! What did I do?" Purple narrowed his gaze at ZIM.

"I think you know." ZIM muttered under his breath and got out of bed to get dressed. Sam came walking into his room just as he was pulling on his cleats.

"Hey, kiddo. You ready?"

"Yup."

"Good, one more thing." Sam stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a small white bottle.

"What's that?"

"It's eye drops that act as temporary glasses. I got it from Irk. I decided that you can't wear glasses as you play so I'm gonna put these in your eyes. It's very expensive so we got to use it wisely." ZIM shook his head. He was horrified at anything in his eyes. "C'mon, Z. Just lay back and let me-"

"No thanks." ZIM said holding his glasses. "These will do."

"Zeiden, if those two-hundred dollar prescription glasses break your brother will not be happy."

"I'll get a new pair before he finds out."

"How do you do that? You need a legal guardians signature and you need transportation. Last time I checked you were grounded from your car." ZIM frowned heavily.

"I hate eye drops! I take them every spring for my allergies and they suck." ZIM whined. Sam rolled her eyes and grabbed ZIM's arm pulling him to her. She thought of a good threat for a moment before speaking.

"Zeiden, do I need to take baseball away from you?"

"Wha-what?"

"If you don't take these drops then I'm not going to let you play." ZIM scowled. Now he was getting mad. For a second ZIM just thought about bolting and just running to the tryouts. After all, the field was only seven miles away … on second thought, he'd need that energy for the actual practice. That's not a good idea. Another idea popped into his head. ZIM tore away from her and quickly ran out of the room. Bounding down the steps he yelled to Purple who was in the living room and told him, 'Hurry and drive me to practice before Sam catches me!' then ran out the door.

"Zeiden Macale!" Sam yelled after him. "Peder get him!" She ordered. Purple sighed and ran after the small boy. He opened the front door and managed to grab ZIM before he opened the car door.

"Nooo! I don't wanna!" ZIM screeched.

"Zeiden, calm down!" Purple yelled over him. "God, kid, just take it like a man." ZIM knew he was acting like an immature brat but he had an unhealthy fear of something being so close to his eyes. Especially since now since they were so sensitive and he even was blind at one point. You can't really blame him for being paranoid.

"Thanks, Pur." Sam muttered and helped restrain the struggling Irken.

"Hey, what's going on?" Zee entered the house through the front doors with a confused look. She just got back from the hospital.

"ZIM, needs these eyedrops before he goes to the tryouts. They'll help him see." Sam informed. Zee raised a brow in realization.

"Ahh, eyedrops. Yeah, he hates those. He always over reacts when he has to take them." Zee said. "Here," Zee stretched out her hand to take the drops away from Sam. "I know a trick to make him succumb." She whispered in Sam's ear. Zee got on her knees to get to ZIM's level. Purple set him down so he was standing. Zee then with one swift move pinched a vein on his neck. ZIM gasped before promptly falling to the ground by the compressing of his nerve. A soft snoring immediately started to emit from his mouth. Sam's jaw dropped. "Aww, little Zimmy is so tired." Zee said sweetly, petting his antenna. She rolled her unconscious, sleeping brother from his side to his back. She then proceeded to take off his glasses and forcefully open each eyelid and drip the clear substance into his sockets. "There you are." Zee said getting up. Sam was still lost for words. Purple was in the same condition. Zee turned to leave but Purple stopped her.

"Hey what about…" He pointed at ZIM.

"Oh yeah." Zee walked back, crouching by his body she smacked him harshly across the cheek. ZIM jolted upward with a sound that sounded cross between a snort and a whine.

"Oooh. What just happened?" ZIM moaned rubbing his cheek. He blinked three times adjusting his eyes. His vision went from blurry to almost nearly perfectly clear. "I can see ..." ZIM hopped up.

"See, now if you didn't put up such a fuss, Zee wouldn't of had to knock you out." Purple said. ZIM looked at him.

"She did what?"

"Er, never mind. Come on, ZIM, you're late." Purple said, changing the subject. ZIM glared at Purple but followed him out the door to the car with Sam who put the eye drops back into her pocket just in case if she needed them again.

**Alice Springs Baseball Diamond**

"Check out the shrimp."

"He's so tiny."

"I bet he doesn't even know the basic rules of baseball."

"What the heck is an Irken doing trying out for a human sport?" ZIM ignored all the comments and gibes he either overheard or was spoken to him by young teenagers all thirteen years old to sixteen. He was the only eleven year old trying out for the Blacksox. ZIM continued his way to the dugout and set his bag of equipment down.

"Alright sheilas and gents! Line up and write your name down on this sheet of paper then we'll begin." ZIM turned to see the coach holding a clipboard and waving it in the air. ZIM walked out of the dugout to get the board from him and write his name. It took about ten minutes for all twenty kids that were trying out to sign their names.

"That small green kid is so gonna get cut." ZIM lifted his antenna at the sound of a female voice behind him. He gritted his teeth.

"I know, right? He's probably not gonna make it through the first day." Her friend added.

"Alright, everyone, my name is Coach Bill! I was gonna start by having you all say your names and an interesting fact about yourself but instead I'm gonna have you buddy up and play catch." The coach said. Immediately everyone had a partner except for ZIM. The small Irken sighed.

"Typical," He said out loud. "No one wants to play with the ugly, green kid." ZIM muttered. He got a few awkward glances at him for talking to himself. He heard a girl whisper from behind.

"Who said he was ugly?" ZIM pursed his lips, feeling dumb. He just called himself ugly.

"Hey, kid," ZIM saw coach Bill coming towards him. "I talked to your trainer before we started. She said you wanted to play pitch or catch or even shortstop." ZIM nodded. "Sorry to say this but you might not be either of those. In fact you could just be sitting on the bench. We got a lot of kids trying out this year. We're cutting nine kids." ZIM didn't say anything for awhile.

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" ZIM asked getting frustrated. The coach was taken back by his sudden attitude change. "I played _American _baseball for three years. I played on four different leagues, I was even offered to go to junior major leagues. I once pitched a perfect game! I practice year round, every day for at least an hour. Now if you don't believe me then I'll just have to prove it to you." ZIM growled. He roughly put his pitching mitt on and grabbed a bag full of baseballs and walked to a pitching backstop assistant.

The people who were playing catch stopped to see what the little Irken was about to do. ZIM snatched up a ball from the bag and got ready to pitch it. He got into his pose and followed through with a wind up then a release. The ball sailed perfectly into the red box strike zone on the pitching assistant. The assistant had a speedometer. His pitch clocked in at seventy miles per hour. ZIM scowled and picked up another ball and threw a curveball, then a change up, then a fast pitch, followed by a slider, and to finish, a drop ball. When ZIM turned back to the coach he saw that the man was stricken speechless as were the other players who had just made fun of him.

"Whoa." One of the boys said simply.

"Now if you still don't want me on the team, just say so. I'll just move back to the states where my ability is appreciated." ZIM said cockily. The coach didn't say anything for a long while. ZIM didn't know how to respond to it so he started making his way off the field.

"Wait!" ZIM was grabbed by the shoulder and whipped around to face Coach Bill. "How would you like it if I offered you spot on the team as our primary pitcher." He asked quietly. ZIM beamed.

"I'd like that very much, sir." The coach took ZIM's dainty hand into his big hand and shook.

"Welcome to the Blacksox, young man."

"Thank you. That was the kind of team welcome I was looking for. I look forward to being your best player this season." ZIM said arrogantly. "Now just wait till you see my batting. I'm a switch hitter."

**August 28, 1999**

"How was your honeymoon?" Sam asked.

"Great! I learned that southern Irk is hotter than the Gibson desert." Red said. "But we had fun."

"Reeed!" ZIM came running to the foyer with his arms stretched wide. He jumped on Red with a tight hug. "I missed you!"

"Hey, mate, I missed you too. How's baseball going?"

"My first game is in an hour! You came just in time."

"I kinda figured you had a game. You are wearing your uniform." Red said holding ZIM. ZIM looked down. He totally forgot he was wearing his uniform. Black baseball pants, white bodied jersey with black sleeves. The number, 'one' was on his back along with his last name. The name, 'Blacksox' was across the chest. It was the smallest jersey they had and it was still too big for him.

"Aha. Right. You coming?" ZIM asked.

"Of course. Let me and Les get unpacked first." Red kissed ZIM's head then put him down. Sam stood behind ZIM.

"You need your drops, ZIM." She said.

"Noooo." ZIM whined. "Last time you nearly poked out my eye."

"Because you kept struggling. Now do me a favor and take these without a fuss or there _will _be consequences." ZIM's antennas slicked to the back of his head as a sign of anger and irritation. He scowled and walked over to the living room couch. "You can glare at me all you want but you're gonna take these regardless." Sam said. She sat on the couch and allowed ZIM to rest his head in her lap as he stretched his body out on the couch cushions. Sam opened the white bottle. She plucked the black-rimmed glasses off his face. "Keep your eyes open." She rested one hand on ZIM's face and used the other to squeezed the white bottle so the liquid would drip into his eye. ZIM whimpered when he saw the nozzle of the bottle produce a clear substance. Just as soon as it dropped ZIM closed his eyes tightly. "Zeiden!" Sam groaned. "Do you wanna do this the hard way?" ZIM wiped the wetness off his face.

"I don't like!"

"I don't care if you 'don't like', I want you to-"

"No." ZIM muttered, rubbed his eyes. Sam blew out an angry stream of air. She tried to keep her patience but sometimes it was so hard.

"Zeiden Macale, if you do not take these eyedrops, so help me, I'll strap you to your brother's examining table and torment you with these eye drops for as long as I desire." ZIM scoffed.

"Good luck trying to figure out how to use the straps. I can't even work them." Sam's eye twitched.

"That's it." Sam got up and called for Purple who came from the upstairs rooms.

"What?"

"I need you to hold ZIM."

"No! No!" ZIM tried getting up and running off but Sam seized his arm and swung him to the ground.

"I hate to do this to you, Zeiden, but I will not let you wear glasses when you play ball. Unless you want glass lodged in your eyes."

"Everyday, ZIM." Purple moan pinning the tiny Irken's shoulders to the ground and sitting on his waist lazily. Sam put her knees on both sides of ZIM's head to prevent him from moving it. Sam opened his left eye and quickly squeezed the bottle and got a few drops in his eye. ZIM yelped. Sam did the other eye, this time ZIM whined sorrowfully. Once she was done, Sam smiled at her accomplishment. She put the cap back on the bottle and clasped her hands on ZIM's face and looked deeply in his eyes.

"Now was that so bad?"

"Get off me!" ZIM yelled. Purple and Sam chuckled releasing the boy form his restraints. ZIM quickly got up and rubbed his eyes. Red came down the steps with Leslie and Tyson was following him.

"Why was ZIM screaming?" Red asked nonchalantly.

"They were abusing me, Red!" ZIM pointed an accusing finger at the other couple.

"I don't know what he's ranting about." Purple said innocently.

"He's crazy. Do you guys have a straight jacket we could put him in?" Sam added. ZIM growled, he snapped his fingers. Tyson came to his side. His dog was now fully grown and very strong. ZIM jumped on Tyson's back and started to ride the white dog.

"Tyson and I will be outside." ZIM said, snootily. "And I'm _not _crazy."

"Says the kid who's riding a dog as if it were a horse." Red muttered.

**That Night **

"Red," A small voice whimpered. The red-eyed Irken opened his eyes and saw his baby brother standing in front of him, tired and frustrated-looking.

"Nightmare, ZIM?" The younger nodded. "Snakes?"

"You know me too well." ZIM said crawling into Red's bed.

"Who's that?" Leslie's voice sounded.

"It's, ZIM. He's sleeping with us tonight." Red answered. ZIM climbed in between Leslie and Red and snuggled up to their bodies. Red draped an arm over ZIM protectively. Leslie stroked ZIM's antenna, making him purr quietly. Red whispered in his brother's antenna quietly. "I told you."

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><p><strong>Aww. Dat was sweet. Who thought that was sweet? I for sure thought it was sweet. So sweet it gave me cavities.<strong>

**Anyways, here's the question for the chapter.  
><strong>

**_Who do you guys want to see more of? It can be a pairing like, Red/Purple Friendship, ZIM/Tak Romance, Tenn/Zee Sister-Bonding, Purple's Family. Or it can be an individual like, Skoodge, Gaz, or one of my Characters. (I seriously don't try to write about my OC's so much because I hate OC's and I know you guys hate them too. But since one of the cannon characters is now married to one of my original characters ... oh God what have I done!) _**

**Ya'll know what to do. R&R if you feel so obliged. Love ya'll! Happy reading!  
><strong>

**P.S. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask them via PM or Review and I'll make sure to get them answered, ASAP!  
><strong>


	12. New Show

**Nothing to say here, but at the end of the chapter. Holy crap, did I talk!**

**Anjoi! (That's supposed to say 'enjoy'.)  
><strong>

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><p><strong>September 3, 1999<strong>

Being grounded sucked. Getting yelled at sucked. Being humiliated in front of your friends sucked. Life just sucked.

ZIM slicked his antenna back to his head scowling as Red looked down at him scolding him for the most recent misdemeanor he has committed. Sneaking out after being told, 'No' a thousand times to go to a voot demolition derby on Irk in the supposedly dangerous city of Cuppah with Skoodge. ZIM didn't see what the big yank was. It was just a derby. No harm in that right?

"Do you understand, Zeiden?" Red asked. ZIM gazed up at his older brother.

"No, I wasn't listening." Red bit his lip, infuriated. ZIM just didn't get it sometimes.

"You know what, Zeiden? I don't like the rebellious attitude you've been possessing lately. For now on, I'm keeping you on a shorter leash. I'm taking away all your car privileges and you're not allowed to go to Irk whenever you please. Only when I can go with you."

"That isn't fair!" ZIM yelled. "And don't say, 'life isn't fair' because I hear that all the time."

"Like I said, I don't like your attitude. Just because you're a hot Irken icon doesn't mean your invincible. You can still get hurt … or worse."

"I was with Skoodge!"

"Skoodge could've gotten hurt too. But he's not my responsibility. You are."

"Don't say that I'm your responsibility. It sounds as if you own me."

"I'm your legal guardian. I have authority over you. Does that sound better?" Red asked. ZIM crossed his arms. "Get to bed. It's late." Red said before leaving ZIM's room and flicking off the light. Red sighed, he'd defiantly have to keep a close eye on ZIM. That boy meant too much to him and if something were to happen to him, how would Red cope? Suddenly Red was struck with a horrible uneasiness.

Red realized how slack he's been with ZIM lately. No wonder ZIM has been turning rebellious. Red wasn't watching him close enough. That will change. Red made a mental note to keep that child in line. Before something bad happens.

**...**

"Red," The voice was so soft and beautiful. And very familiar. "Red, honey." The Irken opened his eyes. But instead of finding himself in his room he found himself … actually, he had no idea where he was. It was all black. "Red." The crimson-eyed man looked around for the source of the voice. It was so familiar. So very familiar. Suddenly a blue light vision appeared in front if his eyes lighting up the pitch black area surrounding him. The vision was in the outline of an Irken woman. Eyes were magenta and soft, antennas curled flawlessly, eyelashes that were thick and pretty. And her face reminded him of Tenn and ZIM's. "Remember the promise you made me?" Red gulped. He couldn't speak. He couldn't really control anything of his at the moment. "Remember?"

"Mom?" The blue luminescent figure smiled.

"You're such a great big brother." She said. "Don't put your guard down with your siblings just yet. Especially Zeiden. Just because they're getting older doesn't mean they might not need you. Watch him. Bad things will happen, Red." The ominous tone in her voice gave him chills. Red was lost for words as he foreshadowed what could possibly happen. Was this glowing woman really his mom? It sounded like her. Looked like her. Acted like her. "Make me proud, son." And with that the figure vanished as quickly as it had came.

**...**

Red sat straight up in bed, gasping.

"Mmm what's wrong, babe?" Leslie asked tiredly laying next to him in their bed.

"I-I … don't know what just-" Red choked up. Tears slipping down his face. Leslie sat up too and rubbed his back.

"Honey?" Red didn't respond. He had just seen his mother for the first time in over a decade.

**October 10, 1999**

"Let's see. Another ZIM album out, Red just released another single and got his job back a long with Peder, that's good. You were offered another lead role in movie but declined." Jalokia looked at ZIM who was sitting in front of his desk. "Would you like to model some more." ZIM shook his head. Jalokia sighed.

"I just kind of want to relax a bit. I can't step foot on Irk without being bombarded with paparazzi, fans and haters. Later I'll do another movie or something but for now I just want to be somewhat normal." ZIM explained. Jalokia nodded understanding.

"Alright, kid. Just call me when you want to pick this up again. Here's Red and your paycheck." Jalokia handed ZIM two pieces of paper. ZIM smiled. Once he cashed in the check he'd have just under fifty point eight billion in the bank.

"Thanks, Jalo. I'll see you around." ZIM said walking out of his office. Red was waiting in the lobby. ZIM almost forgot he wasn't allowed to go to Irk without Red. Or do anything else without Red's consent for that matter. ZIM wondered what has gotten into his brother. Everyday for the past month he's been getting more and more protective. It was as if Red had just renewed his promise to their mom about keeping ZIM safe at all costs. Or he was being a weirdo. The older Irken grabbed onto ZIM's hand and led him out of the building. "Let go of my hand." ZIM mumbled. He knew it was gonna be no use but it was worth a shot.

"No." Red said, simply. "Once we get home you gotta pack because we're going to travel the outback again just like the first expedition. Turns out they need more research done in the area. Specifically the Kimberley."

"Oh really?" ZIM asked, trying to subtly pry his hand from Red's. "I was thinking about getting one of those short distance transport devices so we wouldn't have to drive everywhere. They have them here. They're selling for a million monies."

"Nah. Save your monies. You'll need it. Besides, part of the adventure is getting there. I was talking to Zee about a few things and we're gonna put our Alice Springs on the market and move either to Darwin again or another city on the coast once we're done in the outback." Red said. "Now bring us home." ZIM ripped his hand away from Red's to get his long range transporter and did as Red had told him. Once they were beamed home to their kitchen they were greeted by an overly happy Purple talking animatedly to Tak and Zee about his amateur glory days as a hockey goaltender, star player and goon and even something about a weird nickname his old teammates picked out for him, 'Ice Princess'.

"Ehh … what's up, Purp?" Purple glanced at ZIM and Red.

"I was just asked to return to Canada for this years amateur hockey season! They recommended me because I was the star player in high school and goalie in the amateur league! Maybe I'll go pro and play in the NHL!" Red and ZIM looked at each other.

"Did you understand any of that?" Red asked.

"Not a clue." ZIM muttered back. "Why are Canadians so odd?" Purple huffed.

"Typical Australians."

"Hey let's not let any ethical slurs pass our tongues." Tak said trying to keep peace.

"Why should we listen to you?" ZIM asked.

"Let's not forget my fellow Brits used to own both of your countries." Tak said snootily. Everyone present narrowed their eyes at her.

"And I thought Americans were arrogant." Purple said.

"I heard that!" Sam called from the living room.

"Yes well, where in history did your 'fellow Brits' managed to screw up so bad that they lost Canada, Australia and the United States? And this is where we all point and laugh at you and your people for your horrible failures!" Purple exclaimed then pointed at Tak along with Red, ZIM, and Zee and even Sam joined them from the living room to all let out an overly exaggerated fit of laughter directed toward Tak.

"You guys are all morons." She mumbled, hanging her head low. Tak glared at the others, unamused. Soon the fake laughter died down.

"Uh yeah . . . So hockey!" Purple said excitedly switching it back to the old topic. Red smiled at his brother.

"That's great, Purple. Can't wait to go to one of your games … matches? Meets?" Red said trying to figure out the proper terminology.

"Speaking of games! My last baseball game is tomorrow! I plan on kicking that pitcher for the Bulldogs ass! He pisses me off." The pitcher for the Bulldogs and ZIM have been at each others' throats for awhile now. Ever since their first game against each other when the pitcher was batting and flipped ZIM off for striking him out. This made ZIM mad to an extent that the next time the kid was up to bat he purposely misfired a pitch to hit the hellion right in the elbow, the worst place to get hit. Of course the kid got to walk for that, but it gave ZIM the satisfaction of seeing the kid in pain. After the game though they got into a heated yelling match, trading verbal blows. Every game against the two teams since then ended in ZIM getting grounded.

"Watch your language. And you won't be kicking anyone's ass. Understand?" Red said.

"We'll see." ZIM mumbled.

"Remember what happened last time when you got into a fight during a game?" Sam asked. ZIM frowned. He did remember. And he didn't like it. He's had black eyes before but none were from that specific enemy till that day.

"Fine, but if someone else starts it-"

"You wont do anything. Right?" Sam said.

"…Riiight." ZIM answered.

"I have a feeling he's gonna commit a huge misconduct anyway. I should just punish him now." Red whispered in her ear. She nodded in agreement. He more than likely was.

**The Next Day**

**Alice Springs Baseball Diamond**

"Here's the batting line up, Zeiden, Carly, Lucus, Mitt," ZIM smiled as the coached rattled off the list. Usually the best players were first to bat in this league. In pros the first batter was the fastest. That must be saying a lot about ZIM. Not only was ZIM wicked fast but he was a power-hitter too. "Leah, Harley, Kimberly, and Isaac." ZIM slipped on his black and white batting gloves. "ZIM get a helmet on, you're leading off." ZIM did as the coach said. He put a team colored, black and white, helmet on his head and prepared to bat by stretching his arms.

"Batter up." The umpire said. ZIM walked to the box and waited to see what sign the coach would give him. The coach formed his hands into fists and pound them together. That meant swing at the strikes. ZIM nodded, stepping into the box. The bastard of a pitcher wound up for the first pitch. When the ball was released ZIM swung. It was right in his hot zone. He managed to slam the ball directly in between the right and center fielder. His team mates and the crowd cheered as he rounded first and looked for more. The ball was thrown to second so ZIM stayed on first.

"Good spot, Zeiden." The base coach, Bill, said.

"Thanks." ZIM waited till the next ball was pitched before taking a huge lead off. It passed the catcher. ZIM found this opportunity to steal second. "So far so good." ZIM mumbled to himself. He noticed the opponents team's pitcher glaring at him. ZIM glared back not intimidated at all. A few pitches later ZIM stole third because of the same reason of why he stole second. The opponents catcher was not performing well today. Then ZIM even managed to steal home when it was a pass ball. He had to slide home but he was safe.

"Good job, Zeiden. Get your equipment on because you're catching today." Coach Bill said as the players switched once there was three outs. ZIM quickly put on the chest protector, leg guards, and helmet. He grabbed his catchers mitt and warmed up the pitcher, Harley. Once she was warmed up ZIM stood up.

"Balls in, coming down!" He shouted before squatting again in his catchers pose. Another pitch was thrown. He caught it and whipped it down to second where Luke was.

"Batter up! Play ball!" The ump shouted. ZIM stretched his legs then crouched again. He thought for a moment before making a call. He put his left hand between his legs so the call he made would be blocked from anyone else's but the pitchers. He fingered a three using all his fingers and wiggling them signaling a fastball. Usually, for the team, fastballs were four fingers but that would be hard considering ZIM only has three fingers on each hand. Harley nodded. She got ready to pitch as the guy who was up to bat wasn't even prepared. That was his fault, he was already in the batters box. ZIM caught the speedy fastball. "Strike!" The umpire called. The batter looked confused. He looked at Harley, then at ZIM, then at his coach who face palmed. ZIM chuckled.

"Idiot." He muttered under his breath. He threw the ball back to Harley. He made the same call. Harley pitched another ball. This time it bounced before it got to the plate. ZIM managed to catch it but had to drop to his knees to block.

"Ball low! One ball, one strike!" A few pitches later the count was full. If Harley threw another ball the batter could take his base. Harley threw the ball. "Ball four. Take your base." ZIM groaned as the runner trotted over to first.

"It's okay, Har, let it go." ZIM called over to the frustrated pitcher. She looked at him and gave him a thumbs up. "Oh ace." ZIM cussed as his favorite player from the opposite team emerged from the dugout and up to the batters box. Last game they played against each other, ZIM and the opposing pitcher got into a verbal argument during a game. It almost eventually turned violent when ZIM threw his pitching glove at the much taller boy's head. It missed but he still got suspended from the rest of the game. "Hey asswipe." ZIM greeted the boy with a shit eating smile. The pitcher looked at him with a horrible glare. ZIM didn't care.

"You better watch what you say, ding bat."

"Oh! Ding bat! You told me off. Excuse me while I go take the walk of shame." ZIM said sarcastically taunting him. The boy growled getting red in the face. He was shaking with anger.

"Play ball." The ump declared. ZIM gave the sign to throw a change up knowing it would throw the batter off. Harley nodded and threw the ball. The boy swung at it still steaming with rage. It was a pop up foul but ZIM could still try to catch it. ZIM ripped off his helmet and mask attempting to catch the ball so he could get the guy out. He ran in front of the batter. ZIM was now right under the ball. He was going to catch it. All he had to do now was wait till-

"Augh!" ZIM gasped and collapsed to the ground. A severe pain emitted from his back. His vision was blurry and the world was spinning as he fell face forward into the dust and gravel of the diamond. "Uhhhh." ZIM moaned.

"What the hell was that!" ZIM heard someone cry. It sounded very familiar. Sam? It probably was. ZIM attempted to stand up but couldn't get his body to do what he wanted it to do.

"Ooh." ZIM squeaked. Tear formed in his eyes. He closed them tight and put his face to the ground trying to get rid of the horrible pain in his back.

"Zeiden, are you okay?" When ZIM looked up he saw many people looming over him including Red who had just spoken to him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the boy who was just batting getting yelled at by his couch and the umpire. The boy insisted it was an accident and that ZIM got in his way on the back swing.

"What happened?" ZIM voice cracked.

"Don't worry about it. Are you alright?" Red asked again. ZIM tried to breath but found it hard.

"What happened?" ZIM asked persistent to know. Red put a hand on ZIM's shoulder. Soon Red was being pulled away from his little brother by the sports trainer. The trainer pulled up ZIM's jersey to look at the damage, they even had to pull the baseball pants down a little ways to see the whole thing. A huge bruise the size of a bat was spread across his lower back. The batter smacked ZIM with his bat 'on the back swing'.

Red sighed as he watch the coaches and trainer take off ZIM's chest plate as well as the rest of his equipment and shirt. They wrapped up the bruised area tightly with a wrap and gauze. Red couldn't see it but ZIM must of come to because he heard ZIM start to whimper. The trainer approached Red.

"He wasn't hit hard enough that it caused any serious paralyzingly injuries but his sacrum _is _bruised." She said. Red rubbed his temples. It was then Red dubbed baseball too harmful for ZIM to be playing anymore.

**Later That Day  
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"You're walking funny." Tak said.

"You'd be walking funny too if your ass was broke, Tak!" ZIM snapped.

"Whoa, cranky." Tak put her hands up in defense.

"I am not cranky!" ZIM shot back as he pushed past her half walking half wobbling to the couch where he planned on laying belly down for the next few days. He couldn't climb, run, or sit without pain erupting through him.

"Are too." Tak said following him. He saw Gaz already sitting in the living room. ZIM flopped down on the davenport and moaned. His painkillers was making him numb and grumpy. ZIM felt someone lift up his shirt and pull down his pants a little. He cranes his head to see Leslie and Red peering at the dark purple, almost black bruise, painting his entire lower back and upper hind end.

"Leave me alone." ZIM groaned burying his face into a pillow. He reached behind him to pull up his pants and down his shirt.

"ZIM, I just got some pain reliever from Irk. It's supposed to ease the pain of bruised bones." Red said. Holding up a bottle of gel. "All I have to do is rub this on the abused area and you won't even feel like you are hurt." ZIM rose his head from the pillow he shoved his face into.

"It works?" ZIM asked. Red nodded. "Fine, just don't press hard. My ass hurts." Red pulled up his shirt again and down his pants. Leslie squirted the gel into her hand and rubbed it into ZIM's lower back. "Ugh! It's cold!"

"That's normal. Now hold still." Leslie said. ZIM squirmed under her gentle touch.

"Owww."

"Stop whining. You brought this upon yourself." Red said, petting ZIM's antenna attempting to sooth him.

"How did I do this to myself? It was that arse on the other team, wasn't it? That bastard!" Red shook his head.

"If I remember correctly, you were the one taunting him. By the way, your team lost." ZIM growled. His team lost because he wasn't there after the first inning.

"Wow, that bit of info just made my day." ZIM muttered. Leslie finished rubbing the gel on him and pulled down his shirt.

"Take it easy now, sweetie. Why don't you rest for awhile?" Leslie kissed the side of his face.

"I can't really do anything else with a bruised tailbone but rest." ZIM said.

"Let this be a lesson to you then. Next time reconsider getting on someone's bad side." Leslie said, leaving with Red. Tak looked at ZIM.

"You're an accident prone idiot." She muttered. ZIM growled at the offhand comment but ignored it. It was somewhat true.

**October 20, 199****9  
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"Why don't you take a break from baseball for awhile?" ZIM snapped his head in the direction of Red sitting next to him on his and Leslie's bed in their room. The little Irken was currently looking for a new baseball team to join as he does after every season is done. ZIM cocked a brow.

"Why would I do that?" Red bit his lip not wanting to just dump the fact that he's not letting Zeiden play baseball anymore on his lap.

"'Cuz, well, this past year alone you played on four different teams."

"So?" Red sighed. He'd regret saying this. No. He'd regret not saying it if his brother gets injured one more time.

"Zeiden, every single team you played for you have gotten at least one serious injury. Some more serious than others." ZIM looked at Red confused. Looks like Red will have to spell it out for him. "I'm implying that your baseball career has come to an official halt. You're not playing anymore for any team at any time." ZIM stared at Red for a bit longer not sure what Red meant.

"What are you saying?" Red frowned deeply. All the years of getting concussions from the game was taking a toll on ZIM.

"No. More. Baseball. ... Ever." ZIM's eyes suddenly became wide finally understanding.

"What? No! Why?" ZIM sputtered. "Y-you can't just take a sport away from me! That's- that's ... No!" ZIM rubbed his head. "Why would you do that?"

"Apparently this sport that doesn't even require too much contact is just enough contact to give you serious brain trauma and injuries. I don't want to risk it anymore, Z! You are done. You can kiss your beloved baseball farewell because you aren't playing again."

"Gah! No! No, no. You already took soccer away from me because of my vision incident, you're not taking baseball too! I'm not letting you!"

"You do realize that if you sign up for a team you need a parent or legal guardian to sign you off, right?" ZIM was lost for words. Disgusted to be in the presence of his brother that used to support him in the area of sports but then suddenly decided to drop that and become a safety-loving freak! "Why don't you take up bowling, golf or ... walking! That's a good one." Red said nervously. ZIM gritted his teeth still in disbelief.

"You are so lame." ZIM muttered, shaking hard, trying to keep his fury under control in hope that his brother will see his maturity and forgo the banning of baseball in his life. Although, calling his brother lame probably wasn't the greatest idea. "Do you realize how much of a worrier you are?" Red shook his head.

"You don't see potential danger like I do-"

"No one sees it like you do! I hate it, Red! How you're always leaning over my shoulder and holding me back from things!"

"Because I don't want you hurt!"

"Because you like being in charge and being able to get away with taking things that I'm very passionate about!"

"That isn't true! Because I-"

"Because you worry too much and I hate it!"

"Because I lo-"

"Because you are pushy and assertive and overprotective and I just hate it so much!"

"Because _I-_"

"I hate how I'm not free around you. I hate not having the dreams I so desperately want to be fulfilled such as becoming the first Irken ever to play in the MLB! Now _crushed_ because of you! Because of you I'm being hidden from the real world, living a heavily sheltered life, and kept in captivity with my annoying older brother's overprotectiveness. I hate that! I hate being shut out! I hate you!" Red was silent for a long time. Hurt but wanting to get the message across.

"You may hate me now, but I'll always love you, Zeiden." And without another word, Red left, leaving ZIM alone and feeling like a immature jerk.

**That Night****  
><strong>

ZIM lay awake in his bed pondering what happened earlier that day. He hasn't seen Red since the argument and he felt really bad for saying those three awful, untrue, words. _I hate you._ ZIM shook his head. He never said that phrase in a more serious tone to anyone before. ZIM didn't hate, he only loved.

The little Irken groaned and looked at his alarm clock by his bed. 11:42, Red and Les more than likely went to bed half an hour ago and now are fast asleep. But what Zeiden said was gnawing at him and it won't stop bothering him till he fixed what he did wrong. He won't get a good nights sleep till he talks to his, 'overprotective', 'annoying', yet loving brother. Finally deciding to swallow his pride ZIM hopped out of bed and exited his room to the hallway just outside it. He peered down the dark hall to the room furthest away from the stairs with it's door closed tightly.

ZIM crept slowly past Tak and Gaz's shared room, then Tenn and Sam's shared room, then Peder's, then Zee's till he came to his destination. The boy reached for the knob grasping it loosely and turning it. Once the door was open just far enough for him to get through he entered, hesitantly. He stood there for a moment, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark room. ZIM should of put on his glasses before doing this but decided that since it was already pitch black he wouldn't be able to see anything anyway.

Zeiden cautiously walked toward the huge king-sized bed. Grabbing onto the blankets hanging off the side and using them to climb up to the surface. Once on top he could just make out Red sleeping on his side away from him and Leslie closest to ZIM, also on her side facing away with her arms draped over her husband's body. The youngest Macale sighed quietly and crawled over his sister-in-law to get between the two. ZIM pried her arm off Red. Leslie was left undisturbed from her sleep. Red, on the other hand, felt the warmth leave and awoke, shifting to face Leslie but instead of seeing his wife he saw his doubtful-looking smeet, with big pleading eyes and the sweetest pout Red has ever seen plastered on ZIM's face.

"Decided to visit me?" Red smiled warmly. ZIM frowned laying on his side facing Red.

"My conscience was kicking my arse ever since I said something I didn't mean." ZIM replied with a soft whisper.

"I know you didn't mean it, Junior." Red said. "You aren't the type to go off saying and meaning things like that to anyone." Red extended his arms and wrapped them around his little smeet pulling ZIM close to his body. "I've said it before and I'll say it again a million times more, 'I love you'. Seeing you get hurt is agonizing to me." ZIM shook his head.

"I'll never understand you fully, Red." Red chuckled.

"One of these days, if I ever get hurt, you'll know what I'm talking about."

"But I don't want you hurt." ZIM looked at him, concerned.

"Exactly." Red said. Suddenly, ZIM realized what he meant.

"Oh. I get it." ZIM furrowed his brows. "Red, I'm so sorry. Putting all that worry on you and disrespecting you. It's just, I _love _baseball ... alot." Red nodded.

"I know you do Squirt, and that's why I'm revoking your banishment from the sport." ZIM's face lit up, his antenna perking and literally standing straight up. "On one condition," ZIM groaned. "You are only allowed to play it one season a year. No more year-round like it used to."

"Reeed,"

"Take it or leave it. Don't try to push me into loosening it more or the ban is back on."

"I'll take it." ZIM said softly, cuddling into Red's strong body. At least he was somewhat victorious.

**December 25, 1999**

ZIM rested his head on Purple's chest, snuggling up to the strong Irken and strumming his guitar, tiredly. They were in London at Tak's parents house, who were home for just the holidays. The Macales, Griffons, and Kinleys families all gathered for a combined family Christmas party. Later on, in a about a week, they'd visit Irk to celebrate hanukkah for a couple days.

"How much sleep did ya get last night, bud?" Purple asked.

"Not enough." ZIM yawned. "Two hours. I couldn't sleep for the life of me."

"Why not?"

"I was working on writing a song for Jalo. But every five minutes I would get side-tracked and draw pictures of opossums. I think they're my new favorite animal that are usually found on the side of the road dead." ZIM said. Tenn, who was with them, stared at ZIM.

"You're a strange little boy."

"Aww, thanks! You're a bit odd yourself!" ZIM stood up placing the guitar down and frowned deeply. "How did I get a wedgie? Irkens don't even have butt-cracks!"

"The reason as to why ZIM has gotten a wedgie will forever remain a mystery." Tenn mumbled. ZIM leaned against the couch.

"I'm _so _tired!" He exclaimed as Red came out of the kitchen feeling rather bubbly and tackled ZIM to the ground.

"If you're so tired, you should drink coffee! It makes you feel great! Energized and tastes good too! I just had three cups of coffee! Coffee isn't for children but since you're tired I'll make an exception for you. But beware! Coffee stunts your growth! Oh wait! Too late! Hahaha! Get it? Cuz' you're already small! Teeny tiny boy! Small boys like you shouldn't wander out in the wilderness alone or not without _coffee_ at least! It defends you from bears! Caffeine is great!" Red poked ZIM's stomach making him go into a giggling fit.

"Whoa! Go to bed!" ZIM cackled still being tickled. He knew Red was just messing around. He put his feet on Red's chest trying to push him off. "Purple help me-hehe!"

"ZIM, are you quitting?" Red asked.

"No! I'm not quitting! I'm giving up! Peder get him off!"

"I shall help you, little man! Poipul to da rescue!" The Irken chirped and attacked Red. The two men rolled on the ground poking each other and giggling like girls as they fought rather roughly. They looked like puppies playing. Finally Purple managed to pin Red by sitting on his waist and holding Red's hands above his head. "I got him, ZIM! Go on with your revenge!"

"No! Leslie save me!" Red cried for help. His wife was sitting on a chair nearby watching the whole thing with a camera in her hand.

"You kidding me? This is gonna be the cutest home video ever." She said. ZIM crawled over to Red and looked down at him.

"Hah! How does it feel, Redward?" ZIM asked, loudly.

"I dun like it." Red grunted and pushed Purple off of him. The other older Irken landed with a thud.

"Oh you retched-" Purple hopped up and nailed Red's gut with his shoulder, tackling him.

"Oof!" Red fell back and the two men started to wrestle again.

"Our little idiots." Leslie muttered to Sam who smiled, nodding in agreement.

"Alright you two, break it up." Mr. Griffon said over the brawling boys. He yanked Red by the antennas to get him off Purple.

"Yeouch!" Red yelped, rubbing his antenna."That hurt!" Mr. Griffon shrugged.

"Let that be a lesson to you." He said. He then reached over to Purple and bonked him on the head. "And you too."

"Lets go have dinner then we can open gifts." Mrs. Griffon said. Everyone nodded in agreement. Once they sat and blessed the food with a prayer ZIM recited saying,

"Dear Heavenly Abba, Father, bless this food and bless this day as well our family and our family's friends . . . and our family's friend's family . . . etcetera, as we celebrate your son's birth. Help us not forget what Christmas is all about as we carry on with our . . . rendezvous, watch out Lord, I'm getting fancy here. And now for a regular prayer, Take our hands and lead us when life gets dark, pick us up when we are down, strengthen us when we are weak. We need your power to go on, Lord. Fill us with your wisdom so we can be a shining light to your lost children. In your holy name I pray, because no one else wanted to do it, amen . . . PS. Please forgive me as I lied to my brother about putting a dead bird in his bed. And make it so Purple forgives me for blaming it on him. Now amen. I should be a pastor."

After the rather humorous prayer they ate holding nice conversations and even a small food fight between the Macale siblings, Purple, Gaz, and Tak until Leslie smacked Red for miss-aiming and hitting her in the face with a slice of ham. After dinner they gathered in the living room, they were gonna open presents going from youngest to oldest. Gaz being the first and Mrs. Kinley being last.

"Gaz, catch." ZIM said throwing his present he got for her at her. It was a small box wrapped half-assed in silver paper.

"Thanks, _uncle _Z." She said, saying the word, 'uncle' sarcastically.

"Anything for my favorite _niece_." He replied mocking her tone. She opened the present expecting it to be something typical, like earrings but instead found a pair of keys on a key chain with a dingo on it. Her favorite desert animal.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Go outside. On the driveway." ZIM said stroking Tyson's head who decided to join them moments ago. Gaz cocked a brow but stood up and exited the front door. Leslie followed. Gaz gasped as she saw a bright purple four-wheeler sitting on the driveway, a matching helmet, motor cross suit and boots sat on the seat. It was big enough for her. She ran back inside and hugged ZIM tightly.

"Thank you so much!" She said, kissing his cheek. "I can't wait to use it."

"Yeah, I was thinking we could go mudding together sometime." ZIM said. Leslie came back into the living room not looking too impressed at the fact ZIM gave her a dangerous machine.

"How much was all that?" Gaz asked.

"Just a little over ten-thousand." ZIM said. "But it's the thought that counts right?" Gaz rolled her eyes.

"Uh … yeah I guess."

"Can't wait till I see my present from ZIM, now." Tak said. Red frowned and pulled ZIM close to the couch from his seat on the floor.

"You didn't get everyone expensive gifts did you?" Red asked. ZIM looked at him innocently with a sheepish smile.

"Well …" Red narrowed his eyes at the younger. "I may have."

"And how are we going to bring all these gifts home?" Red asked.

"I sorta asked Mevlo to book us a private cargo jet home. It only cost me a hundred thousand."

"Zeiden!" Red growled.

"What? I have the money for it." Red groaned. Everything he taught ZIM about money management went through one antenna and out the other.

"We'll discuss this later." Red whispered. He turned his attention back to Gaz who was opening the gift he gave her. When she opened the box Gaz nearly beamed with happiness. Red got her the latest gaming system from Irk with twelve violent games she loved so much. A rather expensive gift as well.

"Hypocrite!" ZIM accused pointing at Red.

"Shh." Red hissed. Once Gaz was done opening her gifts she had gotten several things, including the ATV with the equipment, the gaming system with games, new clothes from her mom, perfumes from Tak, and much more odd and ends stuff. Now it was ZIM's turn. He wasn't expecting that many presents because Hanukkah was coming and then he'd get a five gifts every day for the next eight days. Red pushed three gifts toward him. He only gets three on Christmas because that's how many Jesus got when he was born. ZIM opened his gifts and got a fleece blanket with a stuffed animal dog that looked like Tyson from Tak. ZIM knew he was too old for stuffed animals but he loved snuggling with them. He also received a new laptop from Mr. and Mrs. Griffon. His other one was broken. ZIM found out that chucking your laptop down a flight of stairs makes it shattered into many pieces. He also discovered that doing that made your older brother very angry. His last gift was a big basket of body wash of different scents from Kaddie and Marzi. Purple must have told them ZIM loved body wash.

Once everyone was through giving and receiving presents they decided to call it a night and go to bed. Red was very upset that ZIM decided to give everyone presents all over a thousand dollars. He'd just have to get used to it though because there was no returning gifts on Christmas.

In two days the Griffons were going back to Vort to finish the business trip which was extended for even longer. Tak, Sam and Purple would go home with the Macales. The rest of the Kinleys would go back to Montréal. But in a month Purple would go to Canada again to start his alumni hockey practice and eventually games. ZIM laid on a mattress on the ground of Tak's room. Gaz was next to him, cuddling up to him for warmth. ZIM was using his new blanket throw and snuggled into it. It was a great day.

"ZIM," Gaz's voice sounded through the dark room.

"Yeah?"

"What's it like being famous?" She asked. ZIM thought for a moment.

"I never really think about it. I guess it's a good feeling. Sometimes when I go to Irk I get unwanted attention though."

"Do you think I can become famous?" She asked. ZIM puckered his lips.

"Very possible." He responded. He couldn't see it but he could tell Gaz was smiling by the way it got deathly quiet. Moments later she spoke again.

"Cool."

**January 3, 2000**

True to his word, Red is going to move his siblings out of the Alice Springs and are now in the market for a coastline home. But before they could settle into a new home, Purple and Red need to go on a semester long research biology expedition traveling the outback, more specifically the Kimberley region. They left most of their belongings in Alice Springs and when they were done with the expedition in the outback they'd come back to the Alice and get a moving truck to move to the new home on the coast.

Unfortunately, Leslie and Gaz had to move back to the states for awhile. Leslie's cousin and her husband had just gotten into a plane accident. They were killed on the spot. So it was up to Leslie to take care of their kids who still lived in Silver Lake. Red allowed her to live in his Silver Lake home for the time she would be gone. Soon she'd move back out with Gaz to live with Red again once her nieces and nephew were settled in to live with their grandma and grandpa on their dad's side.

While she and Gaz were gone Red and Purple would continue their studies and travel the mighty outback in the same RV they used years ago for their first expedition. They were currently on the road traveling north of Alice Springs. Purple driving.

"How about a nice big beach home south of Broome?" Tenn suggested. "Or maybe Perth?"

"How 'bout we go to Tasmania to Ship Stern Bluff. Great surfing there." ZIM said.

"Dangerous surfing." Red muttered. "I dunno guys. I'm not sure at the moment. I'm still thinking about moving back to Darwin."

"Northern waves aren't as good as south western." ZIM grumbled. Red curled the corner of his mouth down.

"It's not all about surfing, mate." Red said leaning back on the couch of the RV's living room. The siblings raised a brow as they felt the RV come to a slow halt. An excited Purple emerged from the drivers quarters and without a word he opened the RV door and ran outside making a weird 'sqee' sound. Red raised a brow at this and calmly followed the slightly younger Irken outside to see what has gotten into him. When he exited the RV along with the rest of his siblings and Sam they saw a huge troop of kangaroos and Purple was running about them arms flailing widely, scaring them as he did so, shouting,

"I always wanted to jump with the kangaroos!" Sam groaned about how stupid her boyfriend could be while Zee, Tenn and ZIM chuckled as Red beamed and decided to join his colleague. Maybe he'll get close enough to jump on a kangaroos back and ride it for awhile. Tenn hurried back in the RV and grabbed a camera to record the weird moment. ZIM rolled his eyes and went back inside. He didn't want to be the one getting hurt this time.

**January 28, 2000**

"You look snazzy." Sam said adjusting the shoulder pads Purple was wearing.

"Thanks babe." Purple kissed her lips briefly before returning to fix his red and blue hockey uniform that had the team insignia, 'M' across the chest and the number, '20' on the back and right sleeve. Purple was going to play for the Montréal Massasauga for the first time ever. He's been practicing with them since October. They were about to play against a team from Quebec. "Hate wearing forty-five pounds worth of clothing." He muttered. Wearing all the protection got very hot and since Irkens do not sweat they absolutely had to stay hydrated so they didn't faint.

"You nervous?" Red asked. Purple sighed and nodded.

"Oh yeah." The Macales and friends left Australia a few weeks ago to travel to Canada for Purple's first hockey game in the amateur pros. Red never saw Purple play before but he assumed he was really good because he was playing for the best amateur hockey leagues of Canada. "I never played in the amateur pros before. Only the minors and amateurs."

"Don't sweat it, mate. You'll do fine." ZIM said sitting next to Purple on the bench. The older purple-eyed Irken looked at ZIM.

"Why are you wearing a baseball shirt to a hockey game?" Purple asked. ZIM looked down at his attire. He was wearing another one of his orange and blue Tigers jacket.

"I think I look good. I mean, I _am _wearing my new jeans too." ZIM said. Purple scoffed. "Okay, it's because I don't own any hockey merchandise, how 'bout that?" Purple cocked a brow.

"Alright you guys. You get the good seats right by the ice. Zeiden," Purple started. ZIM looked innocently at Purple. "Don't throw squids on the ice this time. It's not a Red Wings game."

"No promises." ZIM said. Purple rolled his eyes and stood up from the bench. "Pur, wait!" Purple looked back at him. ZIM was holding his goalie glove.

"Oh yeah. Thanks." He winked at the younger boy taking the mitt from him and walked awkwardly with the skates on his feet and bulky goalie leg pads to the ice arena entrance where his team was already warming up. ZIM and company all found their seats and waited for the game to start. Purple was gonna play as the goaltender which is without a doubt the toughest position on the ice. Good thing he had good hand/eye coordination. Purple skated out on the ice to his net and let some of his team mates shoot some pucks so he could practice blocking. He took a poll to figure out the ratio of how many pucks he blocks and how many he let's get passed. Out of twenty pucks hit his way, only two got passed him. That was fantastic. That outta impress the coach.

"Alright ladies and gents. We welcome you to the first amateur hockey game of the season this year! Now please stand, men if you'd please remove your hats we can honor our country with the national anthem." The players all lined up, hands over their hearts. All the hockey fans stood up as well. ZIM stood up and for some reason thought Advance Australia Fair would play but apparently forgot that he was in Canada. As the anthem played Sam's eyes wandered over to Purple on the ice, looking all badass in his uniform and scowling as if trying to intimidate the other team. It probably worked too. No one should mess with a man with forty pounds of armor on, not even though he doesn't stand at a very impressive height of five feet eight inches. When the anthem was done the announcer came back on over the intercom. "Now please put your hands together for out home team! The Montréal Massasauga!" ZIM jumped up on the seat he was sitting on, throwing his arms up and shouting in a high pitched voice,

"Yay! Purple! Wooo! That's my brother! You mah brathah!" Purple blushed and smacked his forehead at the louder than necessary calls and cheers from ZIM. His teammates all laughed. Purple was relieved when he saw Red smack him upside the head as Sam placed her hand over his mouth and Tenn yanked him down from standing on the seat. The audience applauded and waited for the game to begin. Purple skated over to the hockey net he was defending, getting in his ready position. The referee blew the whistle signaling the face off. He dropped the puck in between to two centers from both teams. The offense from Quebec got the puck first and started to slide gracefully down the ice to Purple's goal. The defensemen stopped the guy and managed to whack the puck away from him and to their center. "Canadians have funny accents." ZIM mumbled.

"I think here in Canada, we're the ones with the weird accents." Red said back. "But that announcers voice _is _really annoying. Half the time I don't know what he's talking _aboot_." ZIM snickered as Red mocked a Canadian accent. The party of Irkens and Sam watched as the opponents got the puck again and skated directly toward Purple. The only Irken on the ice got in his ready stance. Prepared to block anything that comes his way. The offense was now close enough to the net to make a shot. He whacked the puck and it sailed directly toward Purple. The Irken blocked it effortlessly with his right hand that had the catching glove on. He waited for one of his defensemen to skate by so he could throw the puck to them. The center that made the unsuccessfully shot glared at Purple and skated back to get the puck again.

"I'm a beast." Purple whispered to himself, relaxing a bit as he watched his teammates one the other half of the ice make a goal. Several minutes later the first period was finally done. Purple managed to save six shots, had eight rebounds, and let only one get past him. He now had fifteen minutes of down time. Thank goodness, he needed it. He let out a long sigh and sat on the team bench after getting a drink.

"Hey Peder, you're doing great. You're a wall. Keep up the good work." The coach said going around complimenting each team mate who was just on the ice. Purple leaned back on the bench and closed his eyes tiredly. He didn't get much sleep the night before, he was too nervous.

"Purple-Nurple!" Purple jumped a foot when he heard the loud booming voice from behind him. He turned around to see ZIM sitting on Red's shoulders. "You did great and stuff! Red and I are gonna go to the store quick a minute and get some squids! We'll be right back." Red rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I'm impressed. You're doing so much better than the other teams goaltender ... I think."

"Thanks man." Purple said. "Where's Sam?"

"She's still at our spots with Tenn and Zee. She told me to tell you that you look good." Red said.

"But she was lying." ZIM said. Red craned his neck to look at ZIM on his shoulders and scowled at him.

"She also wished you luck for the next inning." Red said turning back to Purple.

"They're called periods."

"Whatever." Red said. "Don't get hurt, play nice, and have fun." Red smiled at Purple cutely.

"Sure thing … mom." Purple muttered. They think he's good now. Just wait till the second period. He'll blow them away.

**Twenty-Five Minutes Later**

Ten minutes left of the second quarter and the Massasauga's were winning. Purple watched intently as the center of the opponents team came skating full speed toward his net managing to get past both his defensemen for a breakaway. Purple got ready for the block but when the center got close enough, instead of slapping the puck into the net and high-sticked Purple in the face mask and helmet knocking it off and him over. This was a serious and illegal move. He landed on the ice with a thud.

Purple growled and stood up taking off his blocker and catching glove. No one was allowed to touch the goalie like that without being penalized. That's how important the goaltenders were. Throwing down his stick and gloves, he skated toward the man who had just committed the misconduct and grabbed the front of his jersey. He pulled back his arm and slammed his fist into the man's face. It would've hurt the guy more if he wasn't wearing a helmet. The center grunted when Purple's fist made impact to his face.

A shrill whistle sounded as the ref blew it. Usually fighting was tolerated in hockey. The man who Purple just punched got even using his stick to smack Purple again in the leg to get even. Soon the spat turned into a full out brawl. Fist slamming into faces and sternums. The ref tried to get between the two but wasn't able to stop the fight. It ended when the center picked up his stick again and used it to smash Purple on his unprotected head. The stick splintered as it hit breaking it into several pieces. The violet-eyed Irken groaned when it made impact and fell back to the ice in a daze. He lost the fight but the center just committed a huge misconduct and would no doubt be ejected for the rest of the game and maybe even fined for using a weapon.

Purple's vision went dark. The world was spinning. Purple attempted to sit up but someone gently pushed him back down. He heard the faint sound of a furious audience boo-ing.

"Stay down, Peder. You may have sustained a concussion." It was his coach and an official. Purple groaned rubbing his head where he was hit. On the left temple. He looked at his hand. Redish-blue-green blood covered his hand and the ice surrounding him. The side of his face felt like it was on fire. Purple licked his teeth and felt a few front teeth missing from their place. That will result in a dentist visit. Purple's vision kept failing him. Soon he was out all together. The last thing he saw when he closed his eyes was the man who attacked him, smiling down at him.

**Meanwhile**

"You're not allowed to hit people with your stick are you?" ZIM asked with concern as he saw his OBFAM crumple to the ground. The officials and coaches surrounding his body. An ambulance drove out on the ice to assist the injured player.

"No, no I don't think you are." Red narrowed his eyes at the goon opponent who decided to bust his stick over Peder's head. "Bastard. He's like twice the size of Peder and he picks a fight with him."

"Yeah, what happened to picking someone your own size?" Sam asked angrily.

"Guys, he's not moving." ZIM pouted. "Oh wait, he just twitched. Aww, lookit dat! He crying! Him is sad."

"Well at least we know he ain't dead." Red added.

"My baby!" Someone screamed over the hollering and scoffing crowd, running out of the VIP section. A dark, amethyst-eyed female Irken, no taller than Tenn, ran out on the ice sliding right next to the fallen man.

"Is that Kaddie?" Zee asked watching as the woman tried talking to her unconscious youngest.

"She's going nuts." Tenn observed. ZIM chuckled at his mum's overreaction to the play. He nearly fell out of his seat laughing as she threw the puck at the man who knocked Purple out and clunked him square in the nose with the hard rubber disc.

"She's cool." ZIM said amused. Red stood up.

"I'm gonna go get her before the security gets involved and sedates her." He walked down a few steps to the door the players use to get in and out. Red thought for a moment before stepping on the ice. He's never had to walk on something so slick before. Taking his time crossing the ice so he didn't fall he finally met up with Kaddie and took her hand and yanked her away from her son.

"Let me go!" The woman spun around getting ready to clock whoever yanked her away from her boy. She stopped just in time to see that it was her non-related son, Red looking frightened. "Gracious child! I nearly backhanded you!"

"I see that." Red said calmly though his facial features showed no sign of calmness. "You need to get out of the way so the medics can work." Kaddie's features tightened.

"Honey, I've been a sports trainer and doctor since I was twenty-five years old. I'd think I know what I am doing."

"Yes, but you're not on duty so let them just do their jobs." Kaddie huffed, looking down at Peder's bloody face sorrowfully. The medics carefully lifted him up on a stretcher and slid him in the back of the ambulance.

"I'm going with them." Kaddie said, climbing in the back as well. She turned to Red before the doors closed. "You guys be home before nine. Little Zeiden needs his sleep and I don't want you out partying all night like last night, young man!" Red rolled his eyes. "Don't you roll your eyes at me, Mister!" Kaddie snapped at Red. The taller Irken just smirked as the truck drove off.

"Excuse me, are you a friend and/or brother of Peder Kinley's?" An official asked holding Purple's hockey stick, glove, face mask and other protective pads and gear.

"Yeah." Red said. The official didn't respond, he just thrust the objects into Red's arms and skated away. This left him confused.

"C'mon, son, we're gonna start the game up again, we need to get off the ice." The coach from Montéal said, escorting Red off the white ice.

**The Next Day**

"You gotta take it easy, sweetheart." Kaddie said in the living room of the Kinley's house. Purple was laying on the couch, his head in his mother's lap. She gently stroked her son's quivering antenna. Purple moaned in pain.

"The sth-tupid sthon of a bith thslapped me with histh sthtick!" Purple slurred with a funny lisp from getting two of his front teeth knocked out.

"Well I think you taught that sthupid sthon of a bith a lesthon." ZIM said mocking the lisp. Purple crossed his arms. Kaddie leaned over him and kissed the stitches on his head, where he got smacked. "Doesth it hurt?" ZIM asked still with a lisp. "I remember my firsth- er … first concussion. I was vomiting and sweating, the world was spinning." Purple looked at ZIM. Not only did the older Irken get a concussion and a few teeth knocked out by the blows to his face, he also had a black eye and bruised cheeks. "Yahweh, you look awful."

"Thankth, Thim." Purple muttered. The injured Irken tried to sit up hissing as he did. "God damn." Kaddie frowned. She pinched his thigh making him yelp.

"Peder Lee Kinley!"

"Mom, pleathse. I don't need to be thscolded."

"We have young antenna here, Peder." Kaddie said, pointing at ZIM.

"Yeah, God damn, Peder. See what you're teaching me?" ZIM smiled innocently. Kaddie glared at him and smacked him upside the head. "Owies!" ZIM rubbed the abused spot on his head. Purple rolled his eyes and got up from the couch.

"Where do you think you're going, young man?" Kaddie asked.

"I gotta write a report-"

"No. You gotta rest. Get to bed and sleep, okay?"

"Ma, that report iths due tomorrow. I gotta thtart writing it or we could get-"

"Peder," Kaddie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Mom, I'm theriousth. I need to work. I'll restht after I write it."

"You will rest now and write it later."

"Mom, I'm an adult, you can't order me around anymore." Kaddie sucked in her lip and scowled deeply.

"Peder Lee Kinley, if you don't get your ass in bed, God help me, I'll sic Marzi on you and she'll show no mercy. Now I'll ask you one more time, please go rest." Purple's features went from annoyed to scared instantly at those words.

"You wouldn't, I have a concu-thssion." Purple whimpered. ZIM cocked a brow. Purple must be scared to death of his sister. ZIM couldn't understand why. Marzi is awesome.

"Go now," Kaddie commanded. Purple hung his head low, antennas drooping, and trudged to his room. "That kid I swear, he's making me go grey in the mind."

"That's cooool." ZIM drawled. "How do I get him to do whatever I want?" Kaddie laughed.

"Haha, I just got a way with words, Hun. But if you use reverse psychology on him it tends to work." She said winking.

**February 3, 2000**

"It just sucks that I'm out for the rest of the season. That was only my first game!" Purple groaned now with fixed teeth. They were now back in Australia, traveling to the north-western coast to look at the marine biology there. The family was close to the city of Derby. They planned on stopping there to surf and research. Currently they were camping out in the far north part of the Gibson desert on highway 5 by a lake called, Gregory. Sam stayed in Canada with Purple's family but would move back to Australia in a few months. Tak's parents were still on the long business trip and planned on being home by that years Christmas at the very least.

"You can always play the next season." Red said.

"If I get recruited or drafted again." Purple mumbled. Red ducked nonchalantly as a boomerang came flying by his head.

"Gotta work on that aim their, Z."

"I _am _working on it." ZIM said. "Since we're so close to the Kimberley can we visit the fam?"

"Mom's side?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe."

"Cuz, you know, our annual family reunion is coming up."

"I know." Red said. He turned to Purple. "You interested in learning more about our aboriginal culture?" Purple shrugged.

"I actually never even saw actual aboriginal people for as long as I've been here." ZIM scoffed.

"Uh hello? _We're _aboriginal by blood." ZIM informed.

"Besides you guys, I haven't seen any _human_ aborigines." Purple shot back. ZIM frowned and threw his boomerang at Purple. The weapon curled just in time so it wouldn't hit the older Irken. "Hey now, little guy, I don't want to have to fight you." ZIM caught the wooden boomerang and smiled at Purple.

"Nah, you couldn't take me anyway." ZIM chirped. Purple cocked a brow.

"You wanna bet?"

"No, because you'd just loose the bet."

"Bet I wouldn't!"

"Believe me you would, you probably don't even know how to bet." ZIM said. Purple clenched his fists.

"We always bet on stuff!"

"Pur, he's using reverse psyche on you like your mom told him to." Red whispered, then chuckled. "Way to let a twelve year-old get to ya'." Purple growled.

"I'm better than letting a whiny preteen get on my bad side." Purple said to ZIM. The little Irken scowled. "You're just being immature." ZIM let out a shout of frustration.

"Curse you double reversed psychology! Mama Kaddie lied to me!" ZIM threw his boomerang again. It sailed threw the air all the way to where Zee, Tenn and Tak were sunbathing while reading. It landed in the sand by Tenn. She looked up at ZIM and shook her head.

"What are ya doing?" She called.

"My boomerang didn't come back!" ZIM said awestruck. "_I've waved the thing all over the place! I've practiced till I was black in the face!_"

"_You're a big disgrace to our Aborigine race._" Red added to the song ZIM was singing. "_You're boomerang won't come back!_" Purple watched them as if it were a real life musical.

"... I think I should go Amish on your asses and shun you two ... weirdos." Purple murmured. Red chuckled.

"Nah, what's wrong with singing a silly song every once and a while? Come on, Zei-Zei. You're gonna help us gather some samples for research."

**March 9, 2000**

"So when do you plan on coming back?" Red asked.

"_A few months yet. Molly and Jared are still very upset. Once we get this all under control we'll be back._" Leslie replied. "_I'll be back hopefully to celebrate your thirty-second birthday._"

"Alright babe, take care over there. See ya in a bit."

"_Yup, love ya._"

"Love ya too." Red said hanging up the Imp. He sighed. He looked out the window of the RV at the small town of Derby. They were right by the ocean. Purple was on the beach bugging the girls as they tried to relax. Red smiled as Purple kicked a bunch of sand on Tenn. She got up and started to chase him around. ZIM ran into view holding what looked like animal skin above his head to show Zee and Tak. Red shook his head and exited the RV.

"Zeiden Junior! Throw that away!" Zee screeched.

"I spent forty minutes skinning that roo! I'm not dumping it!" ZIM said wrapping himself up with the fur side of the kangaroo skins.

"Ugh! It smells!" Zee slicked her antennas back and covered the minuscule pores on her face where the nose would be.

"What ya got there?" Red asked approaching the three.

"I got a roo with my boomerang!" ZIM said proudly. "Here's the skin to prove it." Red cocked a hairless brow.

"You killed a kangaroo and you kept the skin not the meat?" Red asked. ZIM's smile was replaced with a pout.

"Actually, I lied … the roo was roadkill. Gnats and flies were already eating it." Red chuckled.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Red! Tell him to get rid of it!" Zee demanded. Red sighed.

"Zeiden, listen to Zee. She's older and smarter than you and you need to obey her because if you don't she might cry." ZIM turned to Zee.

"Don't cry big sistah! Give me a hug!" ZIM spread his arms still in the blanket of skins. When Zee saw his body it was all bloody and muddy.

"No. No hugs till you ditch the roo skin and clean up." ZIM scowled but then grinned evilly.

"Surprise hug!" ZIM shouted and pounced on his older sister. She screamed as he threw his bloody and dirty arms around her and gave her a big sloppy kiss on her cheek.

"Zeiden Izac Macale!" ZIM released her and started to run away from her fury. Now both of Red's younger brothers were running away from his younger sisters. Red smiled then looked at Tak who was minding her own business reading an Irken magazine. His eyes went from the action on the beach back to her. Deciding to join his brother's in the run for their lives, he ripped the magazine away from Tak's hands and ran off with it.

"Hey!" Tak growled. She scrambled to get up and chase Red to get her magazine back. On the road, an elderly Irken couple who were going for a leisurely walk, was watching the crazy Irkens running on the beach like a bunch of lunatics. The old man shook his head.

"That's our Macale siblings for ya."

"I'm gonna go break them up before Zee drowns ZIM in the water." The woman said walking onto the sandy beach.

Red looked behind him to see if Tak was still following him. She was. He laughed like a mad man but was cut off when someone clotheslined him. "Oof!" Red fell back and groaned. He opened his eyes using his hand to shield them from the sun. Above him stood the elderly woman. "Nana!"

**Later That Day**

"So why'd you come to visit?" Red asked. The couple shrugged.

"We just thought we'd stop by." Nana said.

"How'd you know where to find us? We were in Alice Springs last time you checked." Zee said.

"Tenn called us and said you guys were going to the Kimberley to visit our tribe soon. She said you were currently residing in the outskirts of Derby." The old man said. The Macale siblings called him Papa.

"Oh well then. We were planning on coming to the annual family reunion." Red said.

"Oh were ya? Will you come to my four-hundredth and sixty-ninth birthday party?" Nana asked. Red chuckled.

"Wouldn't miss it." Nana smiled as she looked over the siblings. Her eyes rested on ZIM and Tenn.

"Every time I see you two I keep thinking you're twins. You look so much alike. Especially you Tenn, I could almost mistake you for your mother." Tenn grinned. "Now I know I've met little Takayla before but I don't think I've seen him before." Nana said gazing at Purple. "Red, are you gonna introduce me to your little friend?" She pointed to Purple who was looking dumbly off into space.

"That's my assistant and other brother from another mother as well as my humbler if I get too prideful." Red said. "His name is Peder, he's Canadian." Purple was still not paying attention. "Purple!" The violet-eyed Irken jumped, snapping out of his day dreaming.

"What?" Purple looked at Nana and Papa. "Who did ya say these people were again?"

"My great grandparents on my mom's side." Red said.

"Oh. Nice tah meet cha." Purple said cutely shaking their hands.

"What a handsome young man you are." Nana said. "How old are you child?"

"Thirty-one, turning thirty-two in April."

"Ahh, a smeet and Red's age." Nana said. Purple nodded smiling at the woman. He guessed since she was over four hundred he was a smeet in her eyes.

"I saw you take Red out. That was impressive." Purple said. Nana chuckled.

"Many years of serving in the Irken military as a sergeant. You learn some impressive things." Nana turned to Zee.

"I heard your an anesthesiologist." Zee nodded.

"Well, I had a job at a local hospital in Alice but we had to move so I'm currently unemployed."

"I see. Tenn, you're gonna be an attorney? Lawyer?" Nana asked. Papa made a scoffing noise.

"Why would Tenn do that?" He asked.

"'Cuz she's into that law stuff." Nana whispered back. Tenn shook her head.

"I'm gonna be a band instructor."

"How'd you go from lawyer to band instructor?" Papa wondered.

"Well, I had two majors. Music and law, I was better at music."

"Speaking of music. We have a pop singer in the family." Papa said, grinning at ZIM.

"Uhh, huh. Well, … yeah." ZIM said, not knowing how to respond to the statement. "Red's a singer too."

"Yeah, but he only has one song out." Nana said.

"I have two out and I'll only ever have two." Red said. "Maybe."

"Well, I'm proud of all of you. You're doing so great on your own. Now remember the family reunion." Nana said. "Now that your in the Kimberley I expect you all to be there." The Macale siblings looked at one another. "Well, I think we've stayed long enough. We best get going. We have other family members to inform about the get together too." Nana stood and walked out the RV with papa. "See you in a bit!" She called and walked off with her husband.

"Bye-bye!" Purple chirped waving at them like a dork. "They're nice." ZIM crossed his arms.

"Last time I went to a family reunion for our aboriginal heritage, I ended up with a black eye."

"That's your fault for getting into a fight with Kirra." Red mumbled. "Well, it's a nice day. Anyone wanna go surfing?" Purple cringed at the mention of surfing.

"No, not really."

"Red, you should know by now that Canadians can't surf." ZIM joked, pushing Purple's buttons.

"We can too! Most of us choose not to."

"Try it." Red tested. Purple crossed his arms.

"I'll watch." ZIM and Red looked at each other.

"He's too scared."

"I'm not scared." Tak said. "Teach me how to surf." ZIM looked at Purple.

"Sure, Takayla. It's nice to see you not wimp out." ZIM said walking to his room. Purple groaned. This kind of pressure sucked.

**July 31, 2000**

"You're not really upset we forgot your half birthday are you?" Gaz asked. ZIM scoffed.

"No! I didn't even know it was my half birthday until Tak said so." ZIM said pulling Gaz's hair back into a ponytail. "Love, you can't keep parting your hair in the middle. It's not flattering and it make your face look oblong."

"I was gonna part it to the side after I took my shower." Gaz grumbled, not looking at ZIM, instead her squinted eyes were staring at her Gameboy. Leslie and her just moved back two months ago, once her niece and nephew were settled in with their grandma, and now she and Gaz were living in a permeant home with the Macales in the coastal city of Perth which was located in south west Australia. They bought a luxury home on the beach front on the outskirts of South Perth and owned a bunch of land as well as a newly built, big, three story house with a basement and patio, deck, and a big section of the beach that extended out to the second sandbar and was a hundred yards wide. It was more of a private home that was just built brand new off the main roads.

"Why would you take a shower in the morning? Why not at night?" ZIM asked. Gaz turned to face him, glaring.

"Do not question me." She said, threateningly. ZIM frowned and finished putting her hair up.

"I'm gonna go surfing." ZIM stood from the couch.

"You're not allowed to go out alone. Red said and so did my mom. Remember last time you did that and my mom whipped you bare ass because there was a strong current out that day? ... You nearly gave her a heart attack when you crashed on the rocks by the shore."

"She should've found out if I was alright before she spanked me." ZIM sneered. "They ain't here right now so they won't find out."

"Not unless I tell them, dumbass." Gaz said, not looking up from her book.

"If you don't tell them I'm going surfing then I won't tell Leslie that it was you who put the red shirt in with the whites. She still thinks it was me who did it." Gaz grumbled under her breath.

"Fine. Go ahead and use your blackmailing method on me. Be back inside by five though, that's when they're coming home. If you don't come back by then, you know the consequences. A sore butt and one week of being grounded."

"Yeah ... whatever. Tyson, come." The white dog raised his head and wagged his curled tail. "Lets go Ty-Ty." ZIM said running up the stairs to the very top floor to his room. He stripped down and dressed himself again in his dark blue swim trunks. None of the adults were home, they were at work, so he wasn't technically allowed to go surfing alone. But Tak and Gaz were home with him so does it cancel it out? ZIM didn't care. It was a great day to surf. The white dog barked as ZIM ran back down the stairs and into the garage to retrieve his orange short board. The little Irken opened the back door that faced the beach. He made his way down the board walk to the beach. ZIM sat the board done to polish it when he smelled something rancid. "Ugh! Tyson, what did you do?"

The dog looked at ZIM with and innocent look before yipping and pointing his nose in the direction of the stench. The dog wandered over about fifty yards to the left of the beach where there was a small sand dune with dense beach grass. The Irken got on his knees. The smell was now more powerful than what it was before. ZIM parted the grass to peer inside. "Ack! Holy Dooley!" ZIM stumbled back as Tyson growled lowly. ZIM scrambled to stand up and backed up a bit. ZIM stood on his toes to see if what he saw was what he thought he had seen. A huge grey lump lay on the beach sand. "It's a croc, Ty. Dead. That's why it smells." ZIM said. He got closer to the dead reptile. It was eight feet long with razor sharp teeth. Next to it was a nest. "It had smeets er … hatchlings!" ZIM exclaimed. "Maybe I can keep one as a pet when it hatches." ZIM cautiously walked over to the nest of eggs and bent down to their level. He grabbed four eggs in his hands and walked away from the dead mother. "No wonder she died. Saltwater crocs normally live on eastern Australia in the swamps. I wonder what she was doing out here. Some poachers probably dragged her out here and she escaped." Tyson growled again. "Shush up." The dog went silent. "She looks like she's been dead for awhile. Maybe … a month. That means her hatchlings would hatch in about three weeks. How did we not notice her here before?" ZIM wondered to himself. Tyson licked ZIM's hand. The green alien looked down at the dog. "What? You afraid my new pet crocs will replace you?" The dog obviously didn't say anything. Just stared. ZIM turned back to his home. In the distance he could see the skyline of Perth. "Lets go show Tak and Gaz." ZIM left his board where it was and climbed the boardwalk back up to his house. He barged in through the glass door into the living room. "Look what I found!" ZIM exclaimed. He presented the eggs to Gaz and Tak who were watching a movie.

"What is it, Z?" Tak asked not looking at him.

"I found croc eggs!" ZIM said. "They mah frands." Gaz wrinkled her nose.

"Gross, get them out of here." ZIM frowned.

"Wow, what brats." ZIM mumbled. "Tyson likes them. Don't ya bud?" The white Samoyed looked at ZIM. It was funny. That dog was almost as tall as ZIM so he could look at his master straight in the eye. "Yeah, I know you do. Let's go put them in Red's incubator out in the garage." ZIM said leaving.

"That kid and his weird pets." Tak muttered. "Red won't let him keep the crocodiles, I hope he knows that."

**Later**

"No, when they grow up they'll eat ya." Red said, leaning over the metal incubator to look at the eggs. Leslie was with him and ZIM.

"Child, why don't you just stick with Tyson and your ducks and turkey." Leslie suggested.

"The turkey died. I sat on him and snapped his neck."

"Well then ducks and Tyson." ZIM shook his head.

"Guys, imagine, if one of these crocs becomes my pet then no one would dare hurt me." ZIM pointed to one egg in the incubator. "I named that one Handbag."

"First of all, that's an awful name, second, I'll let you keep them. I'm pretty sure two of them won't survive anyway." Red said. Leslie's jaw dropped, she grabbed her husband's arm and yanked him back to whisper in his antenna harshly.

"You fricken' nuts?" Leslie hissed. "Those animals are deadly, you fool."

"If you train the croc from birth then they'll grow up to be tame pets." Red said. "If anything happens I'm not afraid to take my rifle to it." Leslie scowled.

"Fine, but if those monsters hurts any of the kids, even if it is an accident, I want you to kill them immediately." Leslie said pointing a finger in Red's chest. The older Irken lifted his hands up in defense.

"Yeah, yeah. I will, promise." Leslie glared at him once more before leaving the garage to the door that lead to the kitchen. Red looked at ZIM who was leaning over the cage and resetting the eggs. ZIM could feel his brother staring at him. The little Irken turned to face him.

"I think they'll be better than a guard dog." He said with a cute smile. Red chuckled.

"C'mon, you got homework to do." Red tilted his head to the door. ZIM frowned and trudged to the entrance.

"Mood killer."

"Hey, why are you in your swim trunks?" Red asked, suspiciously. ZIM's eyes widened.

"Uhhh . . ." Instead of answering, ZIM bolted into the house to get his homework done.

**September 12, 2000**

"They want me for what?" ZIM asked, sitting in an office chair in front of Jalokia. Red was next to him, antennas perked with interest.

"A television series on earth. Just think, you'd be the first Irken to ever have a TV series off of our home planet! You'd make history! Isn't that wild?" Mevlo, ZIM's agent, said. Jalokia nodded in agreement sitting next to her on the desk.

"But I only been in one movie. Other than that I have no acting experience." ZIM said.

"I really think you should consider this one, Zeiden." Mevlo said. "The creator, Jhonen Vasquez, asked for you personally." ZIM raised his antenna.

"The maniac comic book writer?" He asked. Mevlo nodded. "I'm familiar with him but that's pretty crazy someone would go to him to do a kids show."

"If you do this you don't have to worry about auditions. You'd be getting the lead role either way. The rest of the roles involve auditions."

"Can I at least get a script or something?" ZIM asked. Mevlo looked at Jalokia who nodded and pulled open a drawer from his desk. The green-eyed Irken picked up a few pages of writing and handed them to ZIM. Red leaned over ZIM's shoulder to look at the title.

"_Pilot: Prepare for ZIMpact_, ha ha name play." Red giggled.

"They already named the show after me?" ZIM asked. "What genre is this?"

"It's a black comedy." Mevlo said. "Don't worry, Jhonen said he was pretty sure that this show won't go further than one episode, so why not take a stab at it, ZIM?" ZIM looked at the woman with an unsure look.

"Well … I'll try. Where do I have to go to do this? When?"

"It would be nice if you met the crew next month in Los Angeles. They want to get to know you and maybe you could help them pick the rest of the cast." ZIM nodded not really listening, flipping through the script. Mevlo continued to talk. ZIM suddenly stood up and declared loudly, pointing at Red.

"Cheating pig!" The three adults looked at him as if he were insane. "Just practicing. You guys wanted me for this role, this is what you get." Mevlo and Jalokia shared a glance before smiling.

**September 20, 2000**

"Damn it, Red, I said to stop itching." Leslie huffed, grabbing her shirtless husband's hand away from his chest speckled with pinkish-red risen bumps.

"But it bothers me!" Red whined, collapsing back down on the bed. Leslie put on some rubber medical gloves and squirted a healing lotion on to her hands and gently applied it to Red's chest and torso.

"You got lucky. Most people get chicken pox on their face too. Quit scratching!" Leslie swatted Red's hands away again. "Scratching causes scarring. Now hold still." The woman finished rubbing the lotion over the Irken's front and back. She then took his temperature. "You're warm. You want some Tylenol or Advil for your fever?" Red nodded, practically shaking from not being able to itch the bumps that came with varicella. Leslie stood up from her sitting position on the edge of the bed to get the medicine. As soon as she left though Red went mad and started to scratch every bump that spread across his body.

"Your not supposed to scratch, dumbass." Red sat straight up in bed to see who caught him. As if the high-pitched, Canadian accented, voice wasn't enough to give it away.

"Don't tell Leslie." Red said. Purple cackled and entered the room from standing in the doorway.

"Man, I remember the time when I got varicella. Not fun. I'm just glad to see it's you that has it this time and not me." Red groaned in annoyance.

"Go away, Peder."

"Nah, I'm having too much fun." Purple quipped then got up in Red's face. "What's it like not being able to itch those burning, inflamed bumps on your body, huh? You can't stand it can you? It's driving you crazy. You wish to relieve the intense itching but can't in fears that you're gonna get caught by your wife. Poor lil' Red is just gonna have to let himself be pestered by the constant feeling of nonexistent satisfaction of itchy bumps that are left untouched by the Irken claw that would otherwise relieve such annoyances."

"… I'm gonna sic Tenn on you if you don't get the hell out."

"Boy oh boy! I'm so glad I can scratch myself!" Purple teased lightly clawing his arms and chest as he spoke. Red whimpered slightly as the thought of how good it would feel if he could scratch. "Ahh, feels so good." Red couldn't take it anymore. He pushed Purple off his and Leslie's bed and scratched every square inch of the rash covered torso. Bad timing too, Leslie walked in just as soon as he went mad with the itchy feeling. "I told him not to, Les! He didn't want to listen. I'm sorry, I tried and failed you!" Purple yelled overly dramatically and fell to the ground faking sobs.

"Red Elias Macale! Stop that, this instant! Do you need to be restrained?" Leslie shouted. Red froze.

"Peder was tempting me!" Red cried. Purple scowled.

"Was not!"

"Was to!"

"Not!"

"To!"

"Not!"

"To!"

"Both of you shut up! You're fighting like five-year-olds!" Leslie frowned at Purple. "Go annoy Tenn or something. I know how much you like bothering people." The violet-eyed Irken nodded and left, sticking his tongue out at Red as he left. "As for you." Leslie growled handing Red some Tylenol and water. "I have a feeling you're not gonna heed my warning about not itching so here's what I'm gonna do."

**…**

"Ugh, this is disgusting." Red closed his eyes trying to relax but was too distracted by the colloidal oatmeal floating around him. Leslie couldn't help but snicker. He was just too cute when he complained.

"Just soak for a bit, honey. It should ease the itching." She said, stroking his antenna. Red groaned, shuddering as the gooey oatmeal touched all over his body. "That's what you get for coming in close contact to ZIM when he had the pox."

"I felt bad for him and he just wanted to cuddle." Leslie rolled her eyes.

"He always wants to cuddle, Red." Leslie said. She thought for a moment before switching topics. "So you're going to Los Angeles soon to audition for the new show?"

"I'm not auditioning. ZIM is already part of the cast." Red said.

"Why aren't you?" Leslie asked.

"I never took an acting class. ZIM has. He's got a lot more show business experience than I do. I just sung a single and released and album. That's it. Nothing too impressive. Besides the creator of the show asked for ZIM personally and wants him as the main character because he's familiar with ZIM's work."

"I still think you should audition. They're asking for Irkens who can speak English so they don't have to dub the whole show over. I think they could use you."

"Meh," Red sighed. "I don't know. I'll think about it I guess." Leslie smiled and kissed his face.

"Good. I'm gonna go out with Zee and Tenn. Now just stay put and remember, no scratching!"

**September 30, 2000**

"Yeah, I'm almost at the studio. I'll be there in a few minutes." ZIM reported, driving his black 2000 Mustang V6. His newest convertible car he had just gotten since he moved and rented a temporary home in L.A. just a week ago. They were driving from their new home on the coast to the studio.

After waiting till the casting director selected the correct people for roles in the show, It was now time for the first meeting for the new show that was named after ZIM. He was so excited. He couldn't wait to meet his costars.

"Are you driving and talking on you Imp at the same time again?" Purple asked from the other end of the line. He was riding to the studio with Red who were casted to be the Almighty Tallest. That was if the series were to go on beyond the pilot.

"No." ZIM lied, innocently. Gaz snickered from the passengers seat, while petting Tyson, who was sitting on her lap, hanging his head out the window.

"You aren't good at lying." She said.

"Shut up, Gaz." ZIM shot back. When ZIM went in a week ago for the first day of auditions, he asked Gaz if she'd like to come along. She happily agreed and the director even let her audition. To ZIM's surprise they wanted her to play the part of his arch enemy's sister. They said she was 'intimidating enough'. And it was actually by chance that Red and Purple got the part as the tallest. They didn't even audition. All they did was act like morons as the auditions commenced. The creator, Jhonen Vasquez and the writer, Rob Hummel noticed them together and thought they were amusing and perfect for the roles so they asked if they would be interested in the parts. Red just shrugged and said 'okay' and Purple told Jhonen that he has to call him mom to ask her if he could. Of course he was joking, but just in case Purple called her anyway. So then they were listed into the cast.

"ZIM, don't drive and talk on the phone at the same time. You know better." Purple said. ZIM didn't pay attention. He was too busy looking to his left at the coastline of L.A. thinking to himself.

"We should go surfing later. Do you surf, Gaz? I have a longboard you could use."

"ZIM! Did you hear me?"

"Yeah, I'm hanging up right now." ZIM said, touching the screen to his Imp to end the call.

"I never surfed. Only snowboard." Gaz mumbled.

"Not even when you still live in New Orleans?" Gaz shook her head. "Oh. It's not much different. Just a tad harder. Longboards are good for beginners. I can use my shortboard. I'll teach you." ZIM said turning on Santa Monica Boulevard.

"Alright, maybe later this week if we're not busy." She said looking out the window. Gaz never showed it but she was very excited to have the opportunity to visit Hollywood and be apart of a new T.V. show. She was also very grateful ZIM asked her if she would've liked to come to the first meeting for the show with him. If he never asked, Gaz wouldn't have ever gotten the part and she'd be stuck at home dreaming of becoming a celebrity like her 'uncle' one day. Thinking about it made her feel compelled to thank him. The purple-haired girl looked at the slightly older Irken. He was now one-hundred percent focused on the busy road. "Hey, Zei?"

"Eh?" He grunted not looking at her.

"Thanks for … driving me to the studio. My mom is scared of busy roads." Gaz frowned. That's not what she wanted to thank him for. Oh well, next time she'll thank him for real.

"No problem, Gaz." ZIM made another turn. "Weren't we gonna carpool anyway?" Gaz blushed and nodded.

"I felt it was necessary to thank you."

"… Okay? You're welcome?" The rest of the ride was mostly silent except for every now and then ZIM would get a bad case of road rage and honk his horn cussing at other drivers then making nasty and not to mention prejudice remarks about Asians driving. And even a few times he would make an obscene gesture with his hands. That would result in a slap to the head courtesy of Gaz.

When ZIM finally pulled into the parking lot he got out and walked to the main entrance with Gaz and Tyson by his side. "All we're doing today is an informative meeting. The next time we meet is when we get our first script. Then rehearsals start. In the meantime you'll be taking your acting classes and I'll be attempting to keep both my careers here on earth and Irk under control-Oof!" ZIM grunted as he ran into someone as he walked into the building. Tyson barked at the person who knocked his master over. The stranger was ZIM's height, green skinned, and … pudgy. "Skoodge?" The other Irken, who was also knocked to the ground, looked up to see ZIM.

"Geez, Z. Look where you're going." The chubby Irken mumbled.

"What are you doing here?"

"I got the part as one of the Irken Invaders for the new show you're starring in. You didn't know?" Skoodge said, obviously. ZIM shook his head. "Oh … well then."

"Zeiden!" The three started when they heard the sound of two shofars blowing. ZIM whirled around to see three figures barreling out of a truck. Red, Purple blowing the ram's horns, Red with a kippah on his head and Tak rolling her eyes at the other two's moronic behavior. ZIM wondered why Tak came for a moment but shrugged it off when she came by to give him a kiss on the cheek followed by a hug.

"Gaz, did you smack him for talking on the phone while driving?" Red asked. Gaz shook her head. Red furrowed his hairless brow then smacked ZIM upside the head making a loud '_whack_'ing noise. "We're going to the synagogue later to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. I got your kippah for you!" Red said thrusting the a scull cap into ZIM's arms. Red was always serious when it came to Jewish holidays. He would always make ZIM wear the kippah and Zee and Tenn wear the Messianic Judaism symbol somewhere on their clothing. But only for the holidays and sometimes when they went to the synagogue for a worship service. ZIM put the cap on his head. All of this suddenly reminded ZIM that his Bar Mitzvah was coming up. He started planning it when he was eight and the finishing details were just coming to an end. Red would often reminisce about his Bar Mitzvah and Zee and Tenn would talk about their Bat Mitzvahs. From what ZIM has heard about them, they sounded pretty fun. He hasn't gone to any of his siblings parties, being nonexistent at the time.

"Were the shofars necessary?" ZIM asked.

"Purple wanted to make a grand entrance." Red said. They certainly made a _loud _entrance. And with the way several studio workers and even some actors were staring at them, ZIM guessed they did a pretty good job. "He's not even Jewish and he's got more holiday spirit than you." ZIM crossed his arms.

"I'm sorry, would you like an apple dipped in honey?" ZIM asked cockily. Whenever it was Rosh Hashanah all they ever ate was apples and honey. Red chuckled and playfully pushed his little brother.

"Let's go inside. We're getting a lot of weird glances." Purple observed.

"Ya think?" ZIM muttered. "Let's just get this meeting over with."

**Later **

"Pitch my voice?" ZIM asked questioningly. The creator, Jhonen Vasquez nodded.

"And get rid of your accent if possible."

"I could try to get rid of my accent but what do you mean by pitching my voice?" ZIM asked, petting Tyson, who was sitting on ZIM's lap.

"You need to sound older than you really are. In this show you're over one-hundred-fifty years old."

"So …" ZIM drawled. "Whose gonna help you pitch my voice?"

"Richard Horvitz will do the dub. You'll still be able to hear your voice but it will be altered by Mr. Horvitz to an extent that you sound totally different." Jhonen said.

"… That makes sense." ZIM said. Red sat next to ZIM on a couch with Purple on his other side. Tak and Gaz shared a big plush chair. Sam and Leslie decided to leave again to go shopping and celebrity searching.

"As for you two." Jhonen looked at Red and Purple. The two stared back at him.

"Oh God." Purple whispered.

"After the Pilot episode, if the show continues we decided that your characters are gonna have two fingers, slim waists, long fingers and necks, and bulky chests. Oh and you'll be hovering." Jhonen stated. Red furrowed a brow.

"I ain't undergoing no plastic surgery if that's where you're getting at." Red said crossing his arms. Purple nodded in agreement also crossing his arms.

"We weren't gonna ask you to, dumbass." Jhonen said jokingly. Red raised a brow.

"Then what chu talkin' 'bout, Jhonen?"

"Your bodies are gonna be modified using computer and movie magic. Doing this, we're also gonna make you two look taller than you really are."

"We're tall." Purple said. "Tall enough."

"Not tall enough to be the Tallest, who are usually _over_ six feet tall. You're not even six feet." ZIM pointed out.

"You don't have any room to talk, you being only three feet. That's two whole feet shorter than you should be." Red said.

"I have a condition!" ZIM defended. "I can't help it have have the body build of a three year old!" The creator cocked a brow and quickly changing the subject.

"Since you're currently celebrating a Jewish holiday, I'll let you guys have the week off. We knew you were on the shorter side, ZIM, so most of your costars are seven to eight years old so it'll look like you're an average height. Also, Zeiden, will you be making the announcement to the cast members for the seminar in a few minutes?" Jhonen asked.

"I sure as heck can, if you want me to."

"Good. Then go to the auditorium. That's where the others are and make the announcement and commence the meeting. I'll be there shortly." Jhonen said when one of the writers and producer entered the room for another meeting. ZIM stood with everyone else and left the room to go to the auditorium.

"Do you know what you're going to say?" Red asked. ZIM shrugged.

"Dun no yet. I'll think of something."

"Think of something good and quick because we're almost there." Purple muttered. The two older Irkens stopped by the backstage entrance. "We're gonna go find Les, Sam, and the other girls and find seats for the seminar. You do your thing." ZIM nodded as his older brothers walked off. The young Irken opened the backstage doors and was greeted by several stage hands and some of the show's crew members. Even Mr. Jalokia was there with Ms. Mevlo.

"Zeiden! Great you're here." Jalokia started walking briskly over to ZIM. "There is a lot of folks out there who you've never met before so don't be surprised when you see them." Jalokia said to him as one hand gave ZIM a microphone. Ms. Mevlo bent to ZIM's level.

"Here's what you're going to do;" Mevlo talked while she was fixing ZIM's clothes. Tucking in his red and black plaid, quarter-length sleeve, shirt into his black jeans and fixing the collar. "When your name is called you are gonna go to the front of the stage, to add effect for the introduction of your character we're adding music, strobe lights and smoke machines."

"Smoke machines? What about lasers?" ZIM asked. He preferred lasers over smoke machines. Mevlo ignored his comment and continued to talk to him.

"Make a good first impression because the CEO of Nickelodeon studios is here along with a lot of other important people and actors." ZIM frowned a bit. He had no idea so many people were gonna be there. "Just be your silly, cute self and I'm sure the audience will adore you." Mevlo said finishing adjusting ZIM's clothes then pushed him toward the stage curtain. "Good luck, sweetheart." ZIM gulped. He never felt quite this nervous about talking in front of people. But these weren't just people, they were VIP's. The big dogs of Nickelodeon were in the crowd as well as other Nicktoons. ZIM took a deep breath as he heard loud music sound. The song they played was a sports pump up song called, '300 Hundred Violin Orchestra'. ZIM actually used this song to warm up for baseball games in the past with his teammates. As soon as the song played the their was a voice over the intercom speaking.

"Ladies and gents, please welcome the extremely talented Zeiden Macale who came all the way from Perth, Australia to Introduce himself and his new show!" It was thirty seconds into the song and as soon as the actual beat kicked in ZIM separated the curtain and stepped in the spot light. Mevlo was right, the stage was smokey, strobe lights flickered, and the epic music blared over the amps. The crowd roared loudly with applause. ZIM nearly fell backwards. The auditorium was huge and packed! Not a seat was left empty. ZIM walked to the front of the stage like he was instructed to do microphone in hand. As the music continued to play he shouted into the mic so his voice could be heard over the song.

"Welcome fellow Irkens, humaniods, and extraterrestrials of all ages! I am Zeiden Macale or some of you guys may know me as ZIM!" The audience cheered again. "Hold on a second!" ZIM looked at the stage hand who controlled sound and audio and made the motion to make the music fade out. The hand did so and soon the music quieted down and the strobe lights ceased. "Sorry about that. I can't talk and listen to music at the same time. I ain't that good at multitasking." The crowd chuckled. "Anyways, the reason why I am before you and you guys are beholding me is because I am an extremely important part of this seminar!" The audience was quiet. "I am the meeting initiator. So now that I have initiated the seminar . . ." ZIM said seeing Jhonen on the opposite end of the stage waiting. "I'm gonna hand the mic over to Jhonen because he's actually the one who wanted to talk to you, not me. I'm just the ice breaker . . . I guess. So here he is, the mastermind behind this brilliant plan and/or horrible mistake called, '_Invader ZIM_', Mr. Jhonen Vasquez!" The audience roared again. Jhonen walked to center stage where ZIM was. ZIM gave the mic up and shook hands with the creator and left the stage.

"Some of you may not know who Zeiden is exactly, but rest assured that he is one kid who deserves a standing ovation. Give it up for Zeiden Macale one more time!" ZIM stopped mid-step as the spotlight shined down on him once more. Everyone in the auditorium, toons, stars, aliens, Irkens, humans, relatives all stood up and welcomed ZIM. The small Irken just smiled modestly and waved a bit. "And later after the seminar he'll be singing some of his hit songs for your listening enjoyment!" ZIM's smile melted away. ZIM yelled over the roaring crowd.

"Damn it, Jhonen!"

* * *

><p><strong>... WOW! We're in the 2000's! Way to go us! <strong>My favorite animal that is usually found on the side of the road dead is a opossum. Just like ZIM!<strong>  
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**PLEASE READ THIS! YOU KNOW IT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE I NEVER USED ALL CAPS BEFORE!  
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**Anyways, couple of announcements.  
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**First announcement being that I'm going on a two week long vacation . . . Why do you care? Because I'm going to Mears, Michigan of course! In case you don't remember Mears was the beach town where the Macales live for three years or something close to that. That's where Red and Leslie met, that's where ZIM fell in love with baseball, etc. And you know those dunes that I mentioned earlier in the fic. where ZIM broke his leg (After they came home from Irk) We're going there too! (Like we've been doing every year for the past 7!) No joke I go to Mears every single summer for two weeks and It's always a bomb! But here's the real reason why I'm telling you. I may (or may not) be doing a little tour through pictures and videos that I take while there. Just so you can have visuals of where the Macales used to live. If I do decide to do it will you go check them out once I'm done with it?**

**Second announcement, Thank you to The Girl named Charlie for your constructive comment. It made me happy. And all your questions will be answered in time with the story. And as for calling my Oc's bland and boring . . . I totally agree with you! But the reason for that is, is because I have ocs and I support the cannon characters of the shows. I didn't want my reader's favorite character to be one I made up. I want it to be a CC. So that's why. You might be asking yourself, Why do you have OC's then? Honestly, I only need Leslie to introduce Gaz in the story but then I made the mistake of having her fall in love with Red then they got married and AUGH! I suck! Anyway, I was thinking about killing off Leslie just like her mom but then I thought, I might need her in future chapters. Jalokia is ZIM's music producer so I needed him. Mevlo, all stars should have agents. Sam, ZIM needed a trainer for baseball just like I needed a trainer for softball when I was going to the All Stars. The Kinley family (Purple of course excluded because he's a CC.) Well what can I say? Purple needed a family so I gave him a mommy, a daddy, and a older sissy! I know an older sister wasn't necessary but I just thought it would be cute if he was intimidated by an older sibling. AND IT IS! Am I forgetting any other OC's? ... NOPE!  
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**Third announcement, I accidentally called Irkens in earlier chapters, Toons, that was a mistake. Brief history lesson for ya'll. The word Cartoon came from the French word, carton, which meant drawing. (And since this is an alternate universe) And when the cartoons came to life (Magically, I guess) They lived amongst humans in harmony. Aliens, however, are not drawing but being from different worlds where they may have their own toons. Either way, Irkens, Vortians, Plookisians, etc. are not Toons! They are races. Toons, for an example, would be Rocko like I've mentioned earlier, Spongebob, Ren and Stimpy, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Etc. Those are earthen made toons. So there ya have it! Hope that answered a question or two.  
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**Hey you know how I started doing those questions at the end of the chapter? Well I'm now gonna do a fact about the story to go along with the question! Yeah!  
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**FACT! Before this story was even a story I was thinking of several characters that should be in the story and who they are in touch with. An originally the cast was going to have Purple be apart of the Macale siblings. He would have been Red's fraternal twin brother who never got along. But instead I made Purple Canadian (Like Kevin McDonald) and Red and Purple not related and they get along fabulously, whereas, in case you didn't notice, Purple and Tenn have it out for each other. I call their relationship a love/hate for sure! Also, a long time ago, there was a man named Logan from Ireland who was going to be the assistant scientist to Red. So glad I re-wrote that chapter and didn't go with that.  
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**And since this is the first time I'm doing facts, I'm going to give you another! Molly and Jared (mentioned earlier this chapter.) Were originally going to be Leslie's biological twin children and Gaz as her adopted child. The story would have been, Leslie has just gotten a divorce. When I discovered how much I hated that idea I dropped the two kids and kept Gaz. The end!  
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**QUESTION! I guess we all know by now and can agree that Red is an overprotective freak! Acting as ZIM's father, calling ZIM 'his smeet', not letting ZIM do what he wants all the time, constantly hovering over ZIM's shoulder. This, with out a doubt, annoys ZIM to no end. This could result in one of two things,  
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**A. ZIM will become rebellious and disobey his brother all the time till Red gives up and sends him to boot camp or locks him in a closet for the rest of ZIM's life.  
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**B. ZIM will try to prove himself worthy of Red's trust and try to get a longer leash but knows it will be an extremely long and tedious process.  
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**No matter which path this story goes down, Red will always be the father in ZIM's life. What do you think ZIM should do to get away from Red's eagle eye? Disobey his older brother? Listen to his older brother? Sneak out? Be creative! Whatever you can think of!  
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**Personally, I think It would be both dramatic and funny if Red continued in his overprotective ways and ZIM and Red get in an argument in front of ZIM's friends. Red being all like,  
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**Red: ZIM, yo' just a smeet! You ain't going tah no rodeo bull ridin' camp!  
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**ZIM: But bro! All mah frands be going!  
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**Red: No! Those bulls be buckin' monstahs! You sit on one of those and it starts buckin' around, you could loose your virginity tah one!  
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**ZIM: To late! Leslie and I had da baby dance already and dere ain't nothing ya can do about it!  
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**Red: You slept with mah wife! (SOMEONE CALL JERRY SPRINGER!)  
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**ZIM: Yup! And she rode me like I would a bull! Yeehaw!  
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**Me: ... (Looks at the sugary drink in my hand.) What have you done to me?  
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**So yeah. R&R if you feel like it.  
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**Hope you enjoyed! Now, excuse me as I go on vacation and have a blast! WOOOO! Tah!  
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	13. Five Frivolous Friends

**Back from a long vacation!  
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**Well someone left a comment asking where Dib was in the story and if I could have sent a reply message to her/him I would have said that this is a ZIM centric story starting with his childhood and based around him and his family. He doesn't meet Dib till . . . this chapter! Enjoy mystery guest as well as the rest of you! Now if you will please let me summon Dib out from underneath his rock . . .  
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**DIB! These people want you! They're sick of an all Irken story! ;-)  
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* * *

><p><strong>September 30, 2000<strong>

". . . It was very nice to meet you all," ZIM said to his fellow cast members. They were now in a smaller room. Getting to know each other and talk about the upcoming show. ZIM, being the extroverted little guy he is, did most of the talking as the 'classmates' and 'other invaders' listened. Apparently all of the 'other invaders' were big fans of him. With the exception of Zee and Tenn who wouldn't get speaking roles in the first episode after the pilot. Sure they supported him in what he did but he'd never call them his 'fans'. His older sisters meant more to him than just another member of his fan club. ". . . But it's a Jewish holiday and my brother is forcing me to go to the synagogue for who knows how long." ZIM pointed his thumb in the back corner where Red and Purple were talking quietly. Red looked up with a unknowing, innocent look then turned back to Purple. "I'll see you all next week for cold reading and rehearsal." ZIM waved to his new friends to bid them goodbye. The others all waved and said their goodbye's to ZIM as he stood from his seat. Red, Purple, his sisters and Gaz followed his lead. As he sauntered on over to the lobby and the exit to the parking lot, he heard his brother's snickering behind him. ZIM sighed. "What?"

"Nothing." Red said quickly.

"Aha, not really." Purple said trying to stifle his laughter. ZIM turned to face them.

"What is it!" ZIM demanded more than questioned.

"It's just . . ." Red trailed off. "Never mind, if we told you it would make you feel uncomfortable around your co-stars."

"My Irk, Red! Just tell me." ZIM hissed. Purple decided to finish for Red.

"When you stood up and turned to leave every single girl's glance was on your rear."

"It wasn't only the girl's glances, a few boys I caught gazing too." Red added. ZIM cocked a brow and craned his neck to see his backside.

"What is so attractive about it?" ZIM questioned himself.

"I dunno, but they could have been staring just because your pants are nearly around your ankles." Zee muttered. She walked to ZIM to hike up his pants up to his waist where they should be instead of below his hips where he had them. "Honestly, I don't know why you kids these days think that having your boxer shorts showing is so cool." Zee tightened ZIM's belt. Her little brother sneered and rolled his eyes.

"Girls think it's hot and sexy." ZIM defended. "Tak said so herself."

"Tak only said that to get you to do it for her own amusement and eye candy." Zee said.

"Whatever." ZIM grumbled, walking to his car.

"There you guys are!" Leslie said, leaning against Red's truck. "We were waiting for Zee and Tenn 'cuz we drove here together."

"We were just having a meet and greet with some other stars." Red said. "You five may go home," Red said to Purple, Sam, Leslie, Gaz and Tak. "We're going to a service." He motioned to his siblings. "We should be back in a few hours."

"That is unless we die of boredom." ZIM mumbled. Tenn scowled and smacked ZIM upside the head. "Ow! What? You and I both know we ain't gonna have fun this afternoon!"

"Oh, ZIM. You and your constant need for entertainment." Tenn said.

"Alright, well we'll see you later then." Leslie said getting into their vehicle's, Tak driving ZIM's car with Gaz, Leslie and Sam driving Zee's, and Purple using Red's and driving off. ZIM got out his transporter and zapped them to Irk for the holiday.

"Yahweh, I hope my Bar Mitzvah isn't as boring as this holiday." ZIM said mentally.

**October 1, 2000**

Red rubbed his eyes from looking into a microscope for several hours. The science headquarters he worked for wanted him to analyze a new bacteria found on some algae. Red placed one eye back on the scope and giggled as the bacterium started to jiggle and move slowly.

"Heheh, I wonder if they know I'm watching them." Red muttered, tiredly. Red groaned wondering for a moment why he was doing this alone. So he decided to take a little walk to find his co-worker. Red was making his way to find Purple and to ask him if he's been keeping up on paperwork when he heard a sorrowful sob come from inside the man's room. This worried Red as he slowly opened the door only to find his OBFAM laying belly-down on his bed, body shaking and occasionally jolting as if he was suffering an electric shock. "What's the matter, Pur? Get stung by a bee?" Purple's antenna slicked back.

"Not this time, Red." Came the distressed Irken's reply. Red smiled and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Then what is it?" Purple sat up, whining as he did and all he said was,

"She's gone."

**Meanwhile**

"I've decided I hate L.A." Tenn looked up from her book.

"Why, Z? We just got here."

"I am aware that we just got here. The thing is, it's too crowded." ZIM grumbled. Tenn went back to her book.

"So is Meijour on Irk. We have a home there and you never complain that it's too crowded."

"Because there everyone is Irken. Don't you feel out of place here?"

"Well of course I do. All four of us were born and raised in Australia." Tenn said referring to herself and her siblings. "But even there we didn't really belong. Our mother planet is Irk." ZIM sighed looking out the window to the beach. He liked his beach home in Perth or even the home they stilled owned in Mears, Michigan. There, the beaches were private and you could swim naked if you wanted to. Here, everyone walked or swam on your beach whether you owned it or not. The houses were too close together to do any skinny dipping. "We're not staying here for long, Z. This city makes Red nervous."

"How so?" ZIM asked absentmindedly, still looking out the window.

"A number of reasons, the smog level is sky high, the crime rate, the automobile accident rate, there are several gangs lurking about-."

"Detroit."

"What?" Tenn asked confused. ZIM looked at her.

"If I remember correctly, we stayed for an entire day and night and another half a day, as well as went to several Red Wings and Tigers games in Detroit. I would think that city is a tad more dangerous than this one. But I digress, L.A. is not a kid-friendly place, true, but at least it ain't Detroit." ZIM paused for a moment. "There is something I don't get. Why is Red more fearful of this city than Detroit? That was the city we first visited."

"Because when we first moved to the States I was ignorant at which cities were dangerous and which ones were not. Now that we lived in America for some years I've gotten smarter." ZIM looked toward the entrance of the living room. Red stood there glaring down at the ground. "We have a problem."

"What is it?" Tenn asked. Red didn't answer for awhile.

"I'm not sure if Peder wants me to say just yet." ZIM's heart sank. They only ever called Purple by his birth name if something was seriously amiss.

"Tell us. We deserve to know just as much as you do." Tenn said. Red scowled deeply. The crimson-eyed Irken contemplated on how he'd break the news to his younger siblings. He'd think ZIM would take it the hardest. Considering it had to do with his trainer he absolutely admired and loved.

"Sam left." Red said simply. "She left earlier this morning. Peder tried to explain why exactly she left but he couldn't get the words out. She's going back to Mears." ZIM's antenna dropped so low they nearly touched his shoulders.

"B-but . . . a new season is coming up. I need her." Red frowned sadly at his crestfallen smeet-brother. "I don't understand." ZIM pouted tearing up a bit.

"I would suggest you talk to Pur about it, later though. He's very upset right now." Red patted ZIM's head. "Actually, why don't you go snuggle him a bit. You'll both like that." ZIM bowed his head but did just that. He walked to his other older brother's room and joined the crying man on his bed.

"Peder?" ZIM asked, stopping by the bedside. Purple rolled over on his side to see ZIM.

"Hey, bud." He croaked. He wiped stray tears from his eyes trying to be strong for ZIM. "It wouldn't have worked, she said." ZIM perked his antenna. Purple picked ZIM up and placed him by his side. "The whole different species thing."

"So? Red and Leslie are married." Purple cringed at that fact.

"ZIM, she didn't leave out of her own selfish desire. She left because she said she loved me." ZIM cocked a brow.

"That doesn't make sense!"

"Zei, there is a huge thing that make humans and Irkens different."

"Green skin? No ears? Nose? No hair? The fact that most of us are hermaphrodites and our special organs are inside our bodies? No buttcracks? The inability to sweat? Cuz we don't poop or pee? Because we have an average body temperature of one-hundred degrees. Because you have erectile dysfunction-"

"Who told you!" Purple gasped putting his hands between his legs embarrassed. ZIM felt like he hit a nerve so he immediately changed the subject.

"So what is it?" ZIM asked. Purple's blush soon disappeared and he started to talk again.

"Age, Zeiden. Irkens have a long life expectancy range from five-hundred to a thousand years old. Humans have a lifespan of an estimated seventy-five years. If Sam and I fell in love now, we'd regret it in the future 'cuz when she's old and gray I'll still look the same from when we first met. I'm surprised your brother never took that into consideration." ZIM suddenly felt awful. Not just for Purple's heartbreak but for Red's future with Leslie. He should have never of fell in love with her. "Life sucks, Z. You're lucky you like an Irken like Tak so treat her right, okay?" ZIM nodded not saying anything. He stood up on the mattress giving Purple a hug and a kiss then left the room pondering.

**October 4, 2000**

This needed to stop. She wasn't even sure if Purple was truly heart-broken over the matter. Sure he cried and didn't leave his room but lately he seems to just be hanging out in his room for solitude.

She knew this was wrong, but when Purple and Sam broke up she was kinda happy, relieved, and for some reason . . . not jealous anymore. She had her secrets and she was about to reveal one of them to the distressed man moping on his bed. She decided to take a gentle approach toward him because he may still be sensitive. No, screw that, she should just act her normal self toward him in order to not raise suspicion. And she'll continue to act on that charade till her 'secret' was known by the older, by eight years, Irken.

"Get your ass out of bed right now!" Tenn yelled through the shut door, banging on it with a clenched fist. "You've been mopin' 'round in there for four days! It's time to join the living!"

"Go away, Tenn!" Purple shouted from his room. Tenn seethed. She loved Peder, she did, but they had a famous rivalry between the two of them and this argument was no doubt apart of their frienemy-ship.

"You haven't eaten, you haven't talked, you haven't left your room! You need to get over her!" When there was no response Tenn just growled and barged into his room without warning. "I'm giving you till the count of three, Peder."

"Five feet and four inches of pure estrogen." Purple mumbled to Tenn, from his laying position on his bed. He was on his back staring at the ceiling. The man was also wearing nothing except for a pair of solid blue boxers which Tenn blushed at.

"One . . ." Tenn started, ignoring his comment. She stalked to the edge of the half-naked Irken's bed.

"You don't scare me. What are you even gonna do?"

"Two . . ." Tenn said leaning over Purple's body, each hand was on his shoulders pressing him down in the bed. This made him curious.

"What are you do-"

"Three!" Tenn smashed her lips against Purple's. The male Irken jumped, eyes wide as he let out a slight yelp at the unexpectedness of what Tenn was currently doing. His mind instantaneously wandered from Sam to Tenn. What was she doing and why? More importantly, why did he like it? His thoughts cut off by her tongue licking his bottom lip. Tenn, like any of her siblings, was trying to claim dominance. Must be a family thing. Tenn moaned a bit, her eyes closed. After a few moments more of shock Purple gave in, closing his eyes too and even kissing back. Tenn grinned at his submissiveness and crawled on the bed and laid herself on top of Purple not breaking the kiss once. Her hands moved up and down his bare chest as his own hands wrapped around her torso and pulled her closer. Finally, the need for air reached both of them and they broke from each other's lip lockage. Purple stared up at Tenn for a long moment, then spoke.

"Remember that 'estrogen' joke I made earlier?" The magenta-eyed female chuckled a bit.

"You don't even want to know how long I've wanted to do that." Purple smiled softly.

"And here I was thinking you hated me." Tenn returned the smile, blushing ever so slightly.

"You realize how Sam and your relationship wouldn't of worked, right?" Purple's expression changed.

"I kind of figured it was gonna end soon anyway." Purple said. Another moment passed. "What does this mean now? Between us?"

"Whatever you want it to mean. Just don't tell my brother. He'll kill you for sure." Tenn snickered sliding off Purple and kissing the area where his nose should be. "C'mon. You need to eat."

**October 5, 2000**

"What's the matter? Scared of _beans_ . . . Space boy?" ZIM looked annoyed at the kid getting in his face. The pasty white kid with glasses asked the question with much hate.

"Nonsense!" ZIM defended. "I love beans. I _love _them." The boy with jet black hair smirked a bit and held out a fork to ZIM.

"Oh, just one more-."

"Stop!" ZIM suddenly yelled. Everyone in the cafeteria for rehearsal looked in his direction.

"What's the matter, ZIM?" The direct, Steve Russell asked.

"He's supposed to hand me a spoon! Dillon, a spoon is the thing that looks like a miniature bowl attached to a silver handle." ZIM said crossing his arms. The boy who was just sharing the exchanges with ZIM stared at him blankly. "Honestly, you humans aren't doing your race much justice, intelligence-wise, if you keep on messin' up your silverware. Please, someone get this kid a spoon!" ZIM glared at Dillon. The black haired boy was too scared to move.

"I . . . I'm sorry?" He said. ZIM smiled.

"Daw! I'm just joking with ya' man! You're so easy to pick on, I can't help myself."

"Oh, right . . . haha." Dillon said nervously. ZIM quirked a brow at him.

"How did you get one of the lead roles? You don't seem to be that outgoing." ZIM asked. The boy shrugged.

"I dunno." Dillon said. "I think I'll get better once the season progresses. I'm always shy at first." ZIM nodded slowly. "And you can call me Dib. It's not just my stage name, it's also my nickname." He said looking down. "I believe I told you that before . . . five times." ZIM stared then snorted.

"You're funny!" He said slapping Dib on the back.

"Yeah, well, if you two are done we'd like to move on with rehearsal. Tomorrow is the day we're fitting into costumes and for you ZIM we're getting you a wig and contact lens. Speaking of contacts," Mr. Russell started. "When are you getting your laser eye surgery? We need to get those glasses off before we start filming." ZIM shrugged.

"I should have gotten them off a few years ago but the optometrist apparently estimated wrong. I scheduled an appointment for next week Thursday with a rather sexy ophthalmologist." Steve rolled his eyes. ZIM smirked.

"Okay, good. Just be here tomorrow and next week Monday though Wednesday. And if possible, Thursday to do one final dress rehearsal."

"Sure thing." ZIM said. Jhonen, who was on the scene, whispered to Steve.

"Alright folks. Let's wrap it up for today. Good job, you all on a fabulous first rehearsal and see you tomorrow at nine."

"In the morn?" ZIM asked changing his accent to a southern one for comedic relief.

"Yes, in the morn." Mr. Russell mocked as he excused the classmates. Everyone on the cafeteria set stood and left the sound stage.

"That's early . . . oh well. Finally, that's over." ZIM sighed.

"Umm, hey ZIM?" ZIM felt someone pulling at him. He turned to see Dib tugging on his jacket.

"What's up, D?"

"I was just wonderin' . . . since we're gonna be working together and all, if you'd like to hang out with me for today?" ZIM beamed.

"Heck fluckin' yeah! What do you want to do? I could drive us to the skate park, movies, surfing, can play video games at my house, we could rate chicks, don't tell Tak, go to the club, we can crash a wedding reception, that's always fun!" Dib didn't know what to say. "Do you know how to play an instrument? We can play together! Form a band maybe! I've been a solo artist my entire career so far that would be cool if I had a companion."

"Actually, I was thinking we could just- wait . . . Did you say career?" ZIM smiled proudly and nodded.

"Yuppers! I'm a musician, singer, actor, and model on my home planet."

"Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"Didn't you go to the orientation for our show? I gave you guys a little improvised concert." Dib shook his head.

"I didn't make it to that. You're like . . . already a super star?" ZIM shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't really call myself a star, only when it comes to baseball. Then yeah, I'm one bad ass super star who everyone wants to romp with, even the straight boys." Dib stared at the insane Irken, not entirely knowing what the word 'romp' meant, but he assumed it was dirty. "So do you play an instrument?" Dib shook his head again.

"No, not really. I took only one year of piano but that's it." ZIM frowned a bit.

"Well, I could always form a duet with my brother." ZIM said leaving the sound stage and exited to the parking lot, walking over to his rental car. Dib followed.

"You can drive?" Dib asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, had my licenses for three years now." ZIM said sliding into his convertible, black, Mustang. "You coming?" Dib paused.

"Uh, well, okay." He said getting in on the passengers side.

"We're going to my house first to pick up my dog. Red said he needed attention."

"Alright." ZIM ignited the car and revved up the engine as he did so.

"This is a sweet ride." Dib said in wonder.

"Thanks. I don't normally drive Fords, though. Just so you know." ZIM said and peeled out of the parking lot.

**Later**

"So is there anything you can't do?" Dib ask as ZIM walked up to him after several minutes of surfing. "I mean you just showed me you can surf, you can sing, act, model, play several instruments, you can dance, snowboard, skateboard, sandboard, wakeboard, mountain board, dirt bike, play baseball and soccer, style hair, sea-doo, wrestle dangerous animals, you are awesome at parkour, you can do back flips and several other kinds of flips, paintball, you have wilderness survival techniques, you know sword and knife defense and offense, you shoot guns, you're just all around a badass. So seriously, what can't you do?" ZIM thought for a long time.

"I have no idea how to knit . . ." ZIM smiled hoping that would satisfy Dib. It didn't. "Wait here," ZIM ordered running into his house. A few second later he came out holding something. He showed it to Dib. "Look what I made!" Dib's brows furrowed.

"Zeiden . . . this is a tangled ball of yarn." ZIM looked pleased with himself.

"Rolled it up myself." ZIM said. "See what I mean by not being able to knit?"

"That isn't even a cool hobby. Is there anything else?" Truth be told, ZIM couldn't think of anything besides not being able to cook, or clean, or do any domestic chores for that matter. He didn't know how to mow a lawn and that wasn't domestic . . . but then again he never really had to. They always hired someone to do the yard work and indoor house work. And when it all boils down to it, doing chores aren't really hobbies either.

"Not really, mate. Sorry." Dib huffed.

"I feel like a loser being with you." ZIM frowned.

"Well what do you do?"

"I'm good at math and science. That's it. Nothing special." ZIM rolled his eyes.

"Nothing special? Boy, puh-lease! One day, you'll rule the world. It ain't badass-ery that is in charge of the world, it's intelligence which I can tell you have a lot of. So don't belittle yourself. You're probably smarter than me."

"What grade level are you currently studying?" Dib asked.

"Tenth." ZIM said simply. Dib scowled.

"You're even smarter than me!" ZIM sighed.

"At least you don't have permanent brain damage like I do. Serious! I also have epilepsy and low blood pressure. I'm a sickly child that doesn't have that much common sense." Dib wasn't convinced. "Alright Dib-person, you win. But keep in mind that you can always pick up any hobby at anytime."

"I know, but will I be better than you at it?"

"Depends if you work hard at it. Who knows."

**The Next Day**

"You're dating my sister?" ZIM asked, shocked. "Tenn of all people? You guys don't always get along."

"That's what makes the relationship work." Purple said. ZIM furrowed a brow. He'll never fully understand Purple. "You can't tell Red just yet, okay? I don't want him beating my ass." ZIM looked unsure.

"Better to tell him now than later. He doesn't like secrets kept from him."

"I know but-"

"Whatever, I lost interest approximately two seconds ago. I'm going to Irk for a little bit to have a conversation with Jalo. He wants me to start doing concerts and tours." Purple rolled his eyes at ZIM as he used his long distant transporter to beam himself to Irk.

"Whateveeer, I lost intereeest." Purple mocked in a valley-girl accent. Tenn walked in the kitchen and glanced at Purple. He smiled back at her. She raised a brow in suspicion.

"You told ZIM, didn't you?" Purple's smile deflated.

"Big mistake, I know." Tenn's mouth formed a straight line.

"You have no idea."

**Three Hours Later**

Purple was tackled to the floor. "Ack! I'm sorry! I promise I'll be kind to her!"

"You better be!" Red shouted. He wasn't really angry, just annoyed that he had to find out through ZIM who was told to keep his mouth shut. Obviously he didn't.

"I promise there will be no more secrets, Red! You're cutting off the circulation in my arm." Red released Purple's upper arm from his vise-like grip. "Geez, man, aren't we buds?"

"Of course we are!" Red chirped. "But that doesn't change the fact that you're dating my little sister." Purple couldn't help but chuckle. Red smiled at this getting off of his best friend. "I'm glad she made you happy again, Pur."

"Me too." Purple and Red cut off their conversation when they heard someone singing at the top of their lungs entering the room they were in. They turned to the entrance to find ZIM and Tak. ZIM being the one singing, Tak annoyed with his constant need to sing hard rock.

"_. . . Luck ain't even lucky, Got to make your own breaks . . . It's my life! And it's now or never! I ain't gonna live forever! I just want to live while I'm alive-_ Ouch!" ZIM snapped out of his musical mode and glared at Purple who had just chucked a decorative pillow at him. "Why?"

"You told Red." Purple scowled. ZIM's expression went from mad to cocky.

"Yup, and now you're doomed . . . so, ha." ZIM crossed his arms, feeling victorious. Purple frowned and turned to Red, deciding to fight fire with fire.

"ZIM was thinking about getting a tattoo." Purple said simply before grabbing Tak's hand and running out of the room. "Run, Tak! We gotta get out of the line of fire!" Red's eyes widened as did ZIM's. A few seconds passed. Finally silence was broken when Red glared deeply at ZIM.

"No way in hell is _that_ happening." ZIM smiled nervously and innocently.

"Uh . . ."

"Right?"

"Well-"

"Right!"

"Right! Well don't we have a dress rehearsal to go to?" Red gave ZIM a bitter look and nodded. It took an hour to get ready for the dress rehearsal but soon Red, Purple, Gaz and ZIM were in Red's truck driving to the studio for the costume fitting. When they pulled into the parking lot someone from the Nickelodeon studio board came out to greet them.

"Hello gentlemen," He addressed them. "My name is Greg Lucas, I'm a representative here at the animation department of Nick studios. I was sent here to warn you that there are a few shows being filmed today on sound stages four, six and ten so you must be quiet when entering. Jhonen told me about your species." Lucas said eyeballing the three Irken males. "You're not exactly the introverted type."

"Mr. Vasquez likes to describe us as boisterous, obnoxious and slutty." Purple said. Red smirked getting really close to Mr. Lucas, putting an hand on his shoulder the other hand was on his chest. Purple mirrored Red's actions on his other side.

"I don't know where he got that crazy idea from." Red said leaning his head close to the man's face whispering seductively.

"Silly Jhonen." Purple giggled slightly, then pushed the man harshly away, almost making him fall to the asphalt. "Nah, I was kidding about the slutty part. Another word to describe us is impertinent or flippant."

"Someone's been reading the dictionary instead of their normal romance novels." ZIM stated.

"The Iliad and the Odyssey are not . . . that romantic. Plus Homer has been dead for hundreds of years so he isn't giving me anything new to read." Greg stared at the Irkens not knowing what exactly to say.

"Can you gents just . . . follow me and _try_ to be quiet?" Red and Purple shared a glance.

"Eh, sure, why the hell not?" Red grumbled.

"Nicolas Sparks is way better than Homer." ZIM whispered to Purple following Lucas into the building.

"Don't start with me, Zei." Upon entering the studio the party of five went silent to give fellow stars the quiet and respect they need to film.

"Right there on sound stage four is a new episode of CatDog being filmed. And right here on stage six is the re-filming of some lost footage of Hey Arnold." Greg said as they passed the stages. "And on ten it's the third day of filming a Spongebob Episode. Now I know being surrounded by all these celebrities is overwhelming but I need you guys to be calm, cool and collected no matter how excited you are around these big stars." Greg said looking back at the four. He was shocked to see Purple staring at a wall, Red not even caring, ZIM nearly falling asleep standing up, and Gaz playing on a hand-held gaming device. "Ahem." Greg cleared his throat.

"That's a nice wall." Purple said in wonder touching the wall and running his claw down it.

"My little brother is a huge star on Irk, Vort, Plookesia, Meekrob and several other planets and galaxies and soon to be one here on earth. I could care _less_ about your lame, little-known 'stars'." Red said cockily. ZIM yawned widely.

"Who is Arnold?"

"Exactly." Red mumbled.

"Eh." Gaz grunted not looking up from her small screen.

"What are these walls made of?" Purple asked himself, in his own little world. Mr. Lucas scowled, disapprovingly at the Irkens. The only polite one was Gaz and she wasn't even talking.

"Just . . . be silent as we pass, okay?"

"They're like, stone or concrete or something." Purple whispered in awe.

"Peder, c'mon." Red said tugging the slightly younger one along.

"Cobblestone but smoother." Purple went on.

"Peder!" Red yelled making his partner snap out of it.

"Huh? Oh!" He exclaimed trotting to keep up with the others who went on ahead. They walked for a few minutes in silence until they finally reached their destination. The outfit and uniform room. This is where they would get fitted for a designer costume they'd be wearing throughout the show.

"Here you gentlemen are. Our costume designers Lil and Stephani should take care of you. You'll be the first one's of your cast to receive your outfits." Mr. Lucas said before exiting. "Oh and Dr. Kinley?"

"Yes?" Purple acknowledged the man.

"It's cement covered by a stone-print wallpaper." Purple's antenna wilted.

"That's cheap." Purple whined. Red rolled his eyes.

"Oh! Hello, Dr. Macale! My name is Lil." An elderly lady said coming out of some closet on the side of the room. "Stephani and I are the designers for your Irken clothes. It took a lot of research to see how your species dress in the military and royalty. I didn't know your average citizens dressed like humans do until I researched a bit more."

"Maybe humans dress like us, ever think of that?" ZIM asked snottily.

"Well, I guess that is possible."

"Whatever, where is my costume?" ZIM asked. Lil smiled then motioned for her co-worker to get his clothes.

"We didn't have your exact measurements so it might be too big or too small. You are Three feet two inches right?" ZIM frowned and shook his head.

"I'm three feet no inches." Lil looked a bit confused. She stared at ZIM then at the outfit in Stephani's hands then at a paper with the cast's heights and weights on it.

"Oh goodness! It seems I switched your height with Dillon Baker's! My mistake." The woman said. "Well, why don't you try these on anyway. Just in case." ZIM huffed and took the clothes from Stephani and walked over to a dressing room only to have Stephani follow him in.

"Uhh . . . I've known how to dress myself since I was four. Do you really need to be here?"

"I need to show you how to put the clothes on." She said in a thick accent "This material isn't what you're used to, ja? Now, strip." The corner of ZIM's mouth curved downward but nonetheless followed the big, burly Swedish girls orders. When he was in nothing but his extremely tight, midnight-blue, boxer-briefs that almost looked like a male bikini bottom, Stephani looked ZIM's body up and down. "Now to dress little Irken boy." ZIM blushed slightly wishing he wore his normal boxers but no he had to wear his bun-squeezing underwear. At least he didn't wear his black silky briefs Tak got for him. After a moment of thinking he didn't think he actually ever wore that. "Here," Stephani held open some black trousers. He took them from her and pulled them up.

"They're a bit big." ZIM said when he was able to pull the hem all the way up to where his bellybutton would be.

"That's true." Stephani replied. "Here try these instead." She went to a rack of similar pants and got two sizes smaller of the same pants. ZIM took them and slid them on. This pair was extremely tight skinny jeans. Although they didn't have a skinny jean material. They were kinda leathery.

"_Great,_" ZIM thought. "_Like I need fabric that doesn't breath in the ninety degree weather._"

"Those are better, ja? Fits tight?"

"Ja, very tight." ZIM said mocking her accent. "These are the real ball-pinchers, no?" ZIM knew he didn't have any balls but he said it more or less for his own amusement.

"This comes next." The lady said handing ZIM a pink under shirt with spiky shoulder pads and collar. Stephani instructed ZIM to raise his arms above his head as she pulled the shirt down over him. It was the same material as the pants but heavier. After that she tucked in the tight pink under shirt then got a dark magenta over shirt and put that on him next. Like Lil had said the shirt was a tad big for him. It went down to his thighs like a short dress than his waist line like it should have been. "Too big, but I like it." She gave ZIM a pair of knee high leather boots. "Kid's size seven?" Stephani asked. ZIM tilted his head in confusion.

"I don't know your American foot sizing chart." ZIM explained.

"Are your feet five point five inches long?"

"Uh . . . five point three but close enough." He said as he slipped on the boots. He struggled getting them on past the heal so Stephani gave him a shoe horn to make it easier. He was then given elbow length, leather gloves that he put on. Once fully dresses ZIM turned to look at himself in the mirror.

"Wow," He muttered. "I look like I'm an actual an Irken military trainee." ZIM said. He'll give it to the ladies. They did a good job at making the outfits. But the actual Irken invaders wore slightly different apparel.

"Jhonen wants to add one more finishing touch on costume when you meet with him today, including wig and contacts and a thing called a PAK. Now, go show friends!" Stephani said shooing him out of the dressing room. He exited the small room where his brothers and Gaz were waiting.

"What do 'ya think?" ZIM asked, presenting himself.

"Ooo." Red and Purple said in unison.

"You look spiffy." Purple said.

"Aww, my lil' brovver grew'd up and joined da military! I so proud!" Red said clasping his hands as if he were a proud parent. "C'mere! I wanna get a better look." ZIM approached his brother so Red could see his costume. Red touched the fabric with a concerned look plastered across his features. "It's a bit , uh, thick and . . . doesn't seem to filter air that good." ZIM knew Red was worried about him overheating in the hot California sun. He already had an average body temperature of one hundred degrees, the always sunny weather added on with the tight, heavy and leather suit wouldn't help. He already had one heat stroke. Red didn't want to risk another.

"It'll be fine. In between takes he can sit in front of a fan or something." Lil said. "Now to get you in your royal garb." Lil took Red and Purple's hands and led them to the changing room. "Stephani, could you get Gaz fit for her costume?" The Swedish woman nodded and led Gaz to another changing room leaving ZIM alone for a few minutes before someone else decided to join him in the room.

"Hey, ZIM."

"What's up, Dib?"

"Been working on a new hobby." Dib said looking rather proud of himself. ZIM grinned.

"Oh yeah? What is that?"

"Yesterday I was messing around with my camera and I was taking pictures and videos of several things. It wasn't until I reviewed them when I realized how good I was at photography!" Dib reached in his bag he had with him and pulled out a scrap book. "Look! They look like they've been taken by a professional! Of course my camera helped a little being that it is a very good and expensive camera, anyhow, aren't they great?" ZIM flipped through the scrap book very amused.

"Wow, D. These are awesome. Will you take my senior pictures?" Dib smiled and nodded.

"I'm glad you like them. I was thinking. You do a lot of cool things. You wouldn't mind if I took pictures and videos of you doing those things, right?" ZIM shrugged.

"Yeah, why not?" This made Dib very happy.

"Thanks. Now changing subject, is that your costume?" Dib asked. ZIM nodded. "It's cool looking."

"It's uncomfortable."

"But you look sweet."

"Thanks. Can't wait to see yours." ZIM said.

"You look ridiculous!"

"You're wearing the same thing, Pur!" ZIM and Dib started at the loud noise coming from the changing rooms. When the door opened Red and Purple both stumbled out trying not to trip over their skirts they were forced to wear. "I can't walk in this." Red grumbled.

"We won't have to worry about walking when we're filming. They're giving us hoverbelts, remember?" Purple said.

"Doesn't change the fact that I hate this. Who knows what kind of pervs will try to up-skirt me."

"Nice dress." Gaz said coming out of her changing room wearing a black dress, skull necklace and leggings. Purple scoffed.

"This is what our Almighty Tallest wears every day . . . sorta. Do _not _mock it."

"I was complimenting it, stupid." Gaz said crossing her arms. Purple opened his mouth to retort but realized he was at a loss. "Your 'Almighty Tallest' doesn't even rule Irk. He's just a figurehead. You said so yourself that it was a prime minister who made the decisions."

"I don't get your point." Purple mumbled.

"I think she's trying to say our characters aren't important." Red suggested. Purple glared at Gaz who smiled innocently.

"Eeeviiillll." He drawled.

"Well, I better get my costume on for the dress rehearsal. See ya in a bit." Dib said following Lil to the fitting rooms.

"Right . . . tah." ZIM said exiting the room as his brother's changed back into their normal clothes, since they weren't in the pilot episode. ZIM left but as soon as he turned the corner going to the sound stage they were rehearsing on he ran into someone half a foot taller, soft, square and . . . yellow. ZIM landed on his butt with a thud. "I'm sorry, pardon me." ZIM said. A spongey hand reached out to help the little Irken up.

"Oh you're fine. Partially my fault too." Came a high male voice. "Where you off to, Zeiden?"

"Oh you know . . . wherever my feet take me." ZIM said. "So how's filming, S.B.? Heard you're nearly done with '_Imitation_ _Krabs_'." The yellow sponge laughed his famous laugh.

"Oh it's hilarious. Just wait till it airs. It's pretty funny." Spongebob said. Spongebob wasn't his real name but rather his screen name but went by it nonetheless. None of his co-stars or fellow Nicktoons ever called him Robert, his birth name. "Can't wait to see what you have for us. I've listened to some of your songs and even tried watching a few of your movies."

"Yeah? Little hard when you don't speak Irken, isn't it?" ZIM asked, smugly.

"You have no idea. Anyway, you have a good rehearsal. I have to go get changed into my regular clothes." ZIM nodded, turning to walk away. Spongebob grabbed his arm. "Wait a second," ZIM's antenna perked.

"Yes?"

"A young lady by the name of Tak is here. She's asking for you." ZIM cocked a brow. Spongbob gave ZIM a sly smile. "Who is she? A crush?"

"Girlfriend. Where?"

"Front desk. She seems a little pissed off. Just a heads up." ZIM pouted.

"Thanks, mate. I'll try to avoid her."

"Yeah right, Zeiden Macale!" ZIM jumped a bit at the loud voice coming from behind him. Spongebob gave ZIM a wink and walked away.

"What is it? . . . And why are you here?"

"My parents are here. They are all done with their trip!" Tak said excitedly. "But that's not the biggest news!" ZIM sighed.

"Then what is?"

"My dad is pregnant!" ZIM cocked a brow. He didn't know Mr. Griffon was a hermaphrodite. He knew Mrs. Griffon was and Tak was too because the hermaphroditic trait runs through female DNA. ZIM's dad didn't have it which is why his mom bore him and his three siblings. But his mom had it and passed it down to her four children.

"What kind of business trips do your parents go on?" ZIM asked a tad weirded out. Male pregnancy on Irk was common but on earth it was simply unheard of and almost taboo. Except if you were a sea horse of course, then all males birth the babies.

Being born and raised on earth, ZIM couldn't help but feel how most humans felt toward the highly controversial topic of male pregnancy. It's odd. But not to Irkens.

"They told me I'm getting a baby brother."

"Yeah . . . and how did this miracle come about?" ZIM asked. Tak's features became serious.

"Well you see, there was a power outage on Vort so no cruisers were running and my parents were stuck in a hotel room. They finally got bored enough that they started to-"

"No, Tak! Was the child planned?"

"No, of course not. They just wanted a little entertainment so they screwed around for a bit-"

"That's nice, Tak. Congratulations on your new smeet brother. I got to go." ZIM said, trying to dart off.

"Now wait a second, young man!" Tak hissed. ZIM groaned. He was only two years younger than her and for some reason that entitles her to call him, 'young man'?

"What?" ZIM turned to face her again. When he looked at her again her face was only an inch away from his. Tak grinned and kissed him briefly on the lips. "I'm watching your rehearsal."

**After Rehearsal**

"Hey, uh, ZIM." The Irken turned to his friend who was addressing him.

"Yes, my dear Dillon-"

"Dib."

"Whatever, what's up?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to hang out today with Timmy and I?" ZIM quirked a brow.

"Timmy? Who dat?" ZIM asked, walking with Dib to their dressing room to get out of their 'show clothes'.

"Ya' know, Timmy. Timmy Turner? He's got a new show coming out the same night we have ours premiering.

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, along with his co-stars A.J. and Chester."

"Who?" Dib stared at the clueless alien for a second.

"You don't keep up with the studio announcements do you?" ZIM just scoffed.

"I didn't even know the studio had announcements."

"You're a baseball fan, right?" Dib inquired. ZIM nodded. "You probably know who Chester's father is. Bucky McBadbat?" ZIM's jaw dropped.

"You're kidding!"

"Nope!" Dib said, pleased that ZIM knew who Chester's father was.

"That's crazy! Bucky McBadbat literally lives up to his name for being the worst baseball player ever!" Dib frowned, and motioned for ZIM to stop talking. "I've seen him play for the Toon's MLB and I was surprised anyone would ever draft him!"

"ZIM stop." Dib said panicking when he saw three figures approaching the alien from behind.

"I mean really was the MLB _that _desperate? That man plays as if he never played before!"

"ZIM, really, cork it."

"Have you seen Chester play yet? Is he as bad as his father?" ZIM asked.

"No," Came a voice from behind. ZIM whirled around to face who spoke. A blond boy with braces. "I'm probably worse." The other two boys who were with the blond one nodded. The blond kid sighed. "Whatever. Baseball isn't everything." ZIM smirked.

"You're right. Baseball is the only thing. Sorry about insulting your father." ZIM said immediately knowing who the newcomers were. He used his confidence to hopefully make the boys think he's nice "You must be Chester." The boy with the braces nodded.

"Yeah, pretty neat we have a show coming out on the same day, huh?"

"I still think we're going to have at least some sort of rivalry between our shows." The boy with brown hair and enormous buck teeth, whispered to the kid with no hair at all. ZIM's antenna perked.

"Shh, Timmy." The bald kid hissed.

"Why is that? Can't we get along?" ZIM asked.

"He heard me." Timmy whispered again to the bald of the trio. ZIM crossed his arms.

"Well yeah, I'm standing a foot away and my antennas can pick up more sound than your human ears ever could." The bald kid who was roughly the same height as ZIM approached the alien.

"Intriguing. These antennas of yours must act as your sense of smell and hearing considering you don't have a nose or ears."

"A.J. back off. People don't like it when you go all intellectual on them." Timmy huffed. A.J. ignored his friend and proceeded to examine the long black stalks on ZIM's head.

"Oh I don't mind. As long as he doesn't- augh!" ZIM snapped his head away. His left antenna twitching. He raised a hand to feel the triangular tip where his antenna-ring was. A.J. had it in his hand.

"Oh. I'm sorry I thought it was some sort of hearing device you had installed. I didn't know it was a diamond earring." ZIM smiled in a forgiving manner.

"Yeah, a very expensive and rare diamond earring." ZIM said snatching the stud back and putting it back where it belonged. Timmy looked skeptical.

"How expensive? I have a Swatch that was two-hundred bucks." Timmy said arrogantly. ZIM looked at Dib who has been relativity silent. The black-hair boy shrugged. ZIM concluded that Chester was defiantly the easy-going one, A.J. was the brains and Timmy just wanted to best people. ZIM mentally scolded himself for judgement but it was second nature to him.

"Why does price matter?" ZIM asked.

"I just want to know how much. Maybe I want one." Timmy said.

"Uh . . . good luck. This is the only one ever made. Three-thousand Irken monies." The four boys' jaws dropped. "I want it to be an heirloom or something."

"Wow. You must be made of money." Timmy said. This annoyed ZIM. Now they probably thought he was a rich, spoiled brat. True he was rich and spoiled but he didn't want them knowing that.

"So, new friends!" ZIM said, quickly changing the subject. "What would you guys like to do?" Dib smiled.

"Well we could just hang out at the studio or something." Dib suggested. "Meet other stars."

"I wanna go to the aliens house." Timmy said. "I want to see how big it is." ZIM refrained from rolling his eyes but then realized he never introduced himself.

"The name's Zeiden Macale Junior. And believe me you're not ready to meet my family yet." ZIM said.

"Why?" Chester asked. Why? ZIM could think of a million reasons.

"My sisters talk too much, my dog will attack you, my brothers are nuts, my niece is intimidating, my oldest brother will ask you trillions of question most of which will be along the lines of, 'You're not gonna hurt my smeet-brother are you?', his wife is just as bad, and my girlfriend is-"

"Is what?" ZIM jumped as he heard Tak's voice speak up from directly behind me.

"Is . . . here. She's right here." ZIM turned to face her. She was smiling.

"Who are your friends?" Tak motioned to Timmy, A.J., and Chester.

"Oh, they're some guys Dib just acquainted me with." ZIM cleared his throat. "This is my girlfriend, Takayla."

"She's pretty." Chester said.

"And tall. Taller than you." Timmy added.

"Yeah, I'm well aware." ZIM muttered. "I think it's because she's older than me by two years."

"Or because you're just my little, short, cutie pie, sweetheart!" Tak cooed pinching and squishing ZIM's cheeks painfully hard.

"Tak, stop, not in front of the guys." ZIM whispered. He let her get closer to his face and kiss his lips.

"Oh I'm sure they don't mind." Tak kissed ZIM again and again.

"Um . . ." Dib backed away slightly from the couple. The trio of boys had disgusted looks on their faces. "Any of you guys got girls?" Dib asked. The shook their heads. "So I'm not the only one who feels awkward watching this?" They nodded.

"See, Tak? They don't like it." ZIM was arguing quietly with Tak. Their faces mere centimeters away from each other. Tak still had ZIM's face in her hands.

"They'll get used to it." Tak kissed ZIM again. The little Irken's shoulders slumped as he let Tak continue to pepper him with love. After awhile of that nonsense ZIM finally pulled away.

"Alright, well, the guys and I are gong to hang out. When you get back to our place just tell Red I'm still rehearsing. I don't want him knowing I'm with people he's never met before." Tak scowled. "What?"

"Nothing. Just leave me to my own devices. Forget your beloved girlfriend. Leave her behind." ZIM cocked a hairless brow.

"That's exactly what I'm doing." He said. Tak huffed and walked away to the parking lot. "You think that was bad?" He asked the boys. They nodded. "My family is tons worse."

**Later**

"Wow." Dib murmured.

"Yeah . . . wow." A.J. agreed.

"I never seen someone so terrible." Timmy added.

"Me either." Chester said. The four boys watched as ZIM chased the orange ball around the studio's court, cursing in his Irken tongue every time he kicked it further away from him.

"_Messah!_" ZIM grunted. "_Tosh_ _messah hur-aunti._ Stupid ball." ZIM grunted half in English_. _"Okay, so I can't play basketball. Soccer and baseball is more of my forte anyway. You guys wanna do something else?"

"I kinda enjoy watching you chase that ball around. It's funny." Timmy chuckled, smugly. The brown-hair boy took the ball away from ZIM and faced the basket. "Watch and learn, alien." Timmy said as he threw the ball up, putting right through the hoop for a perfect swish. ZIM huffed.

"Alright, impressive." ZIM smiled at Timmy. "Maybe you can teach me later, mate." Timmy nodded retrieving the ball and making another shot. "So where'd you say you were from?"

"Glendale. Born and raised there. It's not far from here. Just a couple miles south of Burbank." Timmy said. "What about you. Some sort of major city on Irk?"

"Actually, I was born in Australia, we moved to Michigan for three years when I was six, we still have a house there. I have a penthouse on Irk's capitol city. And we rented a luxury home in Santa Monica here. We currently reside on the far outskirts of Perth, Australia."

"Australian, eh? That's neat." Timmy said. "A.J. is a third generation American. His grandfather moved here from . . . where?"

"Nacala, Mozambique. I'm from North Bend, Oregon. When I heard about the casting call for toons we moved down here to Pasadena to see if I could get a part." A.J. said.

"Beverly Hills." Chester stated.

"And I'm from Pasadena as well." Dib said. ZIM looked at his co-star.

"I knew that. You told me before." ZIM said. Dib stared at ZIM.

"Sorry?"

"You better be." ZIM feigned anger. "Just kidding. Well, same general area. No wonder you guys are friends."

"Chester and I have been friends since we were eight." Timmy said. "We just met A.J. a few months ago when he moved. And we knew Dib for half a year now." Timmy said. "Welcome to our little posse." ZIM looked at the three boys.

"Posse?" ZIM questioned. The three nodded. "My crew, homeboys, in-crowd, groupies, gang, set, team? Friends?" The three looked at each other.

"Uummm. Yeah?" Dib said, less than sure. ZIM furrowed a brow. The four stood in silence for a few moments.

"Alright, cool, mates." ZIM said winking at them. The boys continued to stare. "What? Don't tell me there is some sort of initiation."

"There isn't . . . It's just . . . you're so . . . bubbly." Timmy said.

"And friendly!" Chester exclaimed. "I like him. We need to give him a nickname now!"

"Nickname? Necessary?" ZIM asked as if they were joking.

"Yeah, everyone in the group has a nickname." Dib said.

"Lets call him Runt. Since he's so tiny for his age." Timmy said.

"You guys are my height!" ZIM defended.

"Yeah but we all just turned ten. You're almost thirteen." Timmy pointed out. "Chester is Chestnut, A.J. is Brainiac, I'm Fairyboy, Dib is Big Head-"

"My head is not big." He mumbled. Timmy scratched his chin in thought as he evaluated ZIM.

"Dib, you know him better than any of us. What's his personality."

"Well," Dib started. "He's very charming, extroverted, hot-tempered, arrogant, stubborn, flamboyant, Mr. Perfect, talented and aggressive."

"Really, you know all that about me?" ZIM asked not really believing in Dib.

"ZIM, you flaunt your personality more than anyone I have ever met. I've known you for only a few weeks and I know all that about you."

"Then it's settled. ZIM I now dub you Hotshot." Timmy said.

"Hotshot? Like the lethal injection?" ZIM asked.

"No, it's a good describing word as well as nickname for you."

"I like it. Better than Big head." Dib gritted his teeth. ZIM didn't know where Dib would get his nickname from. His head was no bigger than anyone else in the group.

"I have enough names my siblings call me alone; Junior, Shortie, Smeet-"

"Fairyboy has spoken." Timmy said crossing his arms. "You are Hotshot." ZIM didn't reply. Timmy was very convinced of himself. ZIM instead decided to play along with this.

"So does this _posse _have a leader?"

"No, we're equals here." A.J. said. "Though Timmy likes to pretend he's in charge."

"Do not!"

"Do too! You always pick what we're gonna do. Earlier you wanted to go to ZIM's house without his permission first of all."

"You need to ask for permission?"

"Well I would assume so." A.J. said. ZIM turned to Dib as the other two argued some more.

"I . . . I'm not sure what to say." ZIM mumbled. Dib shrugged.

"Once we get to now each other more, things will be fun."

"Zeiden?" The four boys cut off from their conversations to see who spoke. Red walked across the parking lot to the basketball court to where the boys were at.

"Who's that?" Timmy asked looking the new Irken up and down as he got closer. ZIM frowned.

"My brother."

"You look like him." Chester noticed.

"He scares me." Dib said quietly.

"What?" ZIM asked, scoffing. Red grabbed ZIM's arm gently.

"Why didn't you come home when you were supposed to?" Red asked crouching to ZIM's level. ZIM pulled away.

"The guys wanted to play basketball." ZIM tilted his head to the four others, Chester the one holding the ball. Red raised a brow.

"You don't _play_ basketball." Red said.

"Oh I know." ZIM sighed. Red smirked and stood. He held his hand out to Chester.

"May I?" Chester didn't say anything. He looked at Red with wide eyes as well as the other boys. He handed the taller Irken the orange ball.

_'Dib was right.'_ Chester thought. He is intimidating and all he did was approach them and ask for the ball! Red twirled the ball on the tips of his fingers. The five children watching intently. Red then dribbled the ball doing the figure eight in between his legs. After doing three of those he went into some taps followed by some regular dribbling, altering his hands. He then broke away and dribbled fast towards the eight-foot tall hoop. Red jumped as high as he could and dunked the ball one-handed into the hoop. Hanging on to the rim, doing a victory pull-up then dropping down to the asphalt. Red looked back at his brother and his buddies. All were stunned, especially ZIM, never knowing that his older brother ever played basketball. Red spun the ball on his fingers again before checking the ball back to Chester who barely received the ball still being too intrigued. Red scooped ZIM up in his arms giving his brother a hug. "Say ciao to your friends 'cuz we're going now." Red said. ZIM peaked down at the guys.

"Uhh . . . I'll see you guys tomorrow or something." ZIM said. Red grinned putting ZIM down.

"Drive carefully, ZIM." Red said climbing into his truck. ZIM nodded.

"I wanna talk to you when we get home, Red. Can't believe you never told me you played basketball."

"I didn't." Was all Red said before closing his truck door and driving away. ZIM cocked a brow, sliding into his driver's seat.

"Yeah right."

**October 12, 2000 **

**One Week Later****  
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ZIM squeezed Zee's hand tightly, whimpering. "Shh, honey, it'll be fine."

"I-I don't want to do this anymore." ZIM choked out. Zee leaned over her nervous brother who was laying comfortably on a medical table. She kissed his cheek.

"You'll be fine, sweetie. These people are trained professionals." Zee stated. "Plus, you need your glasses off. You can't wear them when your filming." ZIM was almost in tears.

"Will it hurt?" He asked with pleading eyes. Zee thought for a moment. She was an anesthesiologist, not a optometrist.

"They'll put numbing drops in your eyes so you won't have to feel pain." Zee said. She caressed his cheek with her hand in hopes that would sooth her little brother.

"Ready?" The doctor asked, entering the room with a nurse. "It should only take about ten minutes for each eye. So we should be done in no time." Zee gave ZIM a reassuring smile.

"See? It won't even take that long, Zei-Zei." Zee said. "I got to go wait in the lobby while they work. I can't get in the way."

"Wha-what? No! Stay here, Zannah!" ZIM pleaded, sitting up. Zee gently pushed him back down.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. I'll be just outside. Okay?"

"B-but . . . I don't want you to go. Stay with me." He whined, clutching her hand.

"ZIM, you gotta be a big boy. I won't always be here for you."

"Red would stay with me."

"Red isn't here right now, and I know he would _want_ to stay with you but they wouldn't let him because the doctors need room to work." ZIM pouted. His eyes tearing up. Zee frowned a bit. She noticed goosebumps on his arms. "Aww, here." She took off her hoodie and gave it to ZIM. "That way you don't have to be cold and a peice of me is with you." She winked at him, smiling. ZIM took the hoddie, holding tight to it. He returned her smile weakly. "I'll see you in twenty minutes." He nodded, watching her exit the procedure room. He laid back trying to relax.

"You'll be just fine, Master Macale." The doctor said. "You're in good hands."

**October 13, 2000**

ZIM skipped the rehearsal he had yesterday. His eyes were sore from the surgery so he just went home not bothering to show up. Jhonen called his Imp to double check if he was alright. Yesterday was also the day of the final dress rehearsal. Now it was Friday and he had the weekend off. They'd be filming for the first day on Monday.

ZIM nearly fell off his bed, almost dropping his laptop when his Imp rung.

"_Oops! I did it again! I played with your heart! Got lost in the game! Oo baby, baby! Oops you think I'm in love!-_" ZIM cussed out loud hoping no one heard his ring tone. He'd never admit it but Britney Spears was his guilty pleasure. He scrambled to answer his phone.

"'Ello?" ZIM asked into the Imp.

"Hi, ZIM." Came Dib's timid voice.

"What up, D?"

"How was your laser eye surgery? I missed you yesterday?"

"It was freaky as hell!" ZIM said. "My eyes are sore and I need to wear super dark sunglasses to prevent scarring for the next week. I don't know how I'm supposed to film on Monday with all the bright studio lights."

"I'm sure we'll think of something . . . or just move the filming date. Or film the parts where we don't need you." There was a pause. "So we were just wonderin'-"

"We?"

"Me and the guys." Dib clarified.

"Okay . . ."

"We wanted to know if you wanted to have a sleepover at Timmy's place?" ZIM felt his heart skip a beat.

"Sleepover?"

"Yeah." ZIM was silent. He's never been to a sleepover before. He's only hosted them. And even looking back of how many he hosted . . . he only had like three with Ike the Vortian who still lived in Australia.

"I-I'd have to ask my brother." ZIM said. There was no way his brother would okay this. "When is it?"

"Next week Friday though Saturday. We were gonna go to the skate park, play video games and stuff." Another pause. ZIM really want to go just to experience what a sleepover is like. He hasn't had one for years and years.

"Like I said, I'd have to ask my brother."

"Okay," Dib replied. "Call me when you find out."

"'Kay. I'll actually give you an answer on Monday."

"Alright then."

"See ya."

"Bye." ZIM tapped the 'End Call' icon on the screen. He then let out a long sigh.

"It'll never happen." ZIM told himself. "Unless I ask him when he's in a good mood." ZIM shrugged, sliding off his bed to find Red. He walked down the hall to Red's office. He grasped the handle loosely and pushed the door open. His lips curled downward in disgust at what he saw in doing so. Red was in his office, yes, but so was Leslie. Red was sitting in his office chair, Leslie was on his lap straddling his hips and they were . . . kissing . . . and touching. "Eww!" ZIM exclaimed to get their attention. Red pulled away from Leslie startled. Leslie looked back at ZIM.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Leslie asked.

"Nothing, I just want to talk to Red." Yeah, He should be in a good mood if by the way he was attacking his wife's lips was any indication. Red groaned.

"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy."

"Yeah, _getting busy_." ZIM retorted. Leslie got off of Red who whined in protest. Leslie held out a finger to silence him.

"Talk to your brother. I have to pee anyway." Red wrinkled the area where his nose would be.

"Well that's nice, Les." Red shook his head as she left his office. The older Irken hunched over his desk to jot something down in one of his many research journals. "What can I do ya' for, mate?"

"Okay, please take what I'm about to ask into consideration before you make your final answer-"

"No."

". . . But I didn't even ask anything yet."

"I know, I was messin'. What's up?"

"Well you've met my new friends Dib, A.J. and the other two, right?" Red gave ZIM a funny look but nonetheless nodded. "Yeah and we're buds and what not, I feel really awkward talking to you at the moment for some reason . . . So anyway, you know what buds do, right?" ZIM didn't wait for an answer this time. "My buds were wondering if I could, just for the night! If I could join them for a sleepover held at Timmy's house . . . maybe . . . for fun, and stuff." Red stared at ZIM for a long time. "Is this the consideration portion?" Red nodded slowly. "Okay, you do that." ZIM backed up a bit to sit on one of the chairs along side of the office wall. Red glanced up to see Leslie walk by the open door.

"Hey Les, C'mere a minute." Red called for her. The woman back pedaled to peak through the entry.

"Yes, dear?" Red used his finger to beckon her over. She did. Looking from Red to ZIM who was sitting at the edge of his seat with anticipation. Red pulled Leslie's head down so he could whisper something in her ear. ZIM watched her face change from neutral to cautious. He saw her shake her head a few times as Red continued to whisper.

"What do you think?" Red finally asked quietly, pulling away.

"No, not a good idea." Leslie half spoke, half whispered. ZIM's heart sank.

"Your verdict?" ZIM asked, already knowing the answer. Red sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"Zeiden, I barley know your friends. I'm not sure if they are good kids or troublemakers."

"They're nice. They like to . . . be law abiding citizens." ZIM said. Red looked ZIM hard in the eye. Leslie put a hand on ZIM's shoulder.

"Honey, we can't trust them yet."

"They're only ten and eleven!" ZIM countered.

"That may be but that doesn't mean they won't leave an impression on you." Leslie said. "Try to see reason, hun." ZIM groaned loudly, crossing his arms and slumping back in his seat.

"You _never_ let me do anything." ZIM grunted.

"ZIM, I know we had this conversation plenty of times. I love you and am just looking out for you." Red said. "I would love to let you go out an have fun but looking at your history record of how many time you've hurt yourself with and without friends . . . it's not that impressive. And like Leslie said, those kids can influence you." ZIM scowled, standing up getting ready to leave the room. "Zeiden, don't be angry-" Red was cut off by his office door being slammed shut. The corner of Red's mouth curved down. "Don't slam doors either." He muttered.

"He acts as if he's never been to a sleepover before." Leslie observed. Red bit his lip, scratching the back of his neck.

"Actually . . ." Leslie snapped her head toward Red.

"He's _never _been to a sleepover before?"

"He's had them! I think that counts. Yeah, he's had some with Skoodge and Ike and . . . that's it." Leslie's brows furrowed.

"Now I think you should let him go." She said. Red's antenna stood up.

"What? You crazy? I barely know his new friends. I'm not just gonna put my brother's well-being in danger just because I feel bad for him." Red heard a loud thump come from upstairs. He brushed it off as Leslie started to talk at him.

"That didn't stop you from letting him play soccer or baseball."

"Well that's different. I'm actually present-"

"Or let him ride dirt bike or surf."

"Yes, but-"

"Or wakeboard or parkour."

"I know but-"

"Or wrestle dangerous Australian animals or let him have pet _crocodiles_, of all things!" Leslie said. Red squinted at her.

"What do you want from me?" Red whined.

"I want you to take another chance." Leslie said kissing his lips.

**Meanwhile**

ZIM stormed into his room. He was planning on staying to argue with Red some more but there was no point. That man was as stubborn as an ox and there was no way he was going. ZIM flopped belly down on his comforter. After several moments on his stomach he flipped so he could lay on his back. Unfortunately for him he didn't see how close to the edge of the bed he was so he ended up tumbling off the side onto the hardwood flooring. "Oof!" ZIM gasped. "God, I hope nobody saw that . . . or heard it." He looked to his side. He remembered to shut his door. ZIM sat up. "Red is stupid. He acts as if he was never a child once and pretends that I'm an accident-prone idiot." ZIM muttered to himself. "I'm not. I just wanna have fun like I'm sure he did when he was my age." ZIM crawled back onto his bed. "He's such a jerk. Giving me the same reasons for everything if he doesn't want me going somewhere." ZIM opened his laptop and typed furiously on the keyboard, writing a English assignment that was due a few days ago. ZIM's antenna slicked back in anger when he heard the door creak open. ZIM didn't bother to look, knowing who it was already. "What do you want?" ZIM asked through gritted teeth. Soft footsteps were heard. ZIM felt the edge of the bed sink a bit at the new weight of Red sitting on it.

"Fine."

"What?" ZIM glanced at him.

"You may go." ZIM was speechless. He closed his laptop. He gawked at his big brother for a long time not sure if he believed him or not. "I'm serious." ZIM closed his mouth that he discovered was slightly agape.

"Why?" ZIM asked. "You never change your mind." Red didn't meet ZIM's eye.

"I'm giving you a chance." ZIM felt a smile tug on the corners of his mouth. "When is it?"

"Next week Friday. That should give you plenty of time to meet my friends if you want." ZIM said. Red finally regarded ZIM's eyes. He couldn't help but chuckle when he saw how hard ZIM was trying not to grin.

"It's okay. Get it out of your system." ZIM beamed, giving Red a hug around his neck.

"Thanks for cutting me some slack."

"Yeah, well, just don't screw it up for yourself." Red hugged back. "And I mean it."

"Alright, Red."

"You should get some sleep now. Your eyes need rest."

**October 16, 2000**

"Like I said before, we're filming this scene with an imaginary robot. Later when we edit the episode we're gonna computer generate it in. All you have to do ZIM is talk into the microphone there and the sound of your voice will be heard through the cafeteria set." Jhonen explained. They were about to film the 'food fight' scene of the pilot. ZIM gave a thumbs up to Jhonen. He was sitting by the sound area behind a booth, wearing a headset with a big microphone in front of his face. "The rest of the cast will do as rehearsed. Alright?" The classmates nodded. "Great, uhh . . . yeah lets get this scene over with." The crew decided to film the food fight scene first thinking that it would be the hardest and wanted to get it out of the way.

"Okay everyone! Places!" Mr. Russell called. Both cast and crew took their spots, immediately. "Scene five, take one. Aaannnd . . . camera. Action!"

"Hey, how's it goin'? Lookin' good, Lunchy!" ZIM spoke into the mic. Like Jhonen had said, his voice would be altered for the final version by Richard Horvitz to make him sound older. For the time being he had to say all his lines.

"Hold it, ZIM." Russell stopped him. ZIM looked at the director. "What did I say about your accent?" ZIM put his hand to his mouth in wonder.

"Uhhhh . . . besides that it's a cute one?"

"Yes."

"Ummmm . . . that I have to get rid of it when we're filming?"

"Yes, ZIM. Now say your line again. This time use a regular accent."

"My accent is a regular accent . . . to me."

"Use an American one then. Now start over. Action!"

"Hey, how's it goin'? Lookin' good, Lunchy!" ZIM repeated in his best American accent. He went to several speech classes to work on enunciation and grammar on American accents. Red had to go to a few too, as did Purple but his Canadian accent was close enough to American so they only had him go to two sessions.

One classmate ran up to a spot. All the actors and actresses stared at an imaginary robot. "The weird kid looks weirder today." The kid said. There was a pause for a long moment, as Steve instructed because the action of the robot would be animated in later.

"Hey, ZIM!" Dib finally called wearing an eye scope and armored arm attachment prop. Gaz turned in the lunch line to see what was happening.

"This should be interesting." She said.

"An automatic food launcher? . . . Neat!" ZIM smiled from behind the camera by his booth.

"You really think so?" Dib asked facing the invisible robot. "Thanks! I've been up all night working on this."

"Well it shows!" ZIM said cheerfully.

"Oh, quit it!" Dib feigned flattery.

"Cut! That was great, guys. Let's get ready for the next part. The actual fighting scene. Now please be gentle in your attacks but make them look realistic, 'kay?"

"I has a question!" ZIM called from his booth, raising his hand. Everyone on set turned to him.

"Yes, ZIM?"

"Can-"

"Wait! Before you ask, is it relevant to what we're doing?" Steve asked.

"Of course not!"

"Then can it wait?"

"No."

"Why?" Steve asked, exasperatedly.

"Because its a matter of life and death."

"How so?"

"I left my dog in my car and all the windows are up. It's really hot outside and stuff can I go get him?"

"Is he potty trained? Well behaved, and nice?" Jhonen stepped in.

"Heck yeah! I trained him well. I don't do shit half-assed . . . all the time." ZIM said, folding his arms. Jhonen and Steve shared a look.

"Alright, bring him in. Just make sure he's quiet." Jhonen said. ZIM slid off the stool he was on.

"Yeah right." ZIM chuckled under his breath, darting out the sound stage entrance.

"Alright cast. Let's go ahead and film without him." Steve announced.

ZIM walked briskly across the parking lot. He reached his hand in his jean's pocket for his car's keys. The little Irken unlocked the door of his car and pulled it open letting his poor dog out. The white Samoyed was panting heavily. "Sorry about that, bud." ZIM also noticed he left his phone in his car. He grabbed it off the center council and checked it. He saw that he received a message from Tenn.

"_Heyy, ur crocs just hatched. theyre rly cute. Red told me to tell u to get a big bag of anchovies and sardines for them. they hungry._" ZIM smirked at her horrible editting skills.

"_Ok, I'll get whatever and stuff._" He wrote back, then sent the message. "C'mon Ty. Let's go finish filming." ZIM said walking back to the sound stage. When he entered the stage he found every actor throwing food at each other, yelling, and getting messy. ZIM quietly walked back to his booth, putting his headset back on. one camera was on Dib all the time while other cameras getting different angles followed around the backups. After several minutes of chaos Steve finally called 'cut'. He then told the kids to take five. Dib got off the stage and walked over to ZIM and Tyson as well as several other children.

"This is your dog?" Zita, one of the girls asked. She had mashed potatoes dripping down from her hair.

"It sure its. Tyson, greet the nice young lady." The dog yipped, rearing back on his hind legs, still sitting. Then with his paw he made a clumsy waving motion.

"Awww." The kids cooed. As the classmates petted Tyson, ZIM talked to Dib.

"That looks like so much fun." ZIM cackled at the sight of Dib got hot sauce running into his eye.

"Not really. It hurts." Dib mumbled.

"What ya doin' after filming?" ZIM asked. Dib shrugged.

"I dunno. Chill at home or something. Why?"

"Just wanted to know if you'd like to see some young crocodiles." Dib gave ZIM a funny look.

"What?"

"You heard me." Dib didn't know what to say. "That a yes?"

"Babies?" ZIM nodded.

"They're harmless when their smeets-er . . . babies." ZIM said. Dib thought for a few seconds.

"I'll have to check with my dad." He finally said.

"That's cool. Just tell me when you get-Ow!"

"Hey, dufus." Gaz said, coming up from behind ZIM, smacking his head in the process.

"What?" ZIM asked, annoyed.

"Red said you had to take me shopping later for new jeans, remember?"

"Can't you walk?" Gaz scowled.

"You're the biggest idiot I know." Gaz huffed. "Sure I could walk to the nearest store, but you need to pay for it."

"I'll give you money!" ZIM snapped. ZIM thought for a moment. "Oh."

"Yeah, it takes half an hour just to drive from Santa Monica to Burbank, imagine how long it would take to walk." Gaz said, flicking ZIM's antenna. The tiny Irken groaned.

"Stupid Red."

"I think your brother is cool." Dib said. ZIM gazed at him. "He still scares me though." ZIM squinted, shaking his head.

"Why?" ZIM whispered.

"He just . . . I don't know. He's an older version of you and when I first met you I thought you were pretty scary too. In fact, . . . I still think you're-"

"Red isn't scary." Gaz muttered, slumping against the booth. "If he was then my mom wouldn't have ever of married him." Dib's eyes widened. He looked from Dib to Gaz.

"Why do you call your dad by his first name?" Dib questioned.

"What?" Gaz asked. Dib went on to ask another question.

"Are you half Irken?"

"No, are you stupid? Does it look like I have green skin like his?" Gaz pointed at ZIM's cheek. She then grabbed on of his antenna and yanked it much to his dismay. "Or have these?" Dib shook his head.

"Well no, but-"

"I'm adopted, genius." Gaz muttered, walking away. Dib rubbed the back of his neck. ZIM watched as Gaz left then turned back to Dib smiling big.

"She's a peach."

"No doubt." Dib hissed, embarrassed.

"We can ditch her after the shoot if you want." ZIM suggested.

"Won't you get in trouble. Your brother seems a bit strict."

"Oh yeah, I'll get in tons of trouble, but when don't I?"

**After Filming**

"Cut! Great kids, lets wrap it up for today. Come back first thing tomorrow to finish the middle half." Russell had said into a bullhorn. ZIM rubbed his antennas that were now pounding being the one standing right next to the man who screamed into his left sound receptor. The Irken boy turned to go to his changing room then find Dib but was stopped. "ZIM,"

"Oh Yahweh," ZIM turned to Steve. "Please don't tell me you want me here extra early tomorrow."

"Sorry, ZIM. You and Dib both need to be here at six AM sharp. We're gonna have you two do a little one-on-one rehearsing." Steve explained.

"You're a- . . . stupid-face!" ZIM whined. The director merely chuckled, walking away from the already tired Irken. "Poop."

"What?" Dib asked, joining him.

"Didn't you here him?"

"Yes, we gotta be here early tomorrow. You know what I noticed about you, ZIM?" Dib asked.

"Whaaat?"

"You're insults are really childish when your exhausted. 'Stupid-face'? Really? I heard you call people fuck-tards before." ZIM gasped.

"Dillon! You don't swear!"

"I was giving an example. Now are we gonna hang out or what." ZIM looked idly to Gaz who had just disappeared into the changing room she shared with the classmate girls.

"Yeah, hurry up and change so we can leave without her."

"Leave without who?" ZIM and Dib both jumped at the voice of a woman, interrupting their conversation.

"Leslie?" The reddish-brunette stared down at ZIM, arms crossed. "Uh, no one. Gaz and I just got into a mild blue. No biggy."

"Uh huh . . . where is she? I know you were gonna take her shopping but I decided you'd probably want to hang out with your buddies."

"She's getting changed. You gonna take her?" ZIM asked. Leslie nodded.

"That way you don't have to ditch her and get in trouble with both me and Red." ZIM smiled sheepishly.

"Eh heh heh. Nyeah. Thanks, Les." The woman bent down and planted a kiss on ZIM's head.

"You behave and be home before seven." ZIM nodded.

"Alright, later. Let's go, Dib." ZIM grabbed Dib and dragged him to their dressing room. "At least I'm not getting in trouble tonight." ZIM whispered.

"We got to go to sound stage two. Chester, A.J. and Timmy are waiting for us there."

"And what did you guys have planned for this afternoon?"

"This is Los Angeles, ZIM. We don't have to plan we just do."

"That's retarded, what you just said right there." ZIM mumbled, taking off his uniform's shirt.

"How so?"

"I don't know, I just say things sometimes. Anyway, no offense or anything, D, I know you grew up here and all but I hate this place." Dib glared briefly at ZIM for a moment.

"Why?"

"Well, you just gotta look at it from my P.O.V., I was raised on wide open grounds. There were no buildings like this. It bugs me, how many people there are here and how they all thing this city is so cool. If you ask me, I think it's a bit overrated." Dib sighed.

"You have a point. I guess what your trying to say is, 'Home is where the heart is' and your home is a thousand miles away."

"Australia is actually fourteen-thousand-five-hundred miles away, but yes, that's exactly what I am trying to say."

"You home sick?"

"A bit. A lot a bit. I didn't get this homesickness when I lived in Western Michigan. But that's probably because it wasn't as densely populated. I honestly don't know how you grew up like this, Dib." The black-haired boy shrugged.

"It'll be an adaption process for you, Z. You'll get used to it. Don't you have a home in one of Irk's biggest cities though?"

"Yes, but I was surrounded by other Irken which helped me feel at home. I guess you're right. I'll have to stop whining and get used to the _city_." ZIM spat out the word as if he tasted something bitter. He pulled up his jeans to his waist and fastened the belt. "Alright, let's go."

"I got one more question for you." Dib asked.

"What?"

"Who was that lady you were talking to?"

"My sister-in-law." Dib looked a little disgusted. "Why?"

"She looks waaay too old for your brother. She a cougar?" ZIM snorted.

"Leslie's only thirty-four. Three years older than my brother." Dib looked unsure of what to say.

"You're bro can't be thirty-one!"

"He isn't, he's thirty-two. Leslie's birthday is coming up soon." ZIM insisted.

"He looks like he's eighteen."

"You should tell him that. I'm sure he'd be flattered." ZIM said amused. Thank goodness for long Irken lives.

**Later**

"Sooo . . . how long have you been driving?" Timmy asked from the backseat of ZIM's Mustang V6.

"Since I was ten." ZIM said nonchalantly, resting his head on his hand that was propped up on the open window. He was waiting for a protected left, traffic was so bad he didn't dare go on blinking green.

"That's like me driving in a year or two." Timmy said. "It's weird to think about."

"Dude, this car is sweet!" Chester chimed in also from the backseat. "Can the top go down?" ZIM rolled his eyes and hit a button to transform the car into a convertible. "Aww, sweet."

"Dib, turn up the radio." Timmy ordered, leaning forward over the center console. Dib looked at ZIM for his consent.  
>ZIM just shrugged. Dib pressed the radio's 'on' button. As soon as he did country music filled the interior. ZIM beamed as he heard the song and was familiar with it.<p>

"_Besides you had too many boyfriends to mention, and I played my gui-tar too loud. How do you like me now? Now that I'm on my way, you still think I'm crazy, standin' here today! I couldn't make you love me but always dreamed about, livin' in your radio. How do you like me now?_" ZIM sang with the song. "My God, I love Toby Keith." His four friends stared at him with wide eyes.

"You _like_ country music?" Timmy asked with disgust.

"Hell yeah. Better than that other shit they put on the radio." ZIM mumbled, turning the volume up slightly. "You guys will learn to appreciate this genre when your around me."

"But, your Australian, this is American music." A.J. pointed out.

"Doesn't mean I can't like it." ZIM said. Timmy reached his hand to the controls and changed the station. A Busta Rhymes song took place of the song ZIM would have preferred to continue to listen to. The Irken sighed, slumping down a bit. "I'm not allowed to listen to rap." He mumbled. The boys didn't hear him. "So what did you guys wanna do?"

"You're old enough to drive, are you old enough to get into clubs?" Timmy asked.

"Not until I'm fifteen." ZIM said.

"How about buying alcohol?"

"Not till I'm . . . twelve . . . huh. I _am _twelve. I'm old enough to drink and smoke. Guess that slipped my mind." ZIM said, stopping for yet another intersection, making another left handed turn. ZIM wondered why never gave him a drinking or smoking 'caution talk' yet. Maybe Red knew that he forgot and left it that way for the better. He'll talk to Red later. The boy jumped slightly when there was a vibration in his pocket. He quickly turned the radio off.

_"Opps, I did it again. I played with your heart-" _ZIM smiled sheepishly at his friends as he answered his phone. He could here Chester whisper behind him.

"He likes Britney Spears?" The Irken blushed heavily.

"Yes?" ZIM spoke into his Imp.

_"What doin'?"_ Came Red's curious voice.

"Just hanging out with friends."

_"You driving?"_

"No! Of course not! You know I don't drive and talk on the phone."

_"You have more than one person in the vehicle with you?"_

"I'm not driving!" ZIM said, defensively.

_"You sure?"_

"Yes."

_"Positive?"_

"Yes!"

_"'Cuz it don't look like your not driving while on the phone with more than one person in the car."_ ZIM cocked a brow.

"What do you mea- Ah!" ZIM squeaked. In the middle of his sentence he turned his head and saw Red's truck right next to his car in the right turning lane. The red-eyed Irken had his window rolled down, sporting sunglasses, phone pressed against the side of his face. He was smiling at his little brother. ZIM smiled nervously back, giving him a slight wave. "Uhh . . ."

_"You know the rules, Zeiden. But since you are currently breaking them I'll let you go. But you're not gonna get away with lying to me. You know that irks me." _ZIM nodded. Red hung up and made his turn. Driving home more than likely.

"Maybe I'll get in trouble today after all."

**Later**

"How many cans are you getting of those?" A.J. asked, standing behind ZIM as the tiny Irken as he used his arm to knock off several cans of sardines and anchovies into the grocery basket Dib was holding for him.

"Enough for four small crocs."

"Did he just say crocs? Like the shoes?" Chester asked. Timmy nodded.

"You're really odd." The brown-haired boy said. ZIM just shrugged, walking to the self-checkout and started to scan his products.

"We're going to my place before anywhere else. These need to be refrigerated." ZIM said. After all fifty cans of fish have been scanned his total came out to be $249.50. He used his credit cards to pay for the items.

"Dang, don't you have buyers guilt ever?" Timmy asked. ZIM shook his head. "I guess it's because you're a billionaire right?" ZIM bit his lip grabbed the bags.

_'More like trillionaire, but who cares besides you?' _ZIM thought to himself. Man, Timmy had a money issue. ZIM carried his two bags out to his car and threw them in the backseat. The five boys crawled back inside the car to drive to ZIM's house. It took a good forty minutes to get home, the traffic didn't help at all. ZIM parked outside on the driveway and walked up to his home. His friends followed, admiring the home and landscape. ZIM pushed open the front door, stumbling in. The door led to the foyer. "Tenn! Where da crocs?" ZIM called.

"In the garage, in the incubator!" Her voice rung from her upstairs room. ZIM entered the house all the way. He carried the bags to another door on the otherside of the house where the garage was and opened it. In the corner was the incubator. ZIM took the bags and placed them in a refrigerator they had in the garage. ZIM then sauntered on over to where the crocs were. He peeked over the steel holding pen and smiled when he saw a bunch of wriggling, chirping and adorable baby crocs.

"Oo! My smeets!" ZIM reached down and picked up the closest one. "This one is Handbag!" ZIM shoved the squirming croc in Dib's face who jumped back several feet. "Jeez, she's only a few hours old and your terrified of her?"

"Tell me again why you have pet alligators?" Dib wondered.

"Crocodiles, dumb-face!" ZIM thrust the baby into Chester's hand who looked grossed out, holding it away from his body.

"Umm . . . I don't think I want to hold it." He said. ZIM ignored him reaching down again to grab the other three, cuddling the green animals to his chest and face.

"And these one shall be named, Snippy, Chomper and Frank!" ZIM squealed, burying his face into the scaly reptiles. Chester slowly set the crocodile he was holding down back into the incubator.

"Dude, what's up with you and exotic pets?" Timmy asked.

"I have a dog. That's not exotic."

"Speaking of dog, where is yours?" Dib questioned.

"Leslie took him with her and Gaz." ZIM said. He set the babies back down and got two cans of sardines out and opened them. He set them in the incubator for the crocs to eat. The little creatures chowed down hungrily.  
>"Alright," ZIM started turning back to the guys. "What now?"<p>

"I heard you can surf?" Timmy asked ZIM, who nodded. "You guys wanna surf?"

"I'm not allowed to without my brother." ZIM said. The other four boys gave ZIM a look. The Irken all of a sudden felt like a looser.

"Okay, how about we go to the skate park?"

"Red hid my skateboard. He doesn't want me doing that either unless he's present." Timmy scoffed.

"How about riding bike?"

"Like the ones where you have to pedal?" ZIM asked.

"Yes." Dib answered for Timmy.

"I don't own one . . . I also have no idea how to ride one."

"Wow," Timmy mumbled. "Here I was thinking you were pretty cool." ZIM rolled his eyes not letting the kid get to him, he decided to suggest something else that was 'cool' and something Red allowed him to do when he was gone. ZIM thought for several seconds. Damn it, he's got nothing. He wasn't even allowed to have guests over unless Red was home!

"Timmy, he's really cool, you just got to respect that his older brother loves him." Dib said. ZIM smiled at the black-haired boy. That was the first time he heard Dib's voice have the slightest hint of backbone.

"Fine then. What _can _we do?" Timmy asked, getting impatient.

"I want to learn about ZIM." A.J. said. "I heard that you are aboriginal Australian by blood. _How _is that possible?" ZIM sighed a bit. The Brainiac just wanted to learn and ZIM guessed that was the safest activity for them to indulge in.

"Let's go sit down in the living room and we can talk." ZIM suggested leading them back into the house, making a quick pit stop to the kitchen to offer drinks, then to the living room where they all flopped down and got themselves comfy. After a moment of silence ZIM began. "Irkens discovered earth in the year twenty-five B.C."

"Did they come as Irken immigrants?" Dib asked. ZIM nodded.

"This was a time where Irk was way too overpopulated that a lot of Irken family's had no choice but to move to different planets. Any way, my however many greats grandfather and mother on my mom's side landed on South Africa along with some other's and formed and alliance with the natives there-"

"This isn't answering my question." A.J. said. ZIM held out a finger to silence him.

"I'm getting to that." ZIM said. "And my however many greats grandfather and mother on my dad's side landed in Australia. Eventually after many decades my mom's side of the family moved to Australia for many many centuries till this day. A lot of people don't know this but a lot of aboriginal Australians came to Australia from Africa thousands of years ago."

"And how does this make you aboriginal?" Dib asked this time.

"Irkens are built to adapt to the weather, climate and people around them. Our skin fibers absorb your human DNA every time we come into contact with you, altering our own genes and DNA to make us more and more human. It's a really slow process which is why it took so long for us to be considered aboriginals. Our families weren't considered Aboriginal as of three-hundred years ago. Now we're one-hundred percent aboriginal and Irken."

"How can you be both?" Chester asked.

"It's impossible for Irkens to turn into total humans, just our DNA. And we still are Irkens by blood, but like I said my ancestors developed some human genes too."

"That's actually pretty neat. It's like evolution only your exterior body doesn't change. Only your DNA." A.J. said.

"Yeah and that's the story of how I came to be, the end."

"So you're like one of those people who dance around a big fire saying crazy chants?" Timmy questioned. ZIM smirked as Timmy chuckled.

"Actually, as a matter of fact, I am. Every year we have a huge aboriginal family get together and practice the same rituals and dances our ancestors did. Only it was the women who would dance, the men would mostly provide music." Timmy stopped in his snickering.

"Oh."

"Yeah, just this past year, as a sign of worthiness and family pride, the elders made me go out in the bush alone and hunt for a kangaroo with just a boomerang and bola. I got a big ol' jack within' twenty minutes."

"That's crazy. I'm surprised your brother let you do that." Timmy said.

"The elder's always get the final say." ZIM said.

"Who are the elders?" Dib asked.

"My grandparents." ZIM replied. He stood up when the front door opened. Purple and Tenn entered together, holding hands. When Tenn saw ZIM and his friends she immediately released from the grip.

"Zeiden, you're home. I thought you went out with your friends."

"We were going to." ZIM said. "But then Brainiac here, got curious."

". . . Well, that's okay, but could you guys leave now? Purple and I want to be alone." Tenn said. ZIM's lips curled down in disgust.

"You guys aren't gonna do anything raunchy are you?"

"If you stay any longer you may just find out for yourself." Purple quipped. ZIM shook his head, vigorously.

"No thank you!" ZIM got up to go outside. He grabbed the keys to his car. "C'mon, lets go . . . do something." The other four boys followed ZIM leaving Tenn and Purple be.

"Man, your sister's boyfriend looks like your brother." Chester said.

"He is my brother. My non-related brother, if you will." ZIM said, slipping behind the wheel again. "Well, guys. We got a few hours to kill. Here comes the million dollar question again, What would you guys like to do?" The five of them shared glances. "Right, we'll just think of something on the way then."

* * *

><p><strong>You guys thought you were just gonna get Dib, well guess what? I spat more characters at you than you thought! (Yes, this fic is slightly crossover.) I just thought ZIM needed more than just Dib as a friend and the classmates aren't in enough episodes to be his close friends so the story pooped out those three boys from Fairly Odd Parents. (I used to love that show. And no I didn't do that much research for those characters.)<strong>

**Here's the Question of the chapter!**

**What is your position on Mpreg? And do you think someone, besides just Tak's father, should get pregnant? If so, Who? This probably won't happen till later in the story. (Truthfully, I don't mind Mpreg. It's a good way to be creative. Male seahorses get pregnant! That was a fun fact right there.)**

**Fact of the Chapter!  
><strong>

**I had to re-write this chapter three times because I'm an idiot and forgot to save! But that's a good thing for you guys because every time I re-wrote it, it got better and better! I was also gonna write a EXTREMELY DRAMATIC scene in this chapter but decided to save it for later chapters. What's that scene? You are probably asking. Well, let's just say one argument between brothers went a _little _too far. (But that's for later!)  
><strong>

**Anyways! Submit your answer for the question in the review box! Leave any suggestions or creative ideas if you want! Or, heck, just leave a friendly comment if you so desire!  
><strong>

**Love ya'll!  
><strong>


	14. Green Light

**October 20, 2000**

**1:45 PM**

It's been a long week for ZIM. The last day of filming was yesterday, Thursday. Today they editors started to do their portion of work. Editing the film so it's ready for the officials of Nickelodeon studios. If they like it then the show would go on for more episodes and Gaz could be famous like she told ZIM she wanted to be several times before.

Now it was Friday, the day ZIM didn't know if he should be anticipating or dreading. For it was the day he was going to do something he's never done before. Stay the night somewhere other than his house. He's stayed the night at Sam's house before, sure, but it wasn't like a party. Plus she was an adult so it didn't make the actual party part fun. Plus he's only stayed the night twice only because he had to get up extra early to train with her or to be punished. ZIM shuddered at the memory of when he beat a kid's face into the dirt during a baseball game. He must admit he had his older brother's temper. Speaking of older brother . . .

"Red, please, it's just for the night." ZIM groaned, slumping down on his bed as Red packed a two pairs of ZIM's clothes into ZIM's duffel bag he usually used for his baseball equipment. The man was also making sure to pack all types of medications for his little brother. His A.D.D. pills, pills for epilepsy, low blood pressure and sugar, pain relievers, and even packed ZIM's medications for his slight case of dementia.

"I don't know why or how you talked me into this." Red muttered, as he continued to organize. "This is such a bad idea. I just know I'm gonna get a call in the middle of the night saying that I need to come down to the morgue and identify your body." ZIM rolled his eyes at Red's paranoia.

"Please, Red, have I ever killed myself before?" ZIM asked. "Besides that one time." Red narrowed his eyes at the child.

"Your dementia is starting to flare up again. Tonight isn't probably a good night for you to go out. You should stay here." ZIM crossed his arms. This was the third time that worrywart changed his mind.

"Red, c'mon, if I don't feel well then I'll call you immediately and I'll go home. You need to stop being so-"

"I just-, I don't- . . . You're grounded!" Red shouted with frustration pointing at ZIM. ZIM was taken back by this.

"On what grounds?"

"For putting this much stress on me." Red whined. He sighed heavily and flopped down on ZIM's bed, laying on his back, his legs dangling off the side. He eyes closed in an attempt to get rid of his headache. ZIM loomed over him smiling.

"You remember what you always used to do to me when I was stressed out?" Red cracked open an eye ever so slightly.

"Don't be a dork." Red said, trying not to smile back. ZIM didn't say anything. He wrapped his tiny arms around Red's neck and hoisted him up so he was sitting. The younger Irken then proceeded to rock his older brother back and forth singing a little diddy in the tune of 'Hush Little Baby'.

"Shut up, little Irken, don't you fret. Brother's gonna stab you with a carrot. And if that carrot isn't sharp, brother's gonna suffocate you with a tarp. And if that tarp has many holes, brother's gonna ram you into a pole. And if that pole doesn't leave a bruise, then brother's gonna expose you on the news. If that doesn't leave you on an autopsy table, brother's gonna fry you with a cable. And if that cable doesn't burn, then I'm gonna start to feel concern." ZIM finished the song laughing with Red. Laughter is the best medicine in cases of stress. "Why you wrote such a gory and disturbing song eludes me."

"I wrote it when you were three. You always appreciated dark humor." Red chuckled. "And when I sang that song to you for the first time you begged for an encore." Red glanced at the clock mounted on ZIM's T.V. he had in his room. "You have to leave now." Red stood up and handed the bag to ZIM. The two walked out to the driveway together. When they were by ZIM's car, Red crouched to ZIM's level and grabbed both his arms and forced the little Irken to look at him. "You make sure that you call me when you get there. Then again before you go to bed. Then again when you first wake up. And once more when you're going to leave. Also be sure to take all your medicine. I might stop by later tonight just to check on you-"

"Red, don't!" ZIM moaned.

"Fine! I'll send Zee to check on you." ZIM glared at Red. "Alright, just call me if you need anything. I also programmed the hospital's, poison control's and the police's phone number into your Imp. Oh! Don't stare at any bright screens for any longer than an hour. Your eyes are still healing from your surgery. Don't play outside, stay inside the house, and go to bed no later than nine." Red paused for a moment trying to think of anything else. "Drive slowly, behave and please, please, please don't get hurt!" ZIM nodded, knowing he was gonna break half the rules Red had just rattled off at him. "Good. Now give me a hug." ZIM embraced the much taller Irken. Red returned the hug, after a moment ZIM released but Red's grip remained firm around his brother.

"Red?" No answer. "Red?" ZIM tried to tug away. No use. "You can let go now." The hug just got tighter. ZIM let out a long groan then decided to just let Red get it out of his system. After all, twenty-four hours of not seeing your beloved smeet brother is a long time. After an entire minute Red loosened his grip but still did not let go. He pulled his head back so he could meet ZIM's eye.

"Love ya', Squirt. Stay out of trouble for me, okay?" ZIM nodded again. Satisfied with the answer, Red planted a kiss between ZIM's eyes then ruffled the boy's antenna as he stood back up. "Be home by this time tomorrow." Red said. ZIM didn't answer. He crawled into the driver's seat and closed the door. Waving at Red as he pulled out of the driveway.

ZIM let out a sigh of relief. He was almost positive Red was gonna change his mind and forbid him from going. ZIM leaned back in his chair. It would take a good twenty minutes to get to Timmy's house. He was going to be late.

**Later**

ZIM confidently approached the two-story brick house. He reached out to knock on the door but before he could even extend his arm the door burst open. A tall man with black hair, thick eyebrows and a cleft chin stood in the door way. "Well, you must be Timmy's little friend!" He said cheerfully, outstretching a hand. ZIM smiled, taking the man's big hand in his own tiny hand.

"And you must be Timmy's dad." ZIM smirked. The man's smile widened.

"I sure am! Why don't you come inside and make yourself at home. The boys are in the living room." ZIM smiled walking past the man and into the kitchen where a woman was cooking something over the stove. She turned to greet the newcomer.

"Why hello there." She said, walking towards ZIM. "You're Zeiden, right?"

"I am. Are you Timmy's sister?" ZIM asked, turning on the charm. This made her giggle with delight.

"Oh you! You flatter me! Timmy told us a lot about you." She said.

"Did he now?" ZIM questioned.

"Oh yes. He said you were really nice and fun to be around." She said. The woman, with the same hair color as Timmy's, pinched ZIM's cheek. "Oh you're as cute as a bug!" ZIM blushed, trying not to pull away.

"Young man, how did you get here?" Timmy's father asked, who was peering out the window to his driveway.

"I drove, sir." ZIM said. The man looked at ZIM.

"Timmy never said you were old enough to drive. How old are you?"

"Twelve. I've been driving since I was ten." ZIM explained.

"Mom, dad, what did I say about trying to become friends with my friends?" Timmy grumbled walking into the kitchen. "Guys! Hotshot is here!" Timmy called back into the living room. ZIM's antenna slicked back, still not sure if he liked the nickname. Maybe it'll grow on him.

"Yeah and now that I'm here the party has officially started . . . I gotta make a quick call first." ZIM pulled his Imp out and dialed Red's phone number. He pressed the device against his head as it rung. The boys waited patiently for ZIM to be done.

"Zeiden?" A voice finally came. But it wasn't Red's.

"Yeah, where's Red, Tenn?"

"He opted to panic as soon as you left. He's sitting right next to me listing the many regrets he has in life, including letting you spend the night at your friend's house. I'll admit I'm a little worried for you and so is Zee, but Red, my God, I think he has separation issues with you." ZIM frowned.

"Tell him I'm fine and that he only has twenty-three more hours to go." ZIM said. There was a pause on the other end of the line, all what was heard was Tenn's faint voice telling Red exactly what ZIM told her to say. Then there was a loud wail.

"Awww! No! He's gonna kill himself in that time!" ZIM heard Red yell. Tenn came back on the phone.

"He says he'll hang in there." Tenn lied. ZIM chuckled.

"Alright, I love you, sissy! I'll call again in a little bit to make sure Red is still breathing."

"I love you too, Shortie. Go have fun with your friends." Tenn said, then hung up. ZIM shoved the phone back into his pocket. He spun around to face his friends. They were snickering.

"What?"

"I love you, sissy!" Timmy mocked in a bad imitation of ZIM's accent and enthusiasm.

"You all are just jealous 'cuz you guys are the only child." They all stopped giggling at once. "That's what I thought." ZIM crossed his arms.

"Well . . . at least we have parents." Timmy shot back. ZIM was shocked that he would say such a thing but didn't show it on his face.

"Timothy! That was horrible! Say you're sorry!" Timmy's mother scolded.

"It's fine, Mrs. Turner! I never knew my parents anyway." ZIM didn't know why he was defending the boy. Maybe because it was very awkward when parents and children get into arguments whenever friend's are present. But still what Timmy said was a low blow.

"You still didn't deserve that." Mrs. Turner said, glaring at her son. ZIM just shrugged.

"I'd be lying if I said that bothered me." ZIM said. "My older brother and sisters are my parental figures, that's what I grew up with." A moment of awkward silence passed. "So what are we gonna do?"

"Depends, did you bring your skateboard?" Chester asked. ZIM nodded.

"I found out where Red hid it. It's in the back of my car."

"Great. Then we're gonna go across the woods and go to Verdugo Park." Timmy said. He then pointed at Dib. "He's not that good at skateboarding and neither is A.J. so they're gonna film us doing some tricks and what not. Dib apparently is into that photography stuff."

"I said it before, photography is a good hobby to get into." ZIM said, smiling at Dib. The boy returned the toothy grin.

"Uh huh. Just get your board." Timmy instructed. ZIM shrugged and left the house to retrieve his board. Out of all the boarding ZIM did, whether it was surfing, sandboarding, snowboarding, or even skimboarding. Skateboarding was the hardest for the Irken, he wasn't that great but he was good enough to skate in public without making a complete fool of himself. Once the boys were ready they started their short venture over to the park. This particular park required people to wear helmets. The only kind of helmets ZIM owned was full faced helmets and baseball helmets, that he wore when dirt biking and batting. ZIM decided that he wouldn't get caught without one and go head protection-less. In fact, he didn't have any protection. No knee pads, elbow pads. Again, ZIM shrugged it off knowing he wouldn't get caught. Who has someone patrol the skate park for that kind of stuff anyway?

The walk through the thin back woods behind Timmy's house was pleasant and short. When they finally got to their destination ZIM looked around. Nothing too impressive. All it had was three bowl obstacles side by side, and a group of high or wasted teenagers sitting on the benches giggling about nothing. ZIM wrinkled the area of his face where his nose would be. The park was actually kind of a pigsty. He thought at he saw a used condom laying on the ground in the wood chips.

"This place is disgusting." ZIM mumbled. Dib nodded in agreement.

"Timmy goes here often though so don't say anything." Dib said.

"Alright, Hotshot. Let's see what you're made of." Timmy said, tilting his helmeted head to the edge of the bowl. ZIM looked from Timmy to the bowl to the teenagers who decided to watch them for a show.

"S'okay, Fairyboy." ZIM threw his Zoo York board on the ground, then backed up a bit before running and jumping onto the board and diving down into the biggest bowl of the park. As soon as he skated all the way to the bottom he took a turn to his right to travel up the bowl's wall. Once back up he pivoted on his skateboard to go down again. Chester nudged Timmy.

"He's pretty good, eh?" Timmy crossed his arms, scowling. He grunted in reply.

"Not as good as me." Timmy said then got his own skateboard and dipped down into the bowl with ZIM. Both boys did their own little stunts and tricks, one boy thinking it was a competition the other just enjoying himself. After about three minutes Timmy and ZIM both dove into the bowl from opposite sides and met each other in the center for a head on collision. The pair were bounced off their boards by the other. Timmy flying backwards landing on his rear, ripping his pants in the process. ZIM was catapulted over his board and landed hard on his knees and left elbow right next to Timmy.

"Are you guys alright?" Dib called from above. Timmy growled, rubbing his back, whereas ZIM was already up on his feet again, being used to that kind of pain. ZIM walked over to Timmy and offered a hand. The younger boy took it and allowed the Irken to hoist him up.

"Guess we both gotta be a little more careful, huh?" ZIM asked. Timmy nodded. ZIM gave a thumbs up to Dib who was waiting for an answer.

"They're not dead." ZIM heard Dib tell the other two friends.

"Uh . . . is that blood? 'Cuz if it is then you're bleeding pretty badly." Timmy pointed to ZIM's scuffed up knees and elbow. Sure enough blood was pooling out of the abrasions, staining his white long basketball shorts and even the SK8-HI Vans he was wearing on his feet.

"Aww! Not my new shoes!" ZIM said, disappointed. "You have a big ass rip on your jeans now." Timmy groaned looking at his own knee at the rip that went from the top of his knee down to his mid-shin. A mild cut was present as well. Timmy's knee pads obviously weren't on tight enough.

"We got that on tape!" Dib called from above. Timmy and ZIM frowned.

"Lets just hope he doesn't go around showing that footage." ZIM muttered.

**5:00 PM**

The five boys all slumped on the couch of Timmy's living room. Just getting back from the park after staying there for almost three hours, they were beat. Especially the sore ZIM and Timmy.

"Do you have any hydrogen peroxide?" ZIM asked. Timmy shrugged.

"You're better off using iodine or chlorhexidine gluconate, ZIM." A.J. said. "I'll ask Timmy's mom to see if she has some." The bald boy got up to leave. ZIM stretched out trying to get rid of his muscle aches. A.J. returned with Timmy's mom who beckoned for ZIM to follow them. The alien sighed deeply as he got back up.

"We're going to the bathroom so we don't make a mess." Mrs. Turner said. ZIM followed the woman up the stairs of their home and into the bathroom. Dib decided to go with them, seeing if he could help at all. Once in the bathroom, Mrs. Turner lifted ZIM up and sat him on the counter. His legs dangling in the sink. "It looks like you may have some gravel in your wounds. Lemme go get the tweezers real quick." She said. ZIM curled his lips downward.

"I got some pretty good footage of you, Chester and Timmy today!" Dib said, making conversation. ZIM smiled.

"I can't wait to see it."

"Yeah. Thanks for attempting to teach me how to skateboard." Dib said, meekly.

"No problem. You scrapped up your hand pretty badly didn't you?" ZIM asked. The younger boy nodded.

"Not as bad as your knees though."

"Well sure but I'm used to these kind of cuts."

"I bet. You lead a pretty . . . what's the word?"

"Rigorous life? Yeah. I do." ZIM smirked. Mrs. Turner reentered the bathroom.

"Alright, kiddo. Let's get those cuts dressed up."

**Meanwhile**

Red groaned as oil from his truck drizzled on his face and neck. He tried to sit up but his forehead clunked the underside of his truck hard. "Ow! Damn it!" He grunted. He grabbed a rag laying next to him to clean the oil off his face. He then rubbed the area of his head that now had a bruise forming. "Stupid oil change shouldn't be this hard." Red slid himself out from underneath the truck. He walked to the bed of the vehicle. Leaning over the edge he went to grab the knew oil he had just bought when he heard a loud _WHACK_! followed by an intense stinging pain to his buttocks. "Yeaauuhhh!" The Irken squealed clutching the abused area. He whirled around to see who assaulted him, face blushing madly. His eyes settled on his wife standing right behind him, holding a wooden paddle. She was giggling.

"Sorry, babe. I couldn't help myself." She said trying to stifle. Red narrowed his eyes at her but then grinned playfully.

"That's alright. How about a makeup kiss?" He asked, puckering his lips. Leslie cringed at the thought of her husband's motor oil-covered face touching her's.

"Ehhh . . . I'll pass. Thanks anyway."

"Aww! C'mon I insist."

"No no! I'm fine-Ewww! Red!" Leslie was cut off by Red's arms wrapping around her. Nuzzling his face into her shoulders and face. "Okay! Okay! We're even!" Leslie screamed. Red let her go chuckling. Leslie scowled at him. "You're such a child."

"You started it!"

"I rest my case." Leslie smirked. Red couldn't help but grin too.

"So what's up with the paddle there?"

"I found it in that closet we never use. It was probably left behind by the previous renters." Leslie said. "I thought I might use it on you tonight if you misbehave." She said suggestively, pushing her body up against his, pinning him to the side of his truck. Red got excited at the idea.

"I'll be sure to get in plenty of trouble then." He growled. Leslie laughed. This was the perfect way to get his mind off his siblings. He was nervous enough that ZIM was sleeping over at a friends house. He got even more nervous when he found out Zee had a new boyfriend and was going on her first date tomorrow night. His name was Marccim or as he likes to be called, Mark, a Vortian who moved to LA to see if he could get a part for the show. He had no such luck. Red told his little sister that he wanted to meet the boy before she went out. Zee, of course, said no in fears that Red with the help of Purple and ZIM would scare him away before the date even started. This led to an argument between the two, Red's being that he just wants to keep her safe and her argument being that she was an adult and could look out for herself. And now Zee left the house to get away from Red in order to calm down. And so that he could calm down, Red confined himself to the garage to give his truck an much needed oil change.

Leslie kissed Red's lips, stroking his antenna in an erotic kind of way making his body quiver. Through the kiss, Red made a quiet whimpering noise, as if begging for more. Leslie was happy to oblige. She opened her mouth slightly to lick his bottom lip, asking for entrance. He parted his lips so she could have access to his mouth. The woman ran her hand up under her husband's shirt to feel his waist and chest. This made Red giggle since he was ticklish on his sides.

"You have the cutest laugh." Leslie said pulling away. Red nodded.

"Yeah I do." Leslie just rolled her eyes at his lack of modesty. She took his hand and led him back to the house.

"Lets take this to the bedroom." She whispered. Red grinned widely then realized something.

"I need to finish the oil change first."

**That Night 11:45 PM**

ZIM furrowed a brow in his sleep as he heard giggling. Not liking the fact at he was being disturbed from his sleep he cracked open one eye to see who was bothering him. It was Timmy and Chester hunched over something glowing.

"What are you guys doing?" ZIM grumbled. They look back at him.

"Nothing. We're just talking." Timmy said. They turn back around to whatever they were doing. Curious ZIM got up from his bed on the floor of the living room to see what they were doing. He peeked over Chester's shoulder and found that they had his phone and were going through his text messages. He gasped.

"Guys!" He snatched his Imp back from them. "That's private! You can't look through my messages!" ZIM said angrily. He looked at his phone and discovered they were reading the conversations he had with Tak. Not exactly something he wanted anyone to see. Their convos could get a bit personal.

"Your girlfriend is so obsessed with you!" Timmy exclaimed, chuckling.

"At least I have a girl who talks to me." ZIM shot back. The two shut up after that. "Alright now, could you guys for now respect m privacy?" The younger boys rolled their eyes.

"Whatever cutie-pie." Timmy snickered.

"Sure thing, baby cakes." Chester added.

"Anything for our favorite tight ass, sex appeal, hottie." Timmy said. ZIM blushed. Why did Tak have to send him that?

"Alright, you had your fun. Please, can I trust you guys will behave if I go back to sleep?" They shook their heads. ZIM sighed. "Thought not." ZIM laid back down nonetheless next to Dib. The boy was woken up by the loud verbal exchange.

"What's the matter?" He asked tiredly.

"Nothing. The two boobs just decided to browse my phone without permission." ZIM yawned. Dib sat up a bit, resting his weight on his elbows as he stared down at the tired Irken.

"Do you even like these guys?"

"Of course I do. I tend to get along with people in weird ways . . . How do I explain this? I get along with some people by not getting along with them."

"But we get along by getting along." Dib said.

"That's because you're naturally a good friend." ZIM told him. This made Dib smile.

"Really? Thanks, Zeiden."

"No problem, Dibbers." ZIM said, closing his eyes. There was a moment of silence before a shuffling noise was heard followed by the pressure of an arm laying across his chest. ZIM opened his eyes again and found Dib embracing him awkwardly from ZIM's laying position. ZIM smirked and sat up to hug the boy. The boys held each other for awhile when Dib spoke.

"I don't have a lot of friends. You're the only friend who is actually nice to me." ZIM stayed quite to think of ways to respond to that statement.

"It seems like all your other friends don't understand how to treat other people the correct way like you do." Dib tightened his hug. After a few more seconds they released. "We should get to bed now."

**The Next Day**

A black Mustang pulled into the driveway and a tiny Irken slipped out holding his black baseball bag. Red had to refrain from running out their and strangling the little guy for forgetting to call him before he left Timmy's house. The older decided he'd let it go for now and just bother him with a lot of questions.

"Red?" A voice called out. ZIM entered the kitchen where his older brother was. Red looked up from his laptop on the dining table.

"Hey, Zei-Zei. How was it?" ZIM shrugged.

"Pretty fun. We did lots of things."

"What kinds of things?"

"Video games, movies, a random wrestling war broke out when we were trying to sleep. Timmy apparently though it would be a good idea to jump on me when I'm asleep and you know just how much I _love _being woken up from slumber." Red cracked an amused smile.

"Well I hope you gave him what was coming."

"Oh I did." ZIM smirked, sitting on the table facing Red who was on a chair. This was when Red noticed the bandages on ZIM's knees and elbow.

"What happened?" Red questioned. ZIM looked confused then realized what Red was talking about.

"Oh! Umm . . . I tripped."

"Where?" Red asked, starting to peel off the bandages to look at the damage.

"In their driveway-"

"Did they hurt you? What else did they do to you?" Red exclaimed.

"No! Timmy and I-"

"Timmy did this to you?"

"No! We collided and fell."

"I thought you said you tripped?"

"I-I . . . We were- . . . I did but-." ZIM sighed trying to collect his thoughts.

"Tell the truth so you don't get in more trouble than you probably already are." Red said.

"We were skateboarding . . . But we never left his property." Red furrowed his brows.

"Did you really not leave his property?" ZIM's antenna twitched.

"Alright. We went to a skatepark behind his house."

"How did you find your skateboard? I hid it."

"Guess you're gonna have to re-hide it." ZIM smiled. Red rolled his eyes.

"Zeiden, if you want me to trust you more than you're gonna have to obey the rules and regulations I set up for you. I told you not to even go outside. You went skateboarding without permission and you forgot to call me when you were coming home." ZIM looked down.

"Sorry, it won't happen again."

"It better not or you're never going to another sleepover again. Understand?" ZIM nodded. "Good. Jalokia and Mevlo wants to talk to you."

"They on the phone?"

"Living room. They stopped by for a visit." ZIM thanked Red and made his way to the living room to find his producer and agent sitting on the couch.

"Ahh, our little star!" Mevlo exclaimed. She scooted over so ZIM could sit in between her and Jalokia. "Take a seat. We got business to discuss." ZIM did.

"How's the show?" Jalokia asked.

"Good so far. Just got done with the pilot. The editors are doing their job and now all we have to do is wait for the response. See if Nick will green light the show."

"Well we're glad you're making progress." Jalokia said. He then switched the subjects around. "So you still interested in live concerts?"

"Of course. My answer didn't change from the last you asked me . . . Yesterday."

"Good 'Cuz I got you a gig. Your first concert will be in Meijour Pansell Arena next month. Tickets are selling as we speak." Jalokia said. "And guess what?"

"What?"

"It's almost sold out already and tickets started selling yesterday." ZIM smiled as Jalokia continued. "The arena seats over fifty-five thousand Irkens."

"And guess who bought some tickets?" Mevlo asked excitedly.

"Who? Robert Fick? If it is I'd die 'cuz that's so cool."

"Who? Oh never mind. No, it's her majesty, Almighty Tallest Miyuki! She's a huge fan of yours and wants to meet you personally after the concert." ZIM's jaw nearly dropped.

"The Tallest wants to see me?" ZIM said. "Usually people want to see _her_."

"What can I say?" Jalokia said. "I made a pretty good celebrity outta you." ZIM smirked. "In all seriousness though ZIM, I have never worked with anyone longer than I have worked with you. And to tell you the truth, you're my favorite. All the others are stuck up. They have that, 'I'm a star now so you can't tell me what to do' attitude. You're more down to Irk." ZIM felt flattered.

"Same here, ZIM, I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful client." Mevlo said, patting his head.

"Oh, stop it you." ZIM said modestly, giggling.

"Alright, well we have to go now. Your first rehearsal is gonna be held in my office on Tuesday." Jalokia said. ZIM nodded as he and Mevlo stood and beamed themselves back to Irk leaving ZIM smiling widely in the living room alone.

"Hey, Red! Guess who's meeting the Almighty Tallest!"

**The Next Day**

Chemistry wasn't his strong point and neither was it Purple's. But the boss asked specifically they research new chemical compounds that were rather unstable and report their findings by the end of the week. Red readjusted his lab coat and goggles then pulled on his rubber gloves. He had just entered the room that they made into their lab, where Purple was already working on a mixture, heating it over a burner.

"This is stupid." Purple muttered not looking at Red. "We're biologists, not chemists." Red shrugged.

"Our boss is stupid. We found that out awhile ago." Red walked to a cupboard. Deciding to have a little fun and do a small experiment as a warm up before he began work. He opened the cupboard to find a few cubes of cesium. "Hey, Purple check this out." Red chuckled as he proceeded to pour a beaker of water into the flask.

"Red, you sure that's safe?"

"No . . . But that ain't stopping me." Red held the flask up to watch the reaction. As soon as the water hit the metal it exploded violently in Red's hand with a loud boom. Shattering the beaker, glass hurled toward Red's face. Red dropped the remains of the beaker. The man was shaking and held his now cut up face with his hands. Purple ran to his side.

"Damn! You okay?" Red looked at his colleague with thick streaks of blood flowing down his face from where the glass cut him. Blood was literally pooling out of the wounds.

"That was cool." Red said in all seriousness then burst into laughter. Once Purple discovered his friend was alright he followed suit until Leslie came barging into the lab.

"What the hell happened in here? I heard a loud noise!" She looked at the mess of glass on the floor then at Red's bloody face. "My God! What did you do?" Leslie rushed to him and examined his face. "You have shards of glass launched in your face!" Red winced as she tried to take a piece out. "And your face is singed! Did you get burnt?"

"You missed it, Leslie. Red does the most stupidest things when you're not around!" Purple said very amused. Leslie shot him a glare. Red took off his goggles and gloves.

"We're going to the hospital, now!" Leslie grabbed Red's arm and tugged him. The man shook his head.

"No! No, we'll just pull the glass out here. You can do it. Go get the tweezers." Leslie frowned deeply. Why did Red do this? She grabbed his arm, digging her nails into his skin as she pulled him down the hall to their bedroom and ordered him to lay down. She ran to get tweezers from the bathroom then came back into their room. Purple and Red were laughing again. Leslie groaned, pulling up a reading chair to work on Red. She used a book light to shine down on his abused face to see better. Leslie squinted to find the first shard to pull out. She spotted a decent sized one and used the tweezers to pinch it. She slowly, not wanting to hurt Red, tried to pull out the glass. "Ow! Les, that hurts!"

"Well, I'm sorry! What do you want me to do? You were the idiot who did this to yourself in the first place!"

"Be gentle!"

"I am!"

"No you're not! You're yanking-"

"Shut up, both of you." Purple said, calmly. "Red stop being a whiny ass. You're not a smeet." Purple turned to leave. "I'mma get some disinfectant. Once you pull out the glass we need to stop the bleeding. Red's face is starting to loose color." The man left the couple to fend for themselves. Leslie sighed dramatically.

"You're stinging your lab coat. Take it off." Red sat up and peeled off the white overcoat to his clothes underneath. He laid back down and let Leslie work again. "Don't think for a second that I like hurting you. Cuz this is pretty painful for me to do this to you." She grumbled, not sounding very compassionate but her words were convincing enough.

"I believe you. Don't kill me please." Leslie was about to open her mouth to say something but a loud voice interrupted their conversation.

"Guys! Look what I just bought- … What the heck happened to you?" It was ZIM's loud obnoxious voice. He just ran into the room and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Red.

"Lab accident. What did you get?" Red asked noticing ZIM was holding a large box. ZIM dropped it to the floor, smiling huge.

"New catchers equipment! I magically grew out of my old gear and I got these for only one hundred-fifty monies!" ZIM opened the top of the box and pulled out black and silver shin guards. "Aren't they spiffy?" Leslie grinned at the boy.

"They're nice Hun. Maybe later you can try them out."

"Ooo, yeeeaaaah." ZIM said. "That would be fuuuuunnn." ZIM jumped on the bed next to Red to watch. "That looks like ouchies."

"It is ouchies, ZIM. Don't grow up to be like your brother." Leslie said, she dug the geezers to the glass and pulled hard.

"Gah! Damn! That hurts like a bitch!" Red squealed, clutching the sheets of the bed, writhing in pain.

"Red Elias, watch your language when Zeiden is around!" Leslie scowled. She used the night stand next to the bed to put the glass she just pulled out to set it on. "I think there's only two left. Hold still." Red's eyes were tearing up. "Are you crying?" Red shook his head. "Yes you are. Don't lie." Leslie kissed his lips that has a small cut on it from the accident. "Just hang in there, my little wimp." She used the tweezers to pull out another piece. The last piece that remain was launched deep in his cheek. "Okay, Hun. This one may hurt a bit."

"They all hurt, Les!"

"Calm down! If your struggle it'll hurt more." Leslie grapes the glass with the metal prongs and quickly ripped out the deepest one. Red let out a shout of surprise, tears wet his face.

"Ahhh hahah! God why? Why must it hurt?" He whimpered sorrowfully. Leslie felt bad.

"Red, you're freaking me out, jeez. Oh and Zee's boyfriend is gonna be here in about an hour." Red sat up. His face felt like it was on fire.

"Oh yeah. I remember that." Red said as Leslie started to dab up the blood with a towel that Purple had given her. "I have a plan to scare him shitless when he comes here. I'll need your help, ZIM." ZIM beamed. Red looked over to Purple who was staring at a wall. "And I'll need your help too, Pur." The violet-eyed Irken glanced at Red confused.

"What's the plan?" He asked. Red smirked.

"You'll see."

**Later**

Zee's in her room getting ready. ZIM said trotting down the steps of their home wearing nothing but a pair of plaid boxers. He joined Purple and Red in the foyer who were also in their boxers only. Red and Purple were smoking lit cigarettes, something they didn't do often, and cans of Budweiser. In Red's hand that was free he was holding a brown rifle. Not loaded, of course.

"Good job, Z. Now start workin' on ya' hick accent." Red said doing exactly what he told ZIM to do.

"Sure thang, Red." ZIM said, imitating the southern accent. "When dat boy sees us he'd best hightail it da odder way! Ain't no one datin' my sister."

"I just like being able to walk around in my underwear without you guys yelling at me." Purple said contently, a doopy smile plastered on his features. Red shook his head. The three jumped a bit when they heard the doorbell ring. Red looked to Purple and ZIM.

"Y'all ready for dis?" He asked. The other two nodded. Red went to the front door then swung it open harshly startling the Vortian waiting on the step outside. He was tall. Same height as Red and Purple. He had small dark blue, almost black, eyes. His horns were bent backward and had a light grey color and his skin was light purple. Red squinted at him, Red pushed the cigarette to the corner of his mouth so he could talk. "What ya doin' here?" Red demanded harshly, pointing the gun to the man. The Vortian froze, trembling.

"Uhh . . . I'm here to pick up Zee . . . She _does _live here right?" Purple scowled.

"Depends. Who are ya?" He asked then took a swig of the Bud in his hand. The Vortian blushed slightly. He wasn't expecting to be greeted by three half naked, drunk Irkens while picking up his date. And one of these Irkens had scratches and cuts all over his face as if he had just gotten into a knife fight.

"I'm her date-"

"My sister is dating _you_?" ZIM asked, then burst into laughter. "Hoo! Boy! Zannah must've lowered her standards if she's goin' fer a guy like ya!" Red and Purple cackled along.

"Ya not gonna do no funny stuff with my sister are ya? Cuz lemme tell ya boy, last man who went around messin' wit her didn't see the light of day ever again." Red said, cocking the gun. "If ya know what I mean, boy?" The Vortian gulped and nodded hurriedly.

"I don't know, Red. Dis boy look a little suspicious tah me." Purple said, blowing smoke into the Vortian's face. He coughed a bit. Footsteps were heard coming down the stairs.

"What are you guys doing?" Came a startled gasp that belonged to Zee. She ran the rest of the way down to the foyer. "I'm so sorry, Mark! I apologize for whatever they did- Go put on some pants! God you're such idiots!" Zee snapped. Red grabbed her arm and yanked her back away from Mark.

"Not yet, Zee. We're not finished analogizing' da kid just yet." Zee pushed away from him.

"Go! Now! Before I kick you where it hurts, Red!"

"You wouldn't do tha-Ouch!" Red crumpled to the ground holding his restricted area in pain.

"Anyone else?" Zee challenged the other two Irkens left standing. Purple and ZIM shook their heads. "Good! Now please leave him alone!" Zee took Mark's hand and led him out the door. The Vortian looked scared, confused, and even traumatized. The expression was hilarious to them. Red groaned and slowly got back up on his feet, waving to Zee.

"Have fun, Zee!" He called out to her in a pain voice. He might have been mistaken but Red could have sworn he seen Zee's middle finger waving back at him. "What a, Peach." Red chuckled. Purple and ZIM were nearly rolling on the ground laughing. They totally just traumatized the poor Vortian and he thinks the Macale family is a bunch of murderous, drunken rednecks.

"Oh my God! That was priceless! Zannah will have so much explaining to do to him!" Purple exclaimed.

"Yeahaha, he thought Red was gonna shoot him, it looked at if he was gonna go running the other way!" ZIM said, gleefully. "Ahhh, that made my night."

"You three are horrible." The Irkens spun around to see Leslie and Tenn standing behind them. Tenn was the one who spoke. "Why would you do something like that? Zee just wanted to go out and have fun and you probably ruined it for her!"

"Eh, she'll get over it." Red brushed his hand in the air. "I'm gonna go put some clothes on." He started to walk away but Leslie got in his way.

"You better apologize to both Zee and the Vortian when they come back! You scared him shitless!" She fumed. Red rolled his eyes.

"I don't have to do shit." Red said, attempting to push past her. Stopped when he felt sharp finger nails dig deep into his arm.

"You. _Will_. Apologize." Leslie snarled, glaring horribly. It scared Red. She plucked the cigarette out of his mouth to dispose of it. "Sometimes I wonder why I decided to marry you." She muttered under her breath. Red pouted.

"That was . . . uncalled for."

"I just don't get how an advanced, intelligent and sophisticated race can be so . . . weird." Leslie said, looking at Red, her scowl slowly disappearing. Red raised a brow.

"Sophisticated?" Red pointed his thumb to ZIM still wearing only his underwear and now dancing on the kitchen table singing again. Something he did often.

"_Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world! She took the midnight train going anywhere! Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit! He took the midnight train going anywhere! . . . A singer in a smokey room . . ._"

"Mmm hmm, the Irken race is _very _sophisticated." Red said over the loud singing. "I'll apologize when she comes home, if she's not pissed at us anymore."

"ZIM! Shut up! I can't hear myself think!" Red heard Gaz scream.

"Can't beat me! Join me! _Don't stop believing! Hold on to that feelin' !_" Was ZIM's reply.

"Red! Tell your brother to shut up!" Red sighed walking to the kitchen with Leslie.

"Why don't you three go out for awhile?" Leslie asked, lifting ZIM up from the table and setting him down on the table. Red's antenna wilted. "What?"

"I was kinda hoping you seeing me in my underwear would turn you on." He said sadly. Leslie scowled again and smacked Red hard across the face. He rubbed his cheek.

"Don't talk that way in front of these two. You should go meet up with the Griffons for a little while before they go back to London for a little while. I'm sure ZIM would like to see Tak before they go." ZIM nodded eagerly.

"I would actually." Red groaned.

"Fine. We're going. We'll be back at nine or something." Red was about to leave when Leslie quickly spoke up.

"You're not going anywhere naked, Red."

**Later**

"When are you leaving?" ZIM asked.

"Two days." Tak said holding his hand. They were sitting on a balcony at the hotel's suite the Griffons were staying in for the time being, their feet dangling over the ledge. They were on the top floor and had a great view of the city. ZIM nodded sadly.

"When are you coming back?"

"I don't know. Five months. I hope less." Tak sighed. "Sucks we live so far away."

"Yeah. It's really too bad." ZIM felt a pair of lips brush his cheek. He smiled when another was planted on his neck. He turned his head so he could catch her lips. The two locked lips with each other waiting a second before Tak pushed her tongue past ZIM's closed lips into his mouth. He opened his mouth so she could enter. Her tongue licking his own tongue and lower lip even nibbling on it a bit. ZIM placed a hand behind her head to push their faces closer together. Tak wrapper her arms around him in a tight embrace. ZIM's other hand traveled to her waist.

"I'll really miss you." Tak said breaking away for only a instant before slipping her tongue down his throat again. The two kissed passionately in pure bliss for what felt like eternity but in reality was only a good three minutes then being rudely interrupted by Tak's moody father.

"Alright, I've seen enough." Mr. griffon mumbled from the sliding door that led to the balcony. Tak and ZIM jumped at the sudden noise that broke the peaceful semi-quiet of the city. "Now stop snogging each other and lets go."

"Where are we going?" Tak wondered.

"Culver Ice Arena. We're going ice skating." The man said. ZIM couldn't help but stare at his belly. He was only a month in and he already looked like he swallowed a soccer ball. Maybe the smeet was just gonna be a big boy.

"Why?" ZIM asked.

"For fun. Don't you like to have fun?" Mr. Griffon questioned. ZIM didn't respond figuring the question was rhetorical. "Anyways, keep your tongues in your own mouths and come on." ZIM blushed and looked at Tak who looked equally embarrassed.

"Well . . . I guess we should go."

**Culver Ice Arena**

It was open skate and there only seemed to be eleven other people besides the five Irkens there. Purple was happy who could get some skating time in for his upcoming season starting in November. Tak and her mom liked to figure skate. Mr. Griffon couldn't skate being with child and Red and ZIM figured they were pretty much screwed and knew they were gonna make themselves look like total morons. The brothers were sitting side-by-side on the bench to lace up their skates. Red was using a pair of Purple's hockey skates since they had the same show size, who both surprisingly wore North American kid's size eleven which was only seven inches. But small feet was common for Irkens. ZIM was using rental recreational skates. Purple was already laced up in his nice hockey skates and ready to go, finishing in less than a minute. Red was almost done and ZIM was struggling so he had Purple help him. Tak and her mom were already on the ice enjoying themselves.

Every now and then ZIM would catch a glimpse of Tak perfecting the axel jump. She was so graceful and gorgeous. Her eyes lit up by the glow of the white ice. ZIM smiled. He was so lucky.

"Done!" Purple chirped, standing up and waddling to the edge of the rink. "Let's go now." He skated out onto the ice backwards to watch Red and ZIM follow unsuccessfully. Red got on his hands and knees and crawled to the edge. ZIM stood u then just went crashing back down again.

"God! This is hard already!" Red whined. He threw his body onto the smooth, cold ice then attempted to get up. Purple skated to him effortlessly and helped him up. Red had to hold onto the railing to catch himself from falling. ZIM also crawled to the side and allowed himself to be picked up and set on the ice.

"Thanks, Pur. Now teach us how to skate." ZIM said.

"It'll take awhile, ZIM. You're not gonna be able to learn in just one night-" Purple cut himself off when he saw Red go crashing to the ground through his peripheral vision. He sighed and help his best friend up again.

"Thank you." Red muttered, then laughed when he saw ZIM tumble down. Purple groaned.

"You guys are hopeless." Purple said. Tak skated in between Purple and ZIM.

"I'll help him. You can help that looser." Tak pointed to Red. The man frowned.

"Gee thanks." As Purple began to back skate slowly holding both of Red's hands as he skated toward the more experienced of the two, Tak helped ZIM up.

"If you wanna have fun you don't have to wait around for me." ZIM said.

"I won't have fun unless I'm with you, babe." Tak said. ZIM smiled. She held tightly to his hand and skated at a turtle-like speed with her younger boyfriend. ZIM peered over his shoulder to see how his older brothers were doing. Purple looked angry and Red was laying face down on the ice, not moving. Purple probably killed him. ZIM shrugged that off and dubbed that normal as he and Tak proceeded to skate. ZIM lost his footing and fell to his knees taking Tak with him. She giggled, standing again. She yanked ZIM up again. "C'mon, Z. Easy does it."

"I don't think I can do this, Tak."

"Aww, c'mon, ZIM! Why can't you be like Purple?"

"I'd love to be like Purple, unfortunately I'm more like that guy." ZIM pointed to Red who was now being dragged by the ankle by Purple across the ice screaming about cold stuff going down his pants.

"I was kinda hoping you'd pick up on hockey. I really like that sport and I think you'd be good at it once you learn to skate." ZIM thought about it. It _did _look like fun. He's been to quite a few of Purple's matches. He already understood the fundamentals and rules of the sport.

"You know what? If you teach me to skate, I'll try out for a league just for you." Tak beamed. "But you know how Red is, he'll be complaining that I have enough drain bamage and won't let me play." Tak shook her head.

"Join a team secretly then. Red doesn't have to know." ZIM raised his brows in thought.

"You're right. He doesn't have to know, does he?"

"Hey ZIM, have you noticed something?" Tak asked, smiling.

"What?" ZIM asked.

"I haven't been holding your hand." ZIM looked down and sure enough he was skating on his own and he didn't even realize it.

"Huh! I'm a natural!" ZIM exclaimed, excitedly. Tak grinned and kissed his cheek then whispered,

"So talented."

**... Rated M**

After skating for two hours the group of five called it quits and headed home. Tak was gonna spend the night with the Macale's for the last time for awhile. Purple was driving home, Red being too whomped to drive all the way home. Tak and ZIM were sleeping in the back, leaning against each other.

"They're so cute." Red said, quietly.

"Heh heh. Yeah." Purple agreed. "Too bad they won't being seeing each other for awhile. They like each other a lot." Red nodded, then suddenly changed the topic.

"How was I?"

"Uhh . . ."

"And be honest."

"Well . . . I think there's room for you to improve."

"I suck, don't I?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Purple chuckled pulling into the driveway. He got out and opened the doors to the backseats, lifting up the sleeping ZIM as Red hoisted Tak up.

"Man, she's getting heavy." Red grunted.

"ZIM is as light as ever." Purple said. "Poor little guy. By the time he's fifteen, Tak is going to be two feet taller than him and he'll more than likely stay the same lousy three feet tall."

"Eh, he's got no one to blame except for my mom. She was a rather short lady. Not only that but ZIM was premature." Red said. Purple opened the front door and walked in with Red. The two men set the younger Irkens on the couch not disturbing them from their slumber at all. Red kissed ZIM's head, then threw a blanket over the both of them. Red heard ZIM let out a content sigh. He smiled satisfied that ZIM went to bed so easily and went to his room after saying goodnight to his other brother. Red entered his room seeing his wife reading a book on the center of their bed. He grinned mischievously and crawled up the bed the made his way over to Leslie until he was looming over her. She put her book down on the night stand to converse with him.

"You're late. You said you'd be back by nine." Red glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven.

"Got caught up falling on my ass and what not." He pushed her down so she was laying underneath him.

"You fall?" She asked. Red kissed her lips briefly.

"Yeah, a lot. Went ice skating, or at least tried to." He kissed her again this time more passionately. Red snuck a hand under her silky night shirt to rub her waist and kept going up till he was close to her breast. Leslie snatched his hand before he could touch them. Red stopped kissing her befuddled. Leslie suddenly switched positions so she was on top. She hastily tore off his shirt and undid his pants, pulling the, all the way down and off, leaving him in his underwear. Red smirked crookedly. Leslie knows him too well. He finds dominating females extremely sexy. "Two nights in a row? Aren't I lucky?" Leslie licked his waistline where his boxers started, teasing the Irken.

"You are lucky. You better never take me for granted."

"I would never." Red said, happily. Leslie groped her husbands thighs and hips. Finally, Leslie dropped his boxers and pulled them all the way off. Red beamed as did Leslie. She loved the way her hubby looked without clothes. Leslie caught Red's lips in a kiss as she used her right hand to rub the slit between his legs with one finger. The woman raised her hand up to Red's face and stuck four fingers in his mouth to lubricate them. "You trimmed you nails." Red said through the fingers in his mouth.

"For a reason." Leslie winked at him. He smiled dorkily. She pulled her fingers out of his mouth then proceeded to rub his slit again in attempt to make him even more horny. "You're such a naughty boy. I don't know why I'm about to finger you. You don't deserve that kind of treatment."

"'Cuz you love me." Red said, hopefully. Leslie shrugged then crawled off him. She spread his legs far apart so she had better access to his slit. She bent her head down to lick the area to make it more moist. This made Red groan. "Ahh. I love a female in charge. It's hot." He whispered. Leslie grinned.

"Good, because that's what you're getting tonight." She licked him once more then pushed his legs even further apart. "I'm doing something I've never done to you before."

"And what's that?"

"I'm using four fingers." And with that Leslie used her middle finger and thumb to separate the lips of the slit open. This sent a shock of pleasure to Red. Leslie stuck her index finger into the hot, wet slit to a wall where a hole was. His vagina was directly below his penis's sheath. She protruded the hole sticking her index finger all the way in up the knuckled where the finger met the hand. Red jumped a bit at the roughness but didn't complain. That's the way he liked it. His wife stuck another finger in his tight hole. She looked at him for a brief moment. He was excited and wanted more so she stuck her ring finger in next. She's only ever fit three inside him at a time. She was going to see if she could break her record tonight.

"Ohhh, Les. That feels so gooood." Red moaned with delight, fists full of sheets. His sexy, breathy moan turned Leslie on. The stinging yet pleasant sensation between his legs made him crazy. Red turned his hips upward to make Leslie's fingers go deeper inside of him.

"Be patient, okay?" Leslie finally was able to squeeze her pinky in with the other three. Red barely noticed the difference so Leslie decided to go one step beyond. "This will hurt, okay babe?" Red looked down to see what she was about to do. Without warning Leslie jammed her thumb in making Red scream. He immediately slapped a hand over his mouth the other hand gripped bedsheets. Leslie waited till he was used to the feeling before she started to thrust the fingers in and out of him, painfully slow.

"Mmmm. Leslie . . . harder. Fuck me harder." Leslie picked up the pace. She would pull her fingers till they were almost out then plunge them back into the tight hole that she's grown to love. Every sound her husband made every breath he would take, it made her go crazy. He was just so amazingly beautiful when he was in ecstasy. It was fun to look at his face when he was close to climax. Leslie continued to thrust her hand into him. Every now and then his antenna would twitch. His hands would clench and unclench. "Faster!" Red whined. Leslie did just that. She rammed her hand into his groin.

"You're so hot." Leslie whispered. Red bit his lip and closed his eyes. A sign that he was seconds away from the grand finale.

"Ahhh!" Red arched his back, gripping the sheets tightly. His heart was racing, mind reeling. The convulsions through his body made him jolt as his orgasm commenced. "Leslie!" How she loved hearing her name being screamed by her Irken lover. It was out of this world. Literally. Leslie waited till his orgasm was done then she pulled her fingers out. They were coated with thick, clear slime. She smirked at the sight of his sex juices on her. Leslie bent down to lick around his crotch to prepare him for round two. As she did Red's legs twitched from the aftershock. He was still panting and whimpering like a smeet. Now Leslie felt the wetness between her legs start to drip down her thighs. She stuck her fingers in his slit again earning a moan of approval from Red. She fished for his penis. The woman quickly found it and pulled it out. As soon as it was released from it's captivity it went as hard and stiff as a board.

"And you don't even need to use any penis enlargement pills. You're just naturally huge." Red blushed.

"Oh, stop it you." She was right. His penis was eight and a half inches long and as thick as a golfball. Slot bigger than any humans. Leslie started to strip herself of her clothes. Once she was fully naked she straddled Red's hips and prepared her entrance. Then she said something that made Red laugh.

"Alright, big boy. You'll be the bronco and I'll be the cowgirl riding you."

**October 23, 2000**

**Normal Rating**

Sun streamed through the windows on a soft baby-like face. Young Irken ZIM stirred in his sleep. He felt a pair of legs resting on his back. He turned on his side from his stomach and cracked open an eye and saw Tak laying with him on the opposite side of the couch. Last time he checked he was in the back of Red's truck. He must've been moved sometime last night. He stared at Tak for a long while. Her long eyelashes curled up elegantly. She was breathing softly. Not wanting to wake her but still determined to get up, he slid off the couch. He was about to walk away when a English accented voice stopped him.

"I don't get a good morning kiss?" ZIM whirled around to face Tak. Her eyes were open slightly. Her amethyst eyes glowed in the sunlight. ZIM went back to the couch and kissed her lips briefly.

"G'day, Sheila."

"I think I heard a your brother scream last night." Tak snickered. ZIM frowned.

"I didn't need to know that, Tak."

"Heheh. I just thought it was funny how I woke up to the sounds of-"

"That's nice, Tak." ZIM cut her off. He had no interest in his brother's sex life nor will he ever. Tak might, she has a crush on Red. She said it a few times even when her and ZIM were dating that he was a spitting image of his older brother only Red was 'sexier' and ZIM was just 'adorable'. ZIM walked to the kitchen. Purple was already up talking to Zee who still looked pissed from the night before. ZIM hugged her. She looked down at him. "How was your date?" He asked with wide eyes and a sweet pout. This way she won't be made at him. Zee couldn't help but soften her features toward ZIM. He was too cute.

"It went fine after I explained what you guys were trying to do." ZIM smiled.

"Sorry about that. I'm just looking out for you because I love you, big sister." Zee smirked and kissed ZIM's antenna.

"I love you too, Zei-Zei."

"What is this? When I apologize you give me a bunch of shit but when the smeet apologizes it's all good! Am I not cute enough for forgiveness?" Purple asked. ZIM stuck his tongue out at the older Irken who just crossed his arms in defeat.

"He didn't try any funny stuff with you, did he?" ZIM questioned. Zee rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"No, Hun. After that act you guys put on last night, I don't think he dares."

"Good. I don't like it when people date my sisters." ZIM glared at Purple. The two shared a gaze when Tenn cut them off. She had just woken up and joined them in the kitchen.

"I don't like it when my little brother gets nosy." Tenn ruffled ZIM's antenna. The younger Irken just smiled.

"But you love me anyway." ZIM said smugly.

"Unfortunately." Tenn rested a hand on Purple's shoulder and gave his a peck on the cheek. "And I don't have to love you but I do regardless." Purple grinned at ZIM.

"See? She isn't forced to love me." ZIM's upper lip curved downward at him. ZIM was about to retort when Red stumbled into the kitchen wearing only a pair of long white and red basketball shorts, rubbing his inner thigh he went to the fridge. Red pulled out a big glass bottle of Everclear. The Irkens eyes widened as he plopped down at the table and took a surprisingly big swig of it. When he swallowed it he merely coughed but was otherwise unfazed by the strong alcohol. He let out a big sigh.

"Leslie fucked me so hard last night." Zee scowled and slapped Red hard on the back of the head. He was in a daze and wasn't fully awake just yet, that's why he was saying and doing the things he was. "Oww, girl, why you hafta go and do that?" Red moaned.

"You just realized that you said that in front of ZIM, right?" Zee said. Red rubbed his eyes, yawning then focussed in on ZIM.

"Sorry, mate. I didn't see you there."

"Why are you apologizing to me?" ZIM looked at Red. He wasn't paying attention. He must've tuned out after Red's comment.

"Never mind then, bud." Red took another drink of the Everclear.

"Bro, you're crazy." Purple said, shocked that he was downing the almost pure alcohol. "Take another sip of that stuff and you're gonna kneel over throwing up." Red shrugged, he offered the bottle to Purple. The violet-eyed Irken thought about it for a moment then accepted the offer. He took the glass bottle from him and took a drink himself. Purple cringed and coughed hard. "Yeah, no. Not a fan." Purple said thrusting the bottle back to him. ZIM perked up with an idea. Red wasn't thinking straight maybe he'd let ZIM try it.

"Can I have a sip-"

"No." Red groaned before he could even finish.

"I'm old enough to drink, ya know." ZIM asked, pleadingly.

"I know you are, Zeiden. But I'm not letting you." Red used his fist to rub his eye. "God, what a night." ZIM groaned.

"You don't wanna turn into Red anyway, Squirt." Tenn said. "He's a complete idiot when he's drunk." Red must of not heard her because he walked to the fridge to pull out a bottle of spiced rum and put away the Everclear. He unscrewed the jar and chugged quarter of it.

"Take it easy, man." Purple said. "Damn, trying to get drunk before ten AM?"

"I was plannin' on spending the whole day drinking. I haven't been drunk in awhile." Red hiccuped from drinking too fast. "Nah, I'm just drinking off my night. I'm still tired though, I might go crash on the couch." Red said, he side stepped to the table from the fridge and sat down again. He then realized that he wasn't on the couch and got up to go to the correct location.

"He is out of it." Zee shook her head.

"He's funny." ZIM gave a toothy grin and wandered to the living room just in time to see Red push Tak off the couch and flop down in place of her. She scowled but decided it was time to get up anyway. Tak walked past ZIM to the kitchen leaving him and his older brother alone.

"I'm going into a world of dreams." Red mumbled, sleepily.

"Can I ask you a question?" ZIM asked sitting on the couch next to Red.

"You just did."

"Yeah, well, you know I'm going to be an adult in about two years."

"Don't remind me." Red muttered.

"I think it's time you let me-"

"Whatever it is, Zeiden, it's no. Whether is drinking, smoking, going off on your own, I don't care. It's a no." ZIM groaned. "Don't whine. I personally think the Irken laws should change. Twelve year olds is still too young."

"Most twelve year olds are mature." ZIM insisted.

"_Most _twelve year olds. You're not part of the most you're apart of the some Irkens that are still immature by twelve years old." ZIM scoffed.

"That was mean."

"It was the cold, hard truth. End discussion."

"But-"

"End! Discussion!" Red snapped. ZIM furrowed his brow. Geez, someone's cranky. ZIM then thought of something else to say.

"Two years from now you can't tell me what to do." ZIM said, snottily. Red shot ZIM a glare.

"If you're still living with me by then, fat chance. I'm not breaking my promise I made to mom anytime soon, Junior." ZIM huffed. Stupid promise. Red took that all too seriously.

ZIM then became conscience of the fact that he could buy his own alcohol if he wanted to. He'd just have to drink it in private. ZIM liked the idea, standing up slowly.

"I'm going out." ZIM said.

"Not alone."

"With Tak."

"An adult."

"She's going to be an adult in over a month."

"ZIM, just . . . Fine, go. Be back in two hours. Where are you going?"

"The . . . studio. Gotta ask Jhonen a few questions." ZIM stated, falsely. Red seemed to buy it since he brushed his hand in the air dismissing him. ZIM smirked, victoriously. He sauntered into the kitchen. He tugged on Tak's arm. "Let's go. We're going out." Tak gave ZIM a look but followed him anyway to his car. He closed the door to the driver's seat and waited for Tak to crawl in.

"Where are we going, Z?"

"Crazy." Was ZIM's only reply before putting the vehicle in reverse and pulling out of the driveway.

**Ten Minutes Later**

ZIM cocked a brow as he pulled into a liquor store. He wasn't entirely sure how to do this. If he'd get kicked out for looking too young. If he'd need a parents permission to actually buy the merchandise he wants to try. Oh well, it'll be a trial and error.

"What are we doing here?" ZIM looked at Tak almost forgetting she was in the Mustang with him.

"Have you ever drank before? Or smoked? You're nearly fifteen I expected that you did." Tak shook her head.

"No I don't want lung cancer or liver problems when I get older." Tak mumbled. "Why? You're not gonna become a raging alcoholic, are you?"

"It's just and experiment." ZIM said, getting out of the car. He noticed a sign on the front window of the store that said you had to be eighteen or older to even enter the store. That rule didn't apply for Irkens so ZIM went right ahead into the store, Tak close behind. The man at the counter glanced up from a magazine then went back to reading. He obviously didn't care that there were a couple of aliens in his presence.

"_Toys"R"Us_ is down the block, kiddos." ZIM faced the man.

"Not looking for _those _kinds of toys, if you know what I mean." ZIM said, sarcastically with a wink. The man at the counter laughed. Tak smacked ZIM upside the head then went off on her own browsing the aisles. ZIM did the same. Going to the cooler at the back wall he saw something he might like. He would start with the fruitlet drinks until he developed a taste for the alcohol then he'd go for the harder stuff. Mojitos, cocktails, wines, Sangria, Martinis, Margaritas, Daiquiris, and even hard lemon and limeade. ZIM had a nonalcoholic strawberry daiquiri before so he took a bottle of that, then snatched a martini off the shelf and a rose wine. Tak found her boyfriend again and looked at him in disgust.

"You seriously gonna do this, Z?"

"Heck yeah! Be a rebel, Takky, c'mon."

"Don't call me that and I don't want to be stupid and disobey specific rules set out-"

"Whatever." ZIM walked to the counter. He lifted the products on the counter and stood on his toes to see over it. The man laughed.

"How old are you, kid?"

"Twelve." The man typed something into his computer.

"Huh, Irken law says that's okay for twelve year olds to purchase alcohol." The guy looked down at ZIM. "I never heard that law before." ZIM nodded.

"Get me a pack of Marlboro too." ZIM said.

"Red, silver, gold, or black?"

"Black, please. I'll take this lighter as well." ZIM dug into his pocket to get his wallet. The guy got what he needed and scanned the items and put them into a bag.

"That would be sixty-three dollars and I shall need to see some sort of ID." ZIM used his credit card and drivers license. The man handed the cards back and handed the bag to ZIM.

"Thanks man." ZIM said. The guy nodded and went back to reading. Tak didn't look pleased at all when she got back into the car. ZIM started to open the cigarettes.

"You're not smoking and driving, Zeiden."

"Yes I am." ZIM popped the end of a cigarette into his mouth and used the lighter to set the tip ablaze. ZIM took a deep drag. A tingling sensation gathered in his chest and his throat tickled. ZIM pulled the cigarette away from his mouth and blew out the smoke. Tak wrinkled her nose.

"I'm not kissing you for the rest of the day now." ZIM shrugged.

"It's gonna bother you more than it is me." ZIM said taking another huff. Tak shook her head.

"It looks as if you've been smoking for years. You have practice?"

"Nope, first time." ZIM said. "You saying I _don't_ look like a dork when I do this?" Tak didn't answer.

"Where are we going, now?"

"I don't know. Might as go to the studio since that's where I said I was going to be." ZIM shifted and drove ten miles away to the studio. When they entered the building they saw a few Nicktoon stars chilling in the lobby including Spongebob, Squidward, Sandy, Patrick, Debbie Thornberry, and Catdog was there too.

"Hey, Zeiden!" Spongebob announced his entrance.

"Hiya, what up?" ZIM replied.

"What's in the bag there, pardner?" Sandy asked pointing to the bag in his hands.

"I'd tell you but you might tell my brother." ZIM said. Sandy cocked a brow.

"Why? What is it?"

"Nothing. Let's go Tak." ZIM said walking away hurriedly. They made their way to his personal dressing room on the second floor of the studio. He sat down on the leather couch he had in there and motioned for Tak to sit next to him. Instead of sitting by him she popped a squat on ZIM's lap.

"You really shouldn't drink. Where are you gonna put the rest?"

"The fridge. I have one here in the dressing room." He pointed to the mini cooler in the corner of the room where the flat screen T.V. is. ZIM reached down to grabbed the bag and grabbed a random item. He pulled out the daiquiri and used his his index claw and jammed it into the top of the cork and easily pulled it out with a _Pop_! The smell of strawberry almost immediately wafered through the air. It was a pleasant smells to the antennas and scent gathering pores on the Irken's faces. ZIM raised his antennas more smelling the bitter yet sweet drink. "Me gusta." He pressed the bottle to his lips and dribbled a bit of the liquid into his slightly open mouth.

"How is it?" Tak asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"Not bad." ZIM said. He offered some to Tak. They were both legal but she was staying strong on her 'I don't want liver problems' side. "And babe, you have enough physical problems yourself. Trying to get more?"

"I don't have any physical problems! . . . Except for shortness . . . And epilepsy . . . Low blood pressure . . . And sugar . . . Shut up, Tak!" ZIM knew he was defeated but that wouldn't stop him from doing what he wanted. He took another drink.

"So does this mean I'm driving home?" ZIM nodded.

"Yeah whatever." ZIM was about to raise the bottle again but Tak grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"Did you hear that?" She asked. ZIM tilted his head in confusion. A knock to his dressing room door was heard. "Can we let whoever in?" ZIM nodded. "Enter!" Tak called. The door opened quickly revealing Sandy.

"Yes?" ZIM asked, pushing Tak off his lap. Sandy had her arms crossed looking suspicious.

"And just what are you hiding from your brother, young critter?" That's when Sandy noticed the alcohol in ZIM's hand. "You're drinking? Shoot! I drink whiskey every now and then but I'm not underage!"

"I'm not either! The rules for Irkens are different from humans and toons. Please don't tell anyone. I'm just experimenting a bit."

"Squirt, if your brother doesn't want you to do this then I'm not just gonna sit around and not tell him." Sandy stood her ground. She was defiantly a stereotypical Texan. Hard exterior, doesn't play around, carries a gun, and she knew karate and ZIM even seen her kick a few people's butts in the short time he's been here. She was five feet, four inches of pure power.

"Sandy, please. You don't even know how incredibly sheltered I am! I'm going to be an adult soon and I need to discover the real world." ZIM gave his best puppy-dog eyes and pout he could muster at the squirrel. "Please, Miss. Cheeks? For me?" Sandy, though tough, had a soft spot for cute things. And since ZIM knew this he could easily use his cuteness to his advantage.

"Damnit, kid! Stop makin' those eyes! You know you're adorable and so does everyone else, now quit it." He didn't. ZIM needed a definite answer before he could stop. "Fine! You win! But now that I am aware of your secret, ZIM, I have an advantage over you. If you get at least a little bit tipsy or irresponsible in your drinking, I'm turning you over to your brother. Got that?" ZIM nodded, smiling in victory. Sandy turned to leave. "I'm keeping an eye on you, pardner." With that she left his room. ZIM sighed in relief.

"That was close."

"You're such an idiot." Tak muttered, getting closer to him. Then cranes her neck so she could kiss his neck, which sent shivers down his spine. "But you're my idiot." Tak's tongue peaked out of her mouth as she ran her mouth over the skin of his neck and cheek. "I'll miss you when I leave for a few months."

"I'll miss you too. You're coming back when your brother comes, right?" Tak nodded.

"About that, Z. My parents decided not to keep this smeet." Tak said, sorrowfully. ZIM's heart sank.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Why is that?"

"Well it's not that they don't him. But a couple my parents known for over a hundred years now just discovered that they weren't able to conceive. Kinda like how Leslie is, ya know?" ZIM nodded. "That couple is gonna adopt my brother as theirs."

"Does it upset you." Tak shook her head.

"Only a little. But I'm not attached to him yet, so I'm fine for now." ZIM frowned at her face. He ran his hand down her antenna to comfort her. Tak leaned toward him again and kissed his lips. ZIM happily kissed her back.

"What happened to not kissing me?"

"This is our last day together. Might as well spend it doing what I want." Tak put her hand behind ZIM's head and smashed their lips together. ZIM wrapped his arms around Tak's slender waist. Tak ran her other hand up his chest but ZIM started to whine about something. "What?"

"You're crushing my legs."

"You're such a whiner." Tak sighed. "You know when we get married you'll more than likely be on the bottom all the time so you might as well get used to it." ZIM gave her a 'What The Hell' face. "What? It's true!"

"Takayla! We're not even old enough to marry yet and you're talking that way?" Tak shrugged.

"Why not? I'll be old enough this December."

"You know when you turn into an adult this winter we're not legally allowed to date because you'd be dating a minor and you'd get charged for pedophilia even though you're two years older."

"Then our relationship doesn't have to be public." Tak said. ZIM never thought of that. It seemed legit. He shot his eyes to the digital clock on the wall. They'd better be going. Letting Tak drive them home ZIM was curious to see how his unstable brother from this morning was doing. When they got to the house they entered the living room and everyone who resided in the house was gathered their watching Irken celebrity news.

"What's up?" ZIM asked them. Tenn shushed him.

"Jalokia told us to turn the T.V. on to this channel and watch." Tenn said. ZIM and Tak shared a look but sat down with the rest of them. The hostess for Irken Celebrity news was about to announce the top five sexiest male Irkens of the new century.

"Really guys? The sexiest male alive?" ZIM asked. "I always found these polls ridiculous."

_"Latest Irken surveys have been reviewed and we have gotten the final results for the sexiest male Irkens of the century. Most of the Irken population took the poll so it's the people's choices as well as a few judges." _ZIM scoffed as the hostess continued. _"Number five is Lanko DeMar, the director and screenwriter for the hit television series 'Not Here_'_. The male who will take number four as Irk's sexiest is professional Hag Lag player, Nurr Winn. And number three, who is currently at the top of Irk's charts for most talented Irken is, singer, actor, model and musician, Zeiden Macale." _

"What?" ZIM and Red yelled in unison. Zeiden was shocked and flattered but Red was pissed. He didn't like it when people found his smeet brother sexually attractive. He was cute not sexy!

_"Number two on the list is Class A Invader, Poli Danis, and finally our number one sexiest male this century belongs to singer, actor, and model as well as role model to many young men, Red Macale! That's right, we have two Macales on the list this century. Congratulations to our appealing men and thank you audience for voting. Tune in next week for an exclusive interview with Invader Poli as he talks about his latest mission!" _Red turned off the T.V. He didn't expect to see ZIM on the list and he sure as heck didn't expect to see himself on the list as well!

"Wow. Congrats." Zee said to Red.

"What? What did they say? It was all in Irken." Gaz asked.

"You know how you guys have top one hundred sexiest people alive. Well Irk has top five sexiest men and women of the century and ZIM got third and Red was first." Tenn explained.

"So I married the sexiest Irken of the century?" Leslie was amazed. "I am so lucky." She smiled widely at Red who didn't look that thrilled for some reason. "What's the matter, babe?"

"I didn't want Zeiden on that list." Red said. "Did you notice how all the other celebrities were at leas thirty years of age. ZIM was the youngest! He shouldn't be considered sexy yet. He's just a smeet."

"Red, I'm not a smeet anymore and if it's the people's opinions then you're just gonna have to deal with it." ZIM said. "Aren't you flattered you got first?"

"I am but I'd much rather have you be on Irk's cutest." Red fumed. He unfortunately had no say in the top five but there will no doubt be an interview featuring him and ZIM soon on Irk and he could tell the reporters how he feels about the list. As if he could predict the future Red's Imp rang and answered to Jalokia's excited voice.

"_You need to come to Irk now! You won't believe how many people are going nuts over the results. You and your brother both. We're gonna broadcast you live across the galaxy in two hours so get here quick. Meet me in my office._" Red was about to open his mouth to ask a question but Jalokia already hung up. Red groaned.

"Looks like we're going to Irk, mate."

"God, we're gonna get pummeled by a bunch of fangirls." ZIM whined.

"Yes, well, that's your fault for being sexy." Red sneered. "Go get ready. We got to be there soon."

**Later**

ZIM was expecting just another interview but this wasn't just an interview. It was madness. He was going to enter the Rofward building in downtown Meijour after he and Red got out of the limousine but as soon as they did they saw a huge crowd of Irkens waiting for their arrival. They lined up behind the velvet ropes as the two walked down the aisle. Girls and even guys screaming their names and just screaming in general. Occasionally a few would giant from lack of oxygen to the brain or from disbelief. The two brothers decided to humor the fans before going into the building so they would sign autographs, and answer questions where most of the answers would either be 'No thank you, I'm married' or 'Sorry, gotta girlfriend already'.

"ZIM! Oh Yahweh! Please ZIM!" ZIM couldn't help but snicker at a crazy fan screaming from the side. He reached his hand into the crowd having several people just touching his arm and hand which made them extremely happy. He smiled as a bunch of them took videos and pictures. He winked a few times and shook a bunch of hands. ZIM glanced over his shoulder to see how Red was doing. He was signing an autograph. He handed the poster he just signed back to the girl and was about to move on when that same fan grabbed the front of his shirt and demanded a kiss. ZIM laughed out loud and watched as the security guards pried the lunatic fan off him.

"Red! We love you!"

"ZIM! Marry me!"

"Just one hug you two!"

"I want you so bad!"

"Red! Red! Red! Reeed!"

"Zimmy! Come here!" ZIM saw Jalokia in the back entrance of the building motioning that they need to wrap it up and come inside. He nodded understanding then got Red's attention.

"Hey! Red!" The other Irken's antenna perked up hearing his brother's voice over the crowd. ZIM beckoned him to come into the building. He gave one last kiss on the cheek to a fan and followed. They walked into the building being escorted by Jalokia and a few security guards.

"You guys have no idea how rapidly famous you're becoming. Being the first Irkens ever to have a T.V. show off Irk. Just being so incredibly talented. These people are crazy for you. And they want more of you so after your interview I have a proposition for you." Jalokia pushed then to the backstage area of where they'll have their interview. "Just go on when the Messi announces you." He said referring to Messi Rang the host of an extremely popular talk show. The brothers stood as Messi talked about the top five then went into how two of the five were related then finally said,

"Ladies and gents, put your hands together for our guests, Red and Zeiden Macale!" The audience applauded loudly, then started screaming when Red and ZIM walked the stage to the sofa in the middle. They waved at the crowd earning more cheers and chants. Messi smiled as the brothers sat down. His brownish eyes reflected underneath the stage lights. "How are you two?"

"I'm alright. I'll have ZIM answer for hisself." Red said.

"Yeah, about the same." ZIM said.

"So when you turned the T.V. on not to long ago to see the top five, were you expecting to be on the list?" Red and ZIM looked at each other then shook their heads.

"Not really. I never considered myself 'sexy'." ZIM said. "Although my girlfriend sure thinks so."

"You're girlfriend, Takayla? You two have been dating for awhile now haven't you?"

"Eh. I guess."

"And Red, how long have you been married now?" Messi asked. Red's eyes widened. He didn't pay attention to that kind of stuff. Hopefully Purple isn't translating for Leslie back at home. She'd be pissed if she found out he didn't know how long they've been married. "Dr. Macale?"

"Ummm. We've been married for . . . like . . . a few years?"

"August 25, 1999." ZIM said. "That was your wedding date."

"So two years." Red smirked nervously. The audience laughed at his unsureness. ZIM gave his older brother a hard look.

"How can I remember that and you can't?"

"Uhhh . . . alzheimers." Red said. The people laughed again.

"I see, and are you happily married?"

"Of course! My wife treats me well. We share the power of who is head of the couple. We're total equals."

"That's great. Those equal couples are always the most successful." Messi said. "Now, ZIM, when you heard your name be announced the third most sexiest, what was your reaction?" ZIM thought.

"Are you kidding me?" ZIM answered. "I didn't say it out loud but I was thinking it. I really did not expect to be on the list at all."

"I see, and Red what was your reaction?"

"I was really flattered that I got first but a little upset my brother was even on the list. I mean, c'mon people! Look at him, he's short, he's got big puppy-like eyes, and a small body. He's cute not sexy!" The crowd was silent. Red frowned and crossed his arms. "He belongs on Irk's most adorable if anything and you can't really disagree with that."

"That's kind of what I was thinking." ZIM said.

"Well, I can tell you guys are very modest with your sex appeal. ZIM, you're apparently sexy and didn't know it. Red, you're sexy and probably did know it but refused to let that get to your head." Messi said. "I wanna talk about your new show now, though. Invader ZIM." The audience clapped at the mention of the new show. "The pilot is done now, correct? So when they show it to the people of the studio you're working for and they green light it, what will that mean to you?"

"It'll mean that I'll be the first Irken ever to have a television series off of Irk."

"And does that excite you?"

"To an extent it does." ZIM said. Messi nodded then turned to Red.

"You must be very proud of him."

"I really am." Red said, crossing his left leg over his right. "He's come so far and has accomplished a lot more already than most people do in their lifetimes. The only downside is that he's constantly busy it makes me feel like a slacker."

"Well yeah, I'd say so. He's involved in lots of things. Singing, acting, modeling, sports, competitions. When do you find time for family, ZIM?"

"A lot actually. On the off season Red often helps me train for baseball. He also helps me with singing and staying vocally strong." ZIM said, mimicking Red crossing his legs.

"You're saying you're more like best friends than brothers?" Messi questioned.

"Why can't brothers be best friends? ZIM and I don't always see eye-to-eye but other than that we are pretty tight." Red responded. It must of been a good answer because the crowd clapped in approval.

"So true." Messi agreed. "We're gonna cut to a commercial break now but stay tuned for more insight by the Macale brothers."

**That Night**

"Still can't believe it." Red muttered watching the T.V. as reporters talked about the 'sexiest Irkens' again. "I'm first. That's . . . that's crazy." Leslie rubbed his shoulder.

"It's an honor." She kissed him on the cheek. "It's almost midnight, babe. You should get to bed."

"You're probably right." Red shut off the T.V. "Peder more than likely wants to watch his late night hockey anyway." The couple walked up the steps to their room for a goodnights rest.

**October 24, 2000**

"We got news for you all." Jhonen announced proudly to the cast and crew of _Invader ZIM_. "The studio's representatives decided to green light our show for reasons unknown. Apparently they saw, 'potential'." The cast was ecstatic and started to talk amongst themselves animatedly. "We already have a new script that I've been working on for quite a long time already. We'll give the actors and actresses all their own copy. First rehearsal will be tomorrow at nine AM sharp. You may be dismissed once you get your script." ZIM, Dib, Red, Purple and Gaz got their own personal scripts for them specifically whereas everyone else who was a background character got a regular copy.

"Did you wanna hang out with the guys and I after this?" Dib asked ZIM.

"Sounds like fun but I have to go to Irk later today for a photo shoot."

"Oh," Dib said. "I forgot you're a huge star on Irk."

"Heh, yeah and I'm sexy too."

"What?"

"Never mind. I wish I could hang but I have a strict contract and I'm not one to disappoint my fans. Not only that but my girlfriend is leaving for awhile and I want to spend time with her." Dib looked at ZIM for a long time.

"Oh I see. Heh, I can picture your face on every billboard, screen, poster, and CD and magazine cover on Irk."

"That's actually pretty much how it is." ZIM mumbled. "But I can't help that. It's the people who like me that do that. I have no part in it. My brother's face is seen just as much as mine. He's only sang a few songs. Has two albums out. Did a few commercials. Our agent is trying to get him to be a male underwear model to increase his popularity." Dib nodded.

"I think he'd be good at modeling underwear. He has a nice body." Dib said without realizing what he just said and how weird it sounded to the Irken next to him. "Oh my gosh! Did I really just say that?" Dib blushed. ZIM snorted and laughed.

"It's okay. I understand." ZIM said. "If anything Red would take that as a compliment. When I grow up I'm going to look a lot like him so I'm taking it as a compliment as well. Thank you, Dib. You're a pal." The pale boy just smiled timidly. "Well, mate, I gots tah gets goin' now." ZIM placed both hands on either side of Dib's face and gave him a big friendly kiss on the lips. The kind of kiss Bugs Bunny gives his enemies just to annoy or embarrass them. ZIM released and happily walked away leaving a blushing Dib behind. It was fun to embarrass the boy like that. ZIM went out into the parking lot and hopped into his car. Tyson was in there waiting for ZIM to return. "Hello Mr. Puppy! How are you today?" Tyson barked. "Fabulous! It's nice to know you're doing so well." ZIM pulled out onto the highway. "Alright. Let's go home, then go to Irk, then go home again, then do something." All the way to Santa Monica was pretty much the same thing. ZIM talking to his dog, the animal return would yip. Finally he got home, walking into the garage to feed his baby crocs that were growing pretty big already. Zee was in there too.

"What's up?" His older sister asked.

"Oh you know." ZIM answered. "The . . . sky with the occasional bird or plane." Zee sighed.

"You're humor never ceases to amuse me, Zeiden." She said. "We're going to have a problem with these crocs soon, Z. They'll be too big." Zee petted Handbag.

"I love me crocodilians." ZIM picked up Chomper and held it like a baby.

"We should release three of them. You can keep one but the rest can be free." Zee said.

"No, Zee! They're my pets. When we go back to Perth we can build a habitat in our backyard for them. There will be plenty room."

"Uh huh. Right. Well you better keep training them so you don't end up with only one arm one day." She said. ZIM smiled at her.

"Zee, I'm so boss, ain't no croc dare to mess with this!"

"Yeah all thirty pounds of ya. So intimidating." Zee teased. ZIM just smirked at his sister. "By the way, Mark and I are going out again tonight so you better not try anything stupid again like you did the other night."

"Sure whatever." ZIM said.

"Tak is leaving soon too. I'm sure you guys would both like to do something tonight. Go on a date before she leaves. Ya know?"

"Yeah. She's leaving tomorrow morning at four." ZIM mumbled. "I'm gonna go get her now. She should be at the hotel."

"Alright. You behave and don't stay out too long." Zee warned. ZIM waved her off and got in his car to drive away.

**...**

"This was really nice, Zeiden." Tak said looking him deep in the eyes. They were sitting in a restaurant called Ocean Avenue Seafood, Tak's favorite kind of food.

"I wanted to make tonight worth while." ZIM held her hand from across the table. The meal would have been more romantic if he didn't need to sit on a bunch of phone books just to reach the table's surface. When the waiter sat them down he got a few for the tiny Irken making Tak laugh and ZIM blush. They were now done eating and now just making pleasant conversation.

"Well so far so good." Tak smiled at her boyfriend. The waiter came back with ZIM's credit card that he used to pay for the food. ZIM slipped the plastic card back into his wallet and stood from the table. He offered a hand to Tak which she took and they walked out together. "What's next, babe?"

"Uhh . . . Tennis!" ZIM said walking to his vehicle.

"Huh?"

"You play tennis in England, right?"

"Yeah. All the time. I love tennis."

"Then teach me how to play tennis!" ZIM said. He started to drive.

"You wanna learn how to play tennis?"

"Yeah! I want to be interested in the same things you are. So why not?" Tak grinned at the enthusiastic boy next to her.

"Alright then. I'll teach ya." Tak said. ZIM immediately drove to the nearest tennis courts he could find. He found a place by the name of 'Max the Tennis Pro' and pulled into that driveway. He and Tak both rented a pair of rackets and a tube of tennis balls. They walked to the court they were interacted to and were surprised to find that they were the only ones using the courts, which was great because that way they'd have more privacy just in case they wanted to play more than tennis.

"Okay, Takky. Pitch me the ball!" ZIM called from his side. He was holding his racket like a bat. Tak giggled.

"It's called, 'serving'!"

"Whatever just hit me the ball!" Tak threw the ball in the air and severed it directly toward him. ZIM swing his racket like he would a bat and nailed it sending it high into the air and over the fence of the court. "Woo! Homer!" ZIM started to run. "Where's the bases?" Tak rolled her eyes chuckling at his antics.

"ZIM! There's no bases. That's out of bounds! I get the point!" ZIM's jaw dropped.

"That's no fair 'cuz I smacked it out of the park!"

"Oh, ZIM. You're so slow." Tak said.

"You calling me slow?" ZIM shouted from the other side, jokingly.

"Yeah! That's what I said!"

"Oh now you're going down!" ZIM waited for Tak to 'pitch' the ball again. ZIM this time didn't swing but rather lightly tapped the ball as it was coming. It bounced and rolled over to the net slowly. "See that? Perfect bunt!" Tak sighed walking over to his side of the court.

"I guess I gotta show you how it's done." Tak went behind ZIM and pressed her front to his back and placed her hands over his and showed his how to hold the racket the correct way. "You hold it like this, dear. Then you swing it like this. Got that?" ZIM smiled at the closeness.

"Yeah, mind showing me the correct way to bend down and pick up and ball since you're still over here?" Tak smiled and lightly smacked his head. She was about to walk away when she smelled something good. "Is that your gum I'm smelling?" She asked ZIM. He looked at her innocently.

"You mean your favorite kind of blue raspberry gum that I'm chewing? Why, yes. Yes it is." ZIM smirked. "You wanna taste?" He asked puckering his lips and closing his eyes. Tak returned the confident smile. She made her way back to him and wrapped her arms around him and squeezed the smaller boy a bit.

"Why yes. Yes I do." She leaned forward and kissed ZIM's lips, parting them with her tongue and licked around inside of ZIM's hot, moist mouth. He moaned kissing her back. He noticed that Tak was slowly starting to lay him down on the hard ground. Not that he cared. In fact, that's what he wanted. Tak pulled away from the kiss to look down at ZIM's needy body.

"I'll miss you so much when you're gone." He whispered.

"And I'll miss you. That's why we gotta make this date last." Tak said before laying her body fully on top of ZIM's and kissing him roughly again. Both breathed heavily. ZIM gasped when he felt a cold hand slip up his shirt and to his chest. Tak felt around his muscles on his torso and chest, pleased that they were tight yet lean. She grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it up and over his head and took it off him. There he lay below her, bare. Frail chest rising and falling to his breathing. She sat on his hips straddling them and ran her hands up and down his figure. He had noticeable curves around his waist. Most hermaphrodites did. Tak bent downward and ran her tongue along his collarbone and nipped his shoulder giving him yet another hickie.

"You're good at making those love bites, you know that?" ZIM stated. Tak didn't answer, instead she kissed his lips briefly, then moved down to his neck, then his chest, then his stomach, then where the hem of his pants were. Each kiss made a shiver run up ZIM's spine. It felt good. Tak would have loved to go lower. She looked up to ZIM's face who defiantly wanted her to go lower but he was conflicted because it was against both Irken's morals to do things like that out of wedlock. Tak sighed heavily.

"We're so limited to what we can and cannot do." Tak groaned. ZIM frowned, disappointed.

"We don't have to go that far. And no one has to know." ZIM said, touching her face. Tak smiled warmly at ZIM. Tak nodded bending her head down once more, using her teeth to grab hold of ZIM's pants hem. She was holding his rear and messaging it, making ZIM tilt his hips upward more.

"We're not so innocent anymore, ZIM. Not like we used to be." Tak muttered through the fabric that she had in her mouth. ZIM let out a breath, looking up to the clear blue sky. He felt his pants button come undone followed by the sound of unzipping. Tak pulled the pants down so it was below ZIM's butt. His briefs that Tak had gotten him still on all the way. Tak chuckled. "You're wearing the underwear I got you." ZIM knew that would make her happy.

"Yeah, thought you'd like to see me wearing them." ZIM moaned when he felt a finger of Tak's sneak into the underwear. Her other hand grasped his right hip firmly. Tak dragged the finger that was in his underwear down so she could see more. ZIM was blushing hard now. Tak stopped when she saw where his slit between his legs started. She was that low. Tak blushed herself as her tongue lolled out of her mouth and licked him where the slit was. ZIM whimpered from the touch. Tak's tongue retreated back into her mouth. "Someday, ZIM. I'll have my way with you." Tak pulled his pants back up to their original height. ZIM was glad she was strong enough to snap out of it otherwise they might have done something they'd both regret. With one last kiss on the lips Tak stood and helped ZIM up.

"Ready for the next inning?" ZIM asked her.

"Match!"

**Later**

The doorbell rung. Zee ran to answer it, knowing who it was. She opened the door quickly and beamed when she saw Mark standing in the doorway waiting for her. "Hey! Come on in. I'm not quite done getting ready yet."

"Uhh . . . You sure it's safe?" He asked. Zee nodded.

"My two oldest brothers aren't here. And they were only messing with ya. They can be assholes, I know. You can wait in the living room as I get ready. I think Zeiden is in there to keep you company." Mark shrugged and walked to the living room with Zee. "You stay here. I'll be down in a moment." She said the dashed up stairs leaving Mark in the living room with a tiny Irken laying on the davenport looking half dead. ZIM turned his head to see the Vortian.

"Oh hi!" ZIM sat up, greeting the man. Mark grunted in reply, sitting down on a chair next to the couch. "Where you goin' with my sister tonight? Dinner and movies or for a walk on the beach. She likes paint balling, you should take her paint balling." Mark grunted again. "Not much of a conversation, are ya?" ZIM asked. "What's your name again? Mark?" The Vortian didn't acknowledge him any longer. ZIM scowled. Rude. "Sorry if I scared you last night. I mean, I know I look big, strong and tough and all, but I mean well." Mark glared at ZIM.

"Do you not know how to shut up?" Mark asked through gritted teeth. ZIM tilted his head to the side.

"Huh! That's funny. My siblings ask me that all the time." ZIM laughed. Mark rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you just shut the hell up before I force you to." ZIM was taken back by this. No one ever talked to him like that before.

"Oh. I just found out my sister is dating a prick." ZIM said, bluntly, crossing his arms and leaning back on the couch. Mark slammed his fist down on the edge of his chair.

"Listen here, ya little smart ass. I don't like you. I hate your music. I hate your movies. I hate you. But I think your sister is hot and your brothers are cool. You hear me? Everyone in your family is on my 'OK List' except for you. You're annoying, stupid, and just down right moronic. So I'm gonna ask, or rather, _tell _you again to shut up now!" Mark snapped. ZIM's jaw dropped. He narrowed his eyes at the Vortian.

"My sister doesn't date people who hate me." ZIM snarled. "I can easily tell her all what you just said."

"Good luck getting her to believe you. I hear you lie a lot." Mark said. ZIM couldn't believe it. Why is this guy being such a jerk to him? What did he ever do to this Vortian? Zee came back down the stairs. Mark stood and took her hand.

"Zee, you dating an asshole." ZIM growled. Zee glared at ZIM.

"Zeiden! Why would you say that?"

"He said he hated me!" Zee looked at Mark who had an innocent yet confused look on his face.

"I don't recall ever saying that." Mark said. "Does he always make up stories?" Zee scowled at ZIM again.

"Knock it off, ZIM, before you're grounded."

"But he said-"

"Shh! Not another word." Zee cut him off. "I'll be back by ten. Don't leave the house and please don't do anything stupid." She said and walked out the door. Mark followed giving ZIM the finger before leaving as well.

"Wow! What a jerk!" ZIM yelled to no one.

* * *

><p><strong>FUN FACT! I talk to myself a lot when I write this book. I'm my only friend. *sniff* Nah! I kid! Here's another fun fact! I was originally going to portray ZIM as a timid, sweet, character. But I thought Dib fit the part better. <strong>

**Question of the chapter! I actually have two!**

**1.) Do you guys want more sex scenes? I know some of you adore them and others aren't really fans which is why I label M rated scenes. Me, I'm neutral to them.  
><strong>

**2.) Do you like Mark so far!? *derp face*  
><strong>


	15. Blackout

**A reviewer made a really good point that the sex scenes I throw into the story wasn't needed. Which is true. But then I told her, what a parts of the story are needed? Example: When the glass beaker blew up in Red's face was that scene needed? Of course not! But it sure was funny, huh? (No.) Scenes like that are more or less filler scenes if I think the chapter is too short. This is really just day-to-day life focusing specifically on mostly Red and ZIM and occasionally Purple and the sisters. The sexual content scenes put in are just for your reading pleasure. Some people like them, some do not, which is hey I mark them.**

**Anyway, you probably just want to read now so go on ahead! Here's the next chapter!**

* * *

><p><strong>October 25, 2000<strong>

Tak was gone. His sister didn't believe him that her boyfriend was an complete ass. One of his crocs died, Snippy. Thank you Tyson for attacking the poor thing. The good thing is that the show is going on and he's pretty much friends with every cast member and even crew member.

"What are you doing for Halloween?" ZIM snapped out of his thinking and looked at his friends surrounding the table in the studio's lunch room. Dib was the one who asked.

"I don't celebrate that stupid holiday. Never did, never will." ZIM said.

"What? Why not? It's fun!" Timmy exclaimed.

"My tribe never celebrated it." ZIM explained.

"Man, Z. You sound as if you're some sort of Indian." Chester said.

"Indians are from India. I'm native Australian. Huge difference, my boy."

"Whatever dude. Why don't you come to our party next week?" Chester asked.

"Guys, if he doesn't want to celebrate then don't make him." Dib tried to reason with them.

"Yeah. He's from a strict Jewish family. They don't approve of Halloween." A.J. added.

"Thank you guys for seeing things my way." ZIM said.

"And thank you ZIM for bringing us lunch today. Domino's pizza is way better than the studio's."

"Welcome." ZIM said. He looked across the café to his brothers sitting at a table with Dib's dad, Dr. Baker, and Jhonen, Steve, Rikki and a few other stage hands. ZIM smiled when Purple took a drink of water and cringe. He often complained that the studio's water tasted like unpasteurized milk.

"We gotta get back to our set." A.J. said. "We'll see you guys later. Good luck with your script reading."

"Thanks, you too." Dib said. The three boys left leaving ZIM and Dib. "I'm having my first official concert soon. You wanna go? I can hook you up with a few free tickets." Dib grinned.

"That'd be cool. As soon as I found out my costar was a big celebrity on his home planet I immediately bought you're first album that was released when you were like seven or something. I think you're really good."

"Why, thanks. Then you're getting front row seats because you think I sing good." ZIM got up from the table. "I gotta ask Jhonen a question."

"I'll go with you." Dib said throwing away the empty box. Together they walked across the cafeteria to the destined table. Purple saw them approach and turned to Red to whisper something in his antenna. Red looked up and saw them then smiled at Purple and nodded. ZIM cocked a brow, wondering what they were plotting. He cautiously approached the table to Jhonen who was talking to Steve Russell about the show and the script. Before ZIM could even tap on Jhonen's shoulder to get his attention Red and Purple stood up and picked ZIM up.

"What? What are you guys doing?" ZIM yelled getting everyone in the cafeterias, attention. They laughed out loud evilly and brought him to the garbage can on wheels. "Guys don't!" Dib watched, wide eyed, not knowing if he should get involved. ZIM looked to Jhonen pleadingly. He was smirking as his brothers continued to carry him away. "Don't do thi-Ahhh!" ZIM was dropped into the garbage bin head first into a plate of mashed potatoes and ketchup. He then felt the bin moving as Red pushed the can hard. Into the wall. When the bin finally stopped moving he heard outrageous laughter coming from the people in the café. ZIM growled and tipped over the can to get out, trash spilling all over the floor. Red and Purple were kneeled over, cracking up. ZIM frowned at first then decided to get even. ZIM looked over to the table closest to him and saw a couple background characters from his own show. "May I take your trays?" He asked. The kids smiled, not being done eating but wanting to see what the alien would do, nodded.

"Sure, Z." Zita said, making big eyes at him. It was obvious she had a crush. ZIM took the trays and snuck up on his brothers and dunked the tray full of disgusting cafeteria food on their heads. Purple yelped in surprise. Red growled when ketchup dripped in his nice jersey silk shirt.

"Oh! You are so grounded!" Red yelled at ZIM over the laughter that ensued.

"Kiss my ass." ZIM muttered then trotted to Jhonen to ask his question before he forgot. "Jhonen! I . . . damn it, Red! You made me forget what I was going to ask." Red sneered at ZIM trying to get the food off him. Purple was whipping his head back and forth to get all the junk off.

"Haha! That was part of my . . . plan! I guess." ZIM groaned.

"I'm sooo telling on you." ZIM growled. Purple looked at the two with a big dorky grin on his face.

"I smell like roast beef." He said, happily. He turned to Dr. Baker next to him and tilted his head under the man's nose. "Smell!" Red shook his head at the other Irken and sat back down. ZIM pondered a moment trying to remember the question he was going to ask but it wasn't coming to him.

"Shoot." ZIM crossed his arms. "Maybe it'll come back to me later. Lets go, Dib. We can get more rehearsing time in."

**Later**

It took forever but finally the cast of Invader ZIM was able to read through the entire script of the first episode. ZIM was now lounging in his dressing room thinking about nothing. Later that day he'd have to go to Irk for concert rehearsal. He was constantly busy. He looked at the wine he'd gotten the other day in his hand. It was too sweet for his taste. The Irken jumped when he heard a knock on his door. He scrambled to his mini fridge and shoved the glass bottle into it.

"Put your hand on the knob and twist! I'm not opening the door for you!" ZIM yelled sitting back on the couch. The door creaked open revealing Dib looking a bit uncomfortable. He got that way whenever ZIM said stuff like that. "What's up, mate?"

"Uhhh . . . not much. My dad made friends with your brothers."

"Did they now?" ZIM said. "That's great." Dib and ZIM walked together out to the parking lot.

"Yeah. Turns out they're all scientists and stuff." ZIM nodded. "So what time do you gotta be at Irk?"

"Not for a few hours yet, why?"

"No reason. Just curious." ZIM saw Red talking to Sandy from across the parking lot.

"What's up, Loser?" ZIM called.

"I can't hear you!" Red shouted, eyes never leaving Sandy. "He's such a brat sometimes."

"Oh the lil' critter ain't so bad." She replied. "Though he does get a big head when he wins a game of monopoly."

"I had eight hotels and became filthy rich with colorful monies." ZIM said, referring back to the board game they played earlier.

"I rest my case." The squirrel said. ZIM crossed his arms.

"Are you leaving soon?" ZIM asked Red. His brother didn't answer being too engrossed in conversation. Not wanting to be rude ZIM just waited till he was done.

"Wrangling team?" He heard Sandy say. Red shushed her and whispered something in her ear, casting a wary eye toward ZIM. She nodded understanding. "Well, it's been nice chattin' but I must be getting home to the fam." Sandy said. "I'll see ya tomorrow." She waved. Red waved back then turned to ZIM.

"You asked me something?"

"Are you leaving soon?"

"Yeah, right now. I just gotta collect my belongings." Red said walking with ZIM. They found Purple and Gaz arguing about something stupid. Red picked Purple up and slung the man over his shoulder and grabbed Gaz's hand. "Got my things. Go get your shit and come home. Mark is visiting our house tonight for dinner."

"Red that man hates me!" ZIM said. Red ignored him since Purple started to groan and beg to be let down.

"Come home immediately." Red told ZIM walking in the direction of his truck. ZIM growled to himself. Tonight was gonna be hell.

**That Night**

"Don't you dare say anything out of line or rude to him. If you do then I'm going to have to take outside and beat your ass." Zee ranted. ZIM slumped in his seat on the couch, not happy at all. For the most part he had a good day until his sister's stupid boyfriend came up. "You got that?"

"No promises." ZIM muttered not meeting her eye. He felt Zee pinch his jaw and forced him to look at her.

"You will behave." Zee snarled. "Red and Purple already promised, now you must promise me."

"Fine! I'll let that guy be a dick to me just for you!" ZIM slapped her hand away. Zee gave him a hard look just as soon as the doorbell rang.

"Greet him." Zee ordered. ZIM sighed and got up from the couch walking to the door. He opened it seeing Mark.

"Hey asshole." ZIM said. Mark's eyes widened.

"Zeiden!" Zee yelled.

"Umm . . . hi, Zimmy." He gave the child a fake smile. Zee pushed ZIM roughly away from the door.

"God, I'm sorry. He can be-"

"Don't worry about it. It's cool." Mark said. "He's just being protective of his sister. That's why I admire the little squirt." Mark patted ZIM's head. ZIM slapped the hand away scowling.

"Bull shit. You just said last night you hated me."

"Gee, ZIM, I know you're a little upset about me dating your sister but you don't need to lie." Mark tried to reason with the little Irken.

"Every word oozing out of your disgusting mouth is dripping with lies." Mark frowned pretending to be sad. Though ZIM knew the man was about to sock him. ZIM kind of wished Mark would, that way Zee would see right past her boyfriend's crummy gig.

"I can't force you to like me. It's a shame, Zimmers, I thought we could of been good friends." Mark said. ZIM was about to snap. How dare this guy trick his sister!

"ZIM if you don't behave yourself right now I'm going to inform Red and he'll deal with you properly." Zee warned. ZIM was too mad to think of a response. Leslie entered the room welcoming Mark.

"Hello there, Mark. Glad you can join us. Supper is ready."

"Thanks Les." Zee said following her sister-in-law to the dining room. Mark gave ZIM the most horrible look he could muster before following Zee. ZIM was shaking, he was so angry. ZIM made his way to the dining room too and sat in the only seat left next to Gaz and Purple and of course it had to be across from the devil himself. After saying grace they helped themselves to Leslie's food she's prepared. She called it casserole. Red called it poison. ZIM looked at the green beans on his plate, not eating but rather playing with them. He glanced up at Mark who was talking to Tenn and Zee about his job as a oil rig worker.

"Wow, that seems stressful." Zee said, looking at Mark. The Vortian nodded.

"It kinda is. The pay ain't too good either. But you're an anesthesiologist. I bet you get paid a lot!" Zee slowly nodded her head too being to modest to brag about it.

"I bet the only reason you're dating her is because of her income." ZIM said quietly. A swift kick to the shin from across the table, courtesy of Zee, shut him up. "Ow! It's probably true!"

"Zeiden." Red said. ZIM looked to him. He shook his head as if telling him to quiet down. ZIM folded his arms in distaste. "Sorry about him. He's not used to his sisters dating someone he doesn't know." Mark shrugged.

"Don't bother me none. It just hurts me that the little guy would think I'd date his lovely sister for her money. I'm not shallow. I don't hate him either." Mark said.

"Damn lies." ZIM whispered to himself. "I heard you last night, I don't get why you hate me so."

"I don't hate ya, buddy. I think you're great!"

"I don't believe you."

"ZIM why are you acting this way?" Purple hissed in his ear.

"That guy is a dick. He was horrible to me last night."

"ZIM, don't make things up-"

"I'm not!"

"Shhh." Purple shushed him. "Calm yourself."

"I'm not going to calm myself till that guy shoves a dildo in his ass and gets the fuck away from us!" Mark looked hurt. The others jaws were dropped. Red was about to get up to escort him out of the room but Purple was quicker.

"I'll deal with him." The violet-eyed man said. He grabbed ZIM by the arm and led him out of the room. As ZIM was being pulled out he heard Red apologize for ZIM's behavior. ZIM felt like screaming. No one believed him.

Purple brought ZIM to his room and sat him on his bed closing the door tightly behind him. Purple's punishments were never as bad as Red's which was relieving to ZIM.

"I don't understand. You're claiming that Mark is a dick when he's being kind to you. As far as I'm concerned, _you're_ the one acting like the dick." Purple said. ZIM shook his head.

"No, Peder, you don't understand! When Zee left us alone he started saying mean things to me-"

"And you don't swear. What you said was awful." Purple said. "Stay in here till I come get you. When I do be ready to apologize to Mark."

"I'm not saying sorry to that fucker if I don't mean it." ZIM fumed. Purple bopped the boy on the head.

"Watch your language. I swear you only hate him because your PMMSing."

"What?"

"Pre Male Minstrel Cycle."

"There's no such thing!"

"You see? You're snapping my head off and I didn't do anything!" Purple defended. "If you don't want to say you're sorry then you can stay in here for the rest of the night."

"But it's only seven!" ZIM shouted.

"You can stop yelling now. Mark isn't in here." Purple said finally leaving the room and ZIM to his own devices.

"God the world hates me."

**October 27, 2000**

"Come on everyone! We were behind yesterday! Lets make this rehearsal a good one!" Mr. Russell called to the cast and crew. "We're starting from the middle act. ZIM lands on earth. If your name isn't ZIM then get off the stage. Zeiden, you sit on that sofa, pretend it's a voot cruiser." The stage was rather empty besides the couch sitting in the middle of it where they wanted him to say his lines. ZIM sat where he was instructed, a stage hand gave him a desk so he could treat it as if it was the control panel. His script was next to him but he was pretty sure he memorized the lines so he didn't use it. "Alright ZIM, start from, 'Gir, would you please stop singing'?" ZIM nodded. "Great, begin when ready." ZIM had to work with an imaginary robot named Gir. He was supposedly ZIM's crazy SIR unit that would be animated in later. Rikki used the same sound booth ZIM did when they filmed the pilot. Rikki started to sing the doom song and ZIM pretended to look annoyed and almost dead.

"Gir, would you please stop singing?" Rikki continued to sing, ZIM grew frustrated and was about to strangle the imaginary robot before another voice spoke over Rikki's.

"Proximity warning! Planet ahead!" ZIM looked out a window that wasn't there and smirked.

"Gir! We're here! We're finally here!" Rikki paused for a moment.

"Doom, doom, doom, the end! Oo! What's that?"

"Planet Earth. This must be the place. Okay, first off, we have to set up a base of operations." Rikki giggles. "Focus Gir! This is were your advanced information gathering skills come in handy!"

"Yes, my master!"

"You have to observe these . . . _Earthanoids_, and see what they consider normal." ZIM said. "Then based off your observations, we make our disguises and our home." He waited for a bit before talking again. "Here! We build here!" They paused for a moment then ZIM got up from the couch as if leaving the cruiser. "Whoooo! That was easy. Gir, get down here! . . . Hurry, Gir, what did you learn?"

"I saw a squirrel." ZIM looks down at the 'robot' confused. "It was doing like this!" Rikki makes squirrel clicking noises from his booth. ZIM was about to open his mouth again but Jhonen cut him off.

"Good, ZIM! I think you've got this part down. Let's skip back a few scenes with the tallest. I think your brothers finally calmed down from that misread." ZIM chuckled at that. Red and Purple were both very jittery today. They really needed to watch their caffeine intake. ZIM slipped up on one word and bursts of laughter erupted from the both of them.

"You sure you want them again?" ZIM asked.

"I have no choice." Jhonen grumbled. A few stagehands escorted Red and Purple back into the room. They were giggling like toddlers. "I want to start from ZIM's line, 'Get out of my way'! And so forth. Take your places and begin when ready." Red and Purple stood center stage and ZIM stood below stage and further away so he could act as if he's running through a crowd.

"Get out of my way! You're in my way! Move it! Move it!"

"Thus concludes the great assigning! Help yourselves to some nachos and we'll see you at the equipping station." Red said, he was trying hard to stifle laughter.

"Yes! Gorge yourselves! Imaginary You, mooch it!" Purple added. ZIM ran to the platform and waved a hand.

"No, no, no, no! Wait!"

"Dat voice!" Red exclaimed.

"It carn't beh!" Purple said.

"Zimmers!" They said in unison as ZIM pulled himself on the stage. ZIM sighed but went on anyway. At least they knew their correct lines. He stood in front of the two, saluting.

"Sorry I'm late my tallest! I couldn't seem to find my invitation. You're lucky I made it at all."

"Bro, you wasn't _invited_ at all!"

"Wasn't ya banished to Foodcourtia? Shan't ya be . . . fryin' somethang?" Purple asked.

"Oh I quit after I heard about this."

"Thou quit-ith banishment?" Purple said in an English accent, befuddled.

"The assigning-ith is over-ith now-ith, Sir Zeiden." Red said, mocking the accent. They went from gangster to Shakespearian.

". . . I can't work like this." ZIM said seriously but had a joking undertone.

"Aww! C'mon! Have some fun!"

"I'll have fun when rehearsal is over."

"Pfft! Party pooper." Purple scoffed.

"It's alright you guys. We should wrap it up for today anyway. Next week we're filming. ZIM you did great today, you're getting tomorrow off." Mr. Russell said. ZIM fist pumped.

"What about us?" Red asked.

"You guys kept goofing off and getting side tracked. You're gonna be her tomorrow at nine AM to make up for lost time." Red and Purple's jaws dropped.

"Unfair! You're discriminating against certain aged Irkens!" Purple declared.

"Am not. Zeiden is just more focussed that you." Steve said. They turned to look at ZIM. Yeah he was focussed alright. Focussed on fiddling with his fingers and humming a happy tune while looking about the room. "You guys are excused now." The trio left the building to go home. They entered their house and much to ZIM's dismay Mark was there with Zee. They were watching a movie. Red quickly pushed ZIM up stairs to his room and told his younger brother to do his school work or something to avoid conflict.

"I don't wanna stay in my room. He'll be here for hours!" ZIM fussed.

"I can't trust you just yet with him. You'll have to learn to get along with Mark eventually but for now you should be doing your chemistry homework." Red said. ZIM crossed his arms.

"I already finished it."

"Then do your lessons."

"I did those too."

"Then read a book."

"Paper cuts, Red!" The older Irken sighed.

"You're such a whiner."

"Am not. I'll leave Mark alone if you let me do whatever." ZIM suggested. Red shook his head.

"You have a laptop, a T.V. and a piano in your room. You should be fine." Red said. "Why don't you practice for your concert coming up. I heard you were gonna sing a so,o song with just you and a piano."

"I already know that song well enough."

"Prove it." ZIM stood up and walked to the piano and sat on the stool and readied himself to play then he realized something. He totally forgot what song it was.

"Ummm . . ." Red rolled his eyes.

"Practice." Red said before leaving, not letting ZIM get another word in. The little Irken sat there in silence for a long time.

"I'm not staying cooped up in here." ZIM mumbled pulling out his transportation device, he zapped himself to Irk and to Mr. Jalokia's office. He would practice with his producer.

**October 31, 2000**

"You seriously should come! It's so fun!"

"I can't believe you never been trick or treating!"

"Try it!"

"Guys no. It's against what I believe in. Plus it's just a stupid holiday. Not only that but everything about it freaks me out." ZIM defended. His 'classmate' costars have been pestering him for awhile now about some Halloween dress up party at the studio. ZIM wasn't interested and neither were any of his siblings. Purple never really celebrated the holiday either. The most he's done during that day, or night rather, was pull pranks with his childhood friends and sister.

"ZIM, the whole reason I'm going is because I thought you were." Zita complained. A few of her 'clique-y' friends nodded. ZIM and Dib were considered 'extremely popular' amongst the cast so there was no surprise that the classmates expected them to be at the party.

"Dib is going. Isn't that good enough?"

"He's sweet and all but it wouldn't be a party without your craziness there." Morla said.

"Oh, I'm crazy now."

"Well, yeah." Sara added.

"Don't ya wanna spend time with us, Z?" Zita asked.

"I spent time with you every day this past week."

"Yeah, for rehearsal! But not for fun." Sara complained. ZIM looked over at Dib who was speaking to Timmy, A.J. and Chester on the opposite end of the lounge. Sara cupped ZIM's chin and pulled his face back toward the group of girls. "Just this one party. You don't have to be festive or anything, just come to hang out and dance."

"My brother wouldn't hear of it-"

"Then sneak out." Jessica suggested.

"You guys obviously don't know my brother." ZIM said.

"Yeah we do. He's that cutie who's playing as one of your 'leaders'." Zita replied.

"He's a frickin' overprotective freak." ZIM hissed. "As soon as I leave the house he'll know. Trust me. He knows all." The girls shared looks.

"Just convince him. C'mon! Please?" Jessica begged.

"Red will never say-"

"It won't hurt to ask." Morla said. ZIM sighed.

"Fine, but I'm not dressing up!" The girls let out a victory squeal of happiness. ZIM groaned. At least he was pretty sure Red would say, 'No, never'.

**Later**

"Yeah that's fine." ZIM's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?" ZIM asked. Red nodded.

"Sandy asked me to help her chaperone anyway so I'll be there with you at least." ZIM frowned. He really didn't even want to go to the party. "What's the matter? You wanted to go, right?"

"Well . . . Uhh. I just thought you would say no." Red shrugged.

"It's a one time deal, 'Kay? No one in our family likes this holiday but that doesn't mean we can't have fun on this day." ZIM couldn't help but agree. "There is only one thing that concerns me about you going to this party."

"And what's that?"

"That you may get caught up in a group activity were you dabble with the occult. Séances, Ouija, tarot cards-"

"You raised me better than that, Red. Have a little faith in yourself." ZIM said. Red smirked and kissed ZIM's forehead.

"Go get ready, mate. I'm assuming you're not dressing up?" ZIM shook his head. "Good, I won't be the only one then." ZIM walked up the steps to his room and threw on better clothes. ZIM dressed himself in his favorite kind of attire. His preferred clothing style choice was cowboy or as they called them in Australia, jackaroo. Red inspired this choice. He and his sisters grew up on a ranch with the family tribe in Western Australia. It was a very wealthy ranch with lots of workers. They would sell their beef and dairy products all around the country. It was a family business but when they weren't ranching they were running several other businesses like many earthen Irkens did. Their entire family on their mom's side was extremely successful. After her death and ZIM's birth, Red drifted apart from the extended family and moved into their deceased grandfather's house in Alice Springs for a few years before landing his job as a biologist.

ZIM smiled looking at himself in the full body mirror. He wished he could of grown up on a ranch like Red. Being able to heard cattle to different pastures on horse back. Milking dairies. Red told ZIM a few stories about how he and a few cousins would occasionally sneak into a mean bulls pen and tug on it's tail and run away from it as it was charging them.

The small boy pulled on some genuine leather cowboy boots, his pant legs covering them. ZIM had about five pairs of boots, red and black leather, white, snakeskin printed grey, black, and tan. ZIM currently wore the snakeskin. He tucked in his grey and red plaid, quarter length sleeve shirt into his wrangler jeans so his big, silver belt buckle would be seen. The buckle was of a Texas Longhorn's skull. He left the top three buttons undone so part of his chest showed. All he needed was a felt hat and he could possibly go to the party as a cowboy. Of course he had many cowboy hats but only ever wore them when the family would go back to visit the ranch that still ran strong. When they visited, what he was wearing now was like a uniform. You _always _had to wear the cowboy getup . . . only you had to have a hat as well.

No one could really consider what he was wearing a costume either since he often wore jackaroo clothing anyway.

"You ready?" Red asked poking his head through the doorway of ZIM's room. ZIM twisted on the wooden heel of the boot to face him.

"Born ready." ZIM walked to the exit of the room and looked Red up and down. His older brother was dressed almost the same way. Same concept, cowboy. Their thoughts were so alike. No matter where they went you'd more than likely be able to tell they were brothers. "Pur, going?"

"He's on a date with Tenn. He secretly took her to a haunted forest. She thinks it's just a normal walk through the woods. Tenn won't suspect a thing." ZIM snickered. Purple was gonna get his ass kicked for sure.

"You guys coming or what?" Gaz's bored-sounding voice came from down stairs. The brothers descended the steps and saw Gaz in a kimono get up. She looked cute to say the least.

"Where'd you get that dress?" Red questioned.

"A costume store downtown. Can we go?" Gaz grumbled.

"Antsy, are we?" Red said.

"Late, are we? You're a chaperone, you were supposed to get there early." Gaz said.

"Whatever. Where's Leslie?" Red asked.

"In your guys' bedroom. She's talking with Zee about something. Lets go." Gaz grabbed Red's hand and pulled him out the door and to his truck. ZIM following. "Mom said that if no boy asked to dance with me then either you or ZIM had to." Gaz said. Red chuckled.

"Will do, sweetheart." Red said buckling his seatbelt and starting his Chevy. They drove to the studio in mostly silence. When they got there they were greeted by a bunch of people who worked for the studio and welcomed them into the building. They were led to the cafeteria where the actual party was held but you weren't confined just to that room. It stretched all the way to the lounging areas and lobbies too.

ZIM looked around. He was there now where were the girls that specifically requested that he come. "Zeiden!" There they were. Zita and her gang ran up to him all giving him a big group hug. ZIM looked for Red. He was already gone talking to Sandy again and Dib's dad. "It's so nice that you could make it! Even your brother came!" Zita exclaimed.

"Sandy sweet talked him into coming I guess." ZIM said.

"Aww, does he have a _thing_ for her?" Morla asked.

"God, I hope not. He's married."

"Oh, he is?" Jessica said. She sighed. "Typical. The handsome ones are always taken."

"Yeeeah, sure." ZIM said. The music that was playing stopped abruptly and Spongebob stood on one of the tables with a mic in hand.

"Good evening, fellow Nicktoons." He said. "It's my great pleasure to welcome you guys to the fifth annual Nickelodeon Halloween party."

"Is that what this is?" ZIM shouted to him. Spongebob looked at ZIM in the way back.

"Shut up, Zeiden." Spongebob said jokingly. A few laughs were heard. "I heard a few girls forced you to come tonight, true?"

"Unfortunately!" ZIM called.

"Well it's a good thing you could make it. We were thinking we could have you practice for your concert coming up soon by singing us a few songs."

"No! . . . That's okay!" The mass of people giggled.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, carry on with whatever you were saying."

"Yes, anyways, as I was saying, enjoy the party and be safe . . . _ZIM_." Spongebob looked at him accusingly. ZIM put his hands up in defense.

"Stop singling me out!"

"Have fun everybody. Dance your hearts out." The yellow square said, ignoring the little alien. The music started up again and the girls turned to him.

"It's so cool how you're so extroverted. Talking to Spongebob like that." Aki, an Indian girl, said.

"On Irk I'm ten times more popular than Spongebob. I'm not bragging, it's just how it is."

"That's so cool." Jessica said. Her eyes shifted away from ZIM for a second. "Oh my God. Look who showed up." ZIM turned his head to see what the blonde was looking at. Gretchen, a girl with a huge over bite, freckles and stringy unkempt hair. She was dressed in a cutesy dress with floral print but it was more of a five year old girls dress than a preteen girl's kind of dress. She looked shy and unsure of what to do. "Huh! Look at what she's wearing! It's so ugly!" Jessica exclaimed. The other girls nodded in agreement.

"Her pigtails are the worst." Morla added. ZIM looked at the girls who were gossiping. His heart went out to the poor Gretchen girl. Her family was less fortunate than most people in the area. Her parents spend a good chunk of their money trying to manage Gretchen's teeth.

"She's so ugly. Why is she even here?" Zita asked. ZIM felt horrible, a lot of other people were probably talking about her the same way. She didn't exactly fit in.

"I don't know but she better leave before she stinks up this whole party." Aki said. ZIM clenched his fists.

"It's not necessary to talk that way about people." ZIM said. None of the girls heard him. He looked back at Gretchen. She was just kind of standing off to the side of the dance floor, not talking or mingling, staring at her feet, being totally awkward.

"I have an idea." Morla said. She whispered something to Jessica who nodded in agreement. ZIM squinted watching the two girls closely as they approached Gretchen. When they got to her Gretchen looked a bit uncomfortable as they talked to her. Through the dimly lit area ZIM could see a tiny smile form over Gretchen's mouth. He smiled. Maybe Morla and Jessica were being nice. The two girls led Gretchen out of the dance room and into the lobby. ZIM turned back to the remaining girls who had anticipating looks on their faces.

"Oh this is gonna be great." Zita said, shaking with excitement.

"I know! I can't wait to see what she'll do." Aki added. ZIM cocked a brow.

"Do? Do what? Who?" As soon as he asked the questions, Morla and Jessica ran back into the cafeteria laughing so hard their sides could split.

"Aww! You shoulda seen her face. She was horrified!" Morla hooted, gleefully.

"What did you guys do?" ZIM asked, expecting the worst.

"Go look for yourself!" Jessica laughed. ZIM hurried out of the dance room to the lobby with the other girls and a few others who were just curious. What ZIM saw was absolutely horrible. Gretchen was balling her eyes out, sitting in the corner of the lobby, dripping wet from punch being poured on her. She looked up and saw ZIM and the others and scrambled to her feet to run away. ZIM was furious. He took off after her.

"Don't hurt me!" She cried, not stopping. ZIM being faster caught up to her quickly and grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into a tight hug. It took a few moments for Gretchen to realize that he was embracing her not strangling her. The two stood like that for minutes. Gretchen crying into Zeiden's shoulder as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"I would never hurt one of my friends." ZIM whispered to her. Gretchen kept crying. There was now a crowd gathering in the lobby to see what the commotion was. ZIM scowled deeply at Morla and Jessica. He was now glad he came otherwise Gretchen would have been left alone to defend herself. ZIM pulled back from the hug to look at her in the eye giving her a reassuring smile. "What they did was wrong and I'm sorry I didn't prevent it." Gretchen was sniffing, shuddering with every breath she took.

"Th-they called me ug-ugly." Gretchen sobbed. Her voice strained on the word ugly as if it was hard to say. "Th-they said I was b-better off dead than a-alive." ZIM put his hands on her face and made her look at him. His face was full of sympathy and love. Gretchen knew immediately he meant well.

"You're beautiful don't let anyone tell you otherwise. They don't know you."

"Wh-why are you being so n-nice? You're popular. I'm a l-loser." Gretchen started to cry again. She was being extremely timid and shy. ZIM led her to the couch in the lobby and told the bystanders to leave so they could talk.

"What they did was wrong and I'll make sure they get what they deserve, hun." Gretchen didn't say anything. "I want you to know that I would never treat you or anyone else like they treated you." ZIM got up and got a napkin from the snack table and wiled the tears from her face.

"I didn't want to come." She said quietly. "My mama said it would be a good way to make friends." She wouldn't meet ZIM's eye again. He couldn't blame her. If he was as timid and afraid as her and he was sitting next to a big celebrity as well he would be doing the same. ZIM pushed her damp hair back out of her eyes. She mustn't bathe often either. Her hair was greasy. ZIM didn't care. She didn't deserve what happened. She had a good heart and he wanted to prove it to everyone.

"Have you ever danced with a boy before?" ZIM asked. Gretchen's crestfallen head shook side to side. "Will you dance with me?" Gretchen looked up a ZIM slightly. The smallest of smiles tugged at her lips.

"I can't go back in there." She finally said quietly. "People hate me." ZIM stood and grabbed her hand.

"No one should hate you for being original." ZIM said. He led her back into the cafeteria and put to the middle of the dance floor. Perfect timing too because as soon as he did a slow dance song played as if just for Gretchen. ZIM put his hands on her waist. Gretchen didn't know what to think. She slowly put her own hands on his shoulders and swayed with the Irken to the music. Every eye it seemed was on her. It made Gretchen feel uncomfortable, it was even more uncomfortable that she was dancing with _Zeiden Macale_! As the song progressed she got more and more comfortable. Eventually she was leaning her head on ZIM's shoulder and breathing in his sweet, intoxicating cologne. ZIM wrapped his arms fully around the girl and she hugged back. Gretchen was in bliss. She's never felt this way before. Her heart was fluttering and for the first time in her life she felt as if someone who wasn't a family member actually liked her. When the song faded out ZIM gave her a kiss on the cheek knowing that would make her feel much better. Gretchen beamed at the act of affection. "You may stick by me for the rest of the party if you want." Gretchen nodded happily and followed ZIM to Red.

"What happened?" Red asked Gretchen when he saw that she was still wet.

"I'll tell you later. It looks as though Gaz hasn't danced with anyone yet." ZIM pointed out. Gaz was scowling playing a handheld gaming device on the side of the room. Red sighed.

"Fine then." He walked across the dance floor to get Gaz and dance with her when Sandy approached ZIM and Gretchen.

"Hey there, pardner. Where'd your brother go? He promised me a dance." ZIM pointed to Red and Gaz waltzing in the middle of the dance floor. Pretty close to where ZIM had danced with Gretchen. "Aww, daddy daughter thing?" ZIM shrugged. Red was never comfortable calling Gaz his daughter even though by law that was their relationship. Red only ever called Gaz his wife's daughter. "I don't want to cut in so I'll just wait." She said. "Your buddies are over there if you wanted to talk to them." Sandy said motioning to the other side of the cafeteria. ZIM stood on his toes to see but with no avail. He'd just walk in that general vicinity and see if he could find them. He pushed through the crowd every now and then looking back to see if Gretchen was still following. He was almost to his friends when the group of girls stopped him.

"Hey ZIM, we're very sorry for what we did. Do you wanna dance with us now?" Zita asked.

"Don't say sorry to me. Gretchen was the one you hurt." ZIM said. Zita and the others looked at the shy girl and all apologized to her kinda weakly and pathetically. "I will mot be dancing with any of you tonight." ZIM said. "Some other night, maybe. Now, I kinda don't want to be seen with bullies." ZIM said before turning in his heal and leaving to find his pals.

"Hey Hotshot!" Timmy said when he saw ZIM.

"About time you find us. We heard you talking to Spongebob then we saw you dancing with her then we couldn't find you again."

"Sorry. It's been a busy night already." ZIM said. He felt as thought Gretchen was about to leave just out of pure embarrassment of being in front of these boys still wet and with a stained dress. He took her hand, giving it a squeeze. Of course Timmy had to make it even more awkward for her.

"That your new girlfriend?" He asked.

"No. She's my good friend though. She'll be hanging with us tonight, 'Kay?"

"Sure that's cool." Dib said.

"Good, now why don't you guys go find some girls to dance with?" ZIM asked. The four boys looked at each other.

"We ain't as smooth as you, Zeiden." Chester said. ZIM chuckled, he heard a much smaller giggle emitting from Gretchen. He smiled. ZIM was glad he could make her night. ZIM caught a glimpse of Red and Gaz. Red looking content and Gaz annoyed that no one else asked her to dance.

"So how's the concert coming along?" Dib asked.

"It's great. I'm gracing the audience with twelve of my biggest hits." ZIM said.

"Twelve? Holy crap! Is your voice capable of doing that?" Timmy asked.

"You're talking to a guy who yells instead of talks." ZIM replied. The brown haired boy couldn't argue with that. You could hear ZIM's voice from across any room. It was also a very distinct, higher pitched voice with and Aussie drawl and cocky undertone. You couldn't miss it, especially if he's talking his normal louder than necessary volume.

"Twelve songs seems like a lot." Dib said. "Have you practiced all twelve in one, two hour rehearsal yet?" ZIM shook his head.

"No, but I will tomorrow. If I can't do it then my producer told me to cut out at least two songs." ZIM stated. "You guys want tickets?"

"Pfft, yeah!" Chester exclaimed. "Get us VIP and backstage passes too."

"Will do." ZIM said.

"Uh, I was joking about the VIP thing-"

"I wasn't. I can hook you up with tickets for free so it's no big deal." ZIM said. The boys looked enthused. "I'm actually reserving a big spot for you guys down in from with some others I'm inviting from the studio. You wanna go?" He asked Gretchen. She shrugged. "When you find out just tell me." She nodded not looking up from the floor.

"Why don't you make an announcement to see who here wants to go?" Timmy suggested.

"No, I'll just asked them separately- Where are you going?" ZIM asked as Timmy walked off to the direction of Spongebob who normally made all the announcements. The boy whispered in the sponges hearing receptor then Spongebob looked directly at ZIM smiling widely and got up on the stage, mic in hand. ZIM face palmed. "God, why?" The music stopped and Spongebob got everyone's attention. All eyes were on the yellow square.

"It seems that our friend ZIM has an announcement." He spoke.

"No I don't!" ZIM called from his spot. Dib smirked and pushed ZIM toward the stage. "No! Seriously! It's nothing!"

"It is too! This is a lot easier then asking them individually!" Timmy yelled at him from his spot on the stage next to Spongebob. Timmy took the mic from Spongebob's hand and talked into it. "ZIM is having a concert next week Friday on Irk! If you're interested in going tell him and he can hook you up with free tickets." ZIM rushed to the stage and jumped up snatching the mic from Timmy's hand.

"Or, or . . . _Or_, I can schedule another concert here in L.A. after my first on Irk."

"Make it a personal studio members only concert!" Someone from the crowd shouted. ZIM was pretty sure it was a crew member from his show.

"You have to get the studio's permission." ZIM said. "If they okay it then I will." ZIM handed the mic back to Spongebob and hopped off the stage.

"All in favor of an original ZIM concert here at the studio, applaud." Spongebob said. The party-goers clapped some whistling. ZIM groaned. Even more work for him.

**The Next Day**

"Why is he coming?" ZIM crossed his arms in the backseat of Zee's car. ZIM's car had a slashed tire in a result of a horrible Halloween prank.

"Mark just wanted to see us rehearse. Is that alright, ZIM?" Zee asked looking at her boyfriend apologetically.

"Not really." ZIM muttered. Today was the first dress rehearsal, they'd actually have this particular practice on planet Conventia which was in the same solar system as Irk. They could easily fly a voot to Irk if they wanted too. Conventia was the planet with an enormous stage and convention hall where the first scene was to be filmed with thousands of Irken backups to make up the crowd. Approximately one hundred thousand Irkens were going to be there on the day of filming. None were getting paid so in return for them showing up Jhonen suggested that ZIM and Red sing a duet for them. The brothers agreed to it. For now, only about eight-hundred Irkens were gonna be there so Red, Purple and ZIM could get used to the feeling of acting in front of people.

"If he doesn't want me going then I don't have to." Mark said.

"No, it's okay. He'll get over himself." Zee said. ZIM sighed.

"Where is Red and Purple?"

"They had to go in early. They should already be on Conventia." Zee said. "Tenn is waiting for us at the studio with the crew." ZIM propped his knees up on the back of Zee's drivers seat and looked out the window, bored. Red should've moved them closer to the studio. Santa Monica and Burbank weren't far away by any means but the traffic made the normal fifteen minute drive a half an hour drive. When they arrived at the studio Jhonen quickly brought them to a big transporting pad to beam them to Conventia along with the crew and a few other actors. When they got to Conventia, ZIM found himself in the backstage of the huge stage. There were a few crew men already there working fast and efficiently. The script director shoved a script into ZIM's hand and told him to go on stage where Red and Purple already were and go over lines.

"They're just going over the parts where you're not in but go out there and wait till they are ready for you." He said. ZIM was led to the side entrance of the stage and walked out. ZIM looked out over the hall. It was big indeed and not to mention intimidating. The ceiling was so high and the the area where the crowd stood looked like it was a square mile big. There were hundreds of Irkens witnessing the line readings and when they saw ZIM enter the stage they started to cheer and clap for him. ZIM smiled and waved politely at them. Red and Purple stopped there reading to see ZIM approach them.

"Hey bud. 'Bout time you get here." Purple said.

"Uh huh, Zee made me late. Where are the other Invaders?" ZIM asked.

"They're backstage getting instructions." Red said. "We just got to the part where you come in." ZIM opened the script book to that part.

"The, 'I'm sorry I'm late, my tallest' part?" ZIM asked.

"No the other part." Purple said.

"The, 'No, wait' part?"

"Not that part either." Red said.

"The part where I run through the crowd shouting?"

"Nope." Purple smirked. ZIM looked up at them.

"What part?"

"Hah! We tricked you! It was the part before you even get here." Purple snickered. ZIM rolled his eyes.

"Oh, you fooled me." ZIM said. Jhonen came on stage with the three Irkens.

"Hey you guys may take a break for a few minutes if you want." He said.

"But . . . I just got here." ZIM said.

"We didn't." Red mumbled walking off behind the stage with Purple. ZIM followed them despite the fact that he's just arrived. Purple slumped down on a couch, ZIM plopped down next to him.

"Oh! Tak told me that you told her you'd join a hockey team this year if she taught you how to skate." Purple said.

"Uh huh. But she ain't here for the up coming season anyway." ZIM said.

"She'll be visiting once or twice a month for a weekend." Red commented. He then realized what ZIM said and laughed. "You aren't playing hockey."

"I told Tak I would at least try."

"I don't care. I know you know all the rules and strategies but you just learned how to skate, you've been to hockey matches before and the men are huge, ruthless and strong, and let's be serious here, you're not built to play the sport." Purple looked at ZIM who looked a tad put down. Purple jumped to his defense.

"I was the shortest, weakest, and lightest on every team I played for but I ended up being the MVP every single league I played on." Red shot Purple a glare as if telling him to shut up. "Let him play. I'll teach him personally."

"It's hockey or football." ZIM said, Red gave him a funny look.

"Football? Where'd that come from? You hate football. You say it's too overrated and boring." Red said. ZIM's eyes were wide. Red called this look the 'He's really cute when he's stupid' face. "Besides, both are-"

"_Dangerous_." Both Purple and ZIM mocked in Red's worried tone.

"Good. So you understand." Red said. ZIM narrowed his eyes at Red and whispered in Purple's antenna.

"I don't care what he says. I wanna play and I want you to take me under your wing." Purple craned his head so he could whisper back.

"If your brother finds out he's going to kill me then he'll kill you then he'll resurrect us then kill us together."

"We'll take our chances." ZIM replied. Purple nodded. "Alright, Red, I won't play." Red cocked a brow. ZIM took that too well for him to be telling the truth. Red decided to shrug it off for now and wait and see what his brothers were plotting.

**That Night**

"This kid needs to beef up." Purple whispered to Red walking into their home. ZIM was sound asleep in his arms. It was a long day for the little guy. Waking up at six and finally falling asleep at eleven that night. "He's too thin."

"Yeah, he'll forever be my little smeet."

"Pfft, you're so possessive."

"Am not."

"Are too."

". . . So what if I am?" Red asked. The two entered the living room. Mark and Zee were there watching a movie. "Hey."

"Hey." Zee said not taking her eyes off the screen.

"What you guys up to?"

"Nothing. It's movie night." Zee replied.

"Did you guys have fun at the meeting?" Mark asked politely. After the practice the three had to go to a cast meeting that took a few long hours. During the practice however, ZIM got Mark in trouble with Jhonen in which he made Mark leave for destroying an expensive prop. Apparently ZIM really didn't want him at rehearsal if it meant breaking something purposefully and blaming it on the Vortian. The worst part is Jhonen believed the little twerp. It made Mark furious but he didn't show it. He has to continue his charade no matter how angry he was.

"Huh, no." Purple hissed. "I'm gonna bring this little guy to bed." Mark stood from the couch.

"Oh I can do that." Mark said. Purple looked at Mark not sure if ZIM would appreciate being carried by the Vortian. "I won't drop him."

"Uhh, okay." Purple said, slowly handing the boy over to Mark. Mark smiled down at the small child and made his way up stairs with ZIM.

"I think you got yourself a good catch there, Zee." Red said, watching Mark as he left with ZIM.

Mark opened the door to ZIM's room with his foot then flicked on the lights with his elbow and closed the door with his foot as well. He then scowled down at the Irken in arms in disgust. He rudely threw the boy on his bed startling him awake.

"Huh?" ZIM gasped. The young boy felt a vice grip on his left wrist. It hurt bad, almost to the point where it felt like the bones were being crushed. "Hey! Let go! That's my throwing arm!" ZIM attempted to yank his arm away but Mark had the upper hand.

"Listen here you little fucker." Mark growled threateningly. "If you ever make me look bad in front of anyone, especially Zee, again, so help me I will tear off your antenna and force feed them to you." ZIM's antenna slicked back in fear, eyes wide with fright. The tall Vortian was looming over him as if he was gonna strangle the poor boy.

"Release me." ZIM whimpered. Mark shook ZIM and pressed there foreheads together to get his point across.

"I'm not playing, dumbass. I will break your limbs." ZIM again tried to make Mark let go but the Vortian had him beat strength wise. Mark was also a lot bigger and heavier than the boy. ZIM wanted to cry out but was afraid Mark would carry out with his threat.

"Don't touch me." ZIM whined. Mark was getting angrier and angrier every time ZIM would ignore what he said. The Vortian raised his hand slapped ZIM's jaw hard. In result ZIM's tooth bit into his bottom lip and caused it to bleed.

"Do you understand?" Mark hissed. ZIM was holding back tears. He didn't want to give Mark the satisfaction of seeing him cry. "And don't you dare tell any of your siblings of this. If you do I will hurt you. I will hurt you bad." ZIM closed his mouth tightly. "Or maybe I'll even kill you." Mark pushed ZIM down to his bed roughly. "Fucking bastard." Mark muttered leaving the room and closing ZIM's door tightly. The Irken was left in his dark room in shock. Would he really hurt ZIM? Mark had slapped him so maybe he would. He wouldn't kill ZIM though, right? Not without knowing the consequences. ZIM wiped blood off his lower lip and sniffed, playing it tough no matter how scared and hurt he was.

**November 2, 2000**

Dib and ZIM tumbled on the ground together laughing as they playfully wrestled each other on the floor of ZIM's living room. Dib tackled ZIM pinning the Irken. ZIM pushed the boy off with his legs and jumped on Dib. The boy grunted from impact and used his arms to push ZIM off balance making the Irken tumble to the ground.

"Get off it you two. No fighting." Leslie said picking ZIM off Dib. "You know the rules, Zeiden."

"We were playing." ZIM defended.

"I don't care. Even when you play you could still get hurt." Leslie set ZIM down beside Dib. "What are you boys doing today?" ZIM shrugged.

"I dunno. Planning on picking up the other guys to do something." ZIM said. "What do you wanna do, Dib?"

"I don't mind. We can ask the others what they feel like." Dib suggested. ZIM nodded.

"Lemme go get my wallet first." ZIM said, trotting up the stairs to his room to collect the things he needed. Dib and ZIM both left the house after bidding Leslie goodbye and went to A.J.'s house where Timmy, Chester and A.J. should be.

Once all the boys were in ZIM's car the conversation started.

"Let's go to a college football game." Timmy said.

"I hate football." ZIM said. Dib and A.J. nodded in agreement.

"Then let's start a game of football." Timmy said.

"What part of, 'I hate football' didn't you understand?" ZIM asked. "The only reason I would ever go to a stupid game was if there was a marching band."

"Huh! Fine, what do you wanna do, Hotshot, whom I just found out was a band geek?"

"We can go to an art gallery and attempt to comprehend the meaning of the piece to get a better understanding of what goes on in an artists head as he or she works." Dib said. The other four boys looked at him funny.

"I'd rather kill myself." Timmy mumbled. Dib lowered his head. ZIM jumped to his defense.

"I'd love to do that with you one of these days, Dillon." ZIM said. He didn't want the boy feeling down on himself because he was fascinated with art. ZIM was trying to help the boy feel like he had talent in his hobbies and Timmy was making it hard for him. "What do you wanna do A.J.?" The dark skinned boy shrugged.

"I actually have a lot of homework that I'd like to get done." ZIM almost forgot that a lot of his friends here went to private schools as he was home schooled.

"Don't be a looser, Brainiac. We're doing something fun today." Timmy said. "Let's go to the movies." ZIM thought about it. Sounded like fun.

"Alright, I'll agree with it."

"Me too." Chester piped up. The other two boys nodded. ZIM drove them to the nearest theater to see what was currently viewing. The pentad waited in line for the movie tickets.

"What do we wanna see?" ZIM asked.

"Ladies Man." Timmy said.

"Yeah!" Chester said. ZIM squinted.

"That's rated R. You guys won't be able to get in."

"We will with adult supervision." Timmy said.

"We don't have an adult with us." ZIM pointed out.

"Aren't you an adult?"

"No. Not till I'm fifteen." ZIM stated. Timmy frowned.

"Fine then let's see _The Cell_."

"That's rated R too, idiot."

"Lost Souls then!"

". . . Do you not know what rated R means?" ZIM questioned. "We're seeing Charlie's Angels. No objections unless you can find a better movie." ZIM said. The others kept their mouths closed. "Good, now-"

"Will you pay for out tickets?" Timmy asked. ZIM scowled.

"Ugh. Fine, if it'll shut you up." ZIM walked up to the counter and bought the tickets and led the guys to the proper theater. As soon as they sat down ZIM's Imp began to ring with his Britney Spears ringtone he set. The four boys looked at ZIM oddly as he scrambled to answer it, blushing madly. He need to change his tone now. It wasn't a call but rather a text message that went through from Red.

"_You need to come home right now, young man._" It read. ZIM gulped. It didn't take a genius to know what the tone of that text meant. Red was mad. At him. ZIM typed something back and sent it to his brother.

"_Can it wait?_" Seconds later the replying message came after ZIM out his phone on vibrate.

"_Now, Zeiden!_" ZIM cringed. He couldn't leave his friends stranded at the movies but he didn't want to make them leave early too. ZIM debated whether to ignore the text and get in even more trouble when he got home, or to disappoint his friends and have them leave early and not get in as much trouble at home. Why was he in trouble anyway?

ZIM finally made a decision and turned off his phone and enjoyed for movie for now, but oh boy, would he have hell to pay later. The guys sat through the movie only seventy-five percent interested. As soon as the lights came back on when the credits started to roll ZIM was nearly asleep. Dib shook his arm to jolt him up and exited with his friends. He turned his Imp back on to see what he missed. A single missed call, no voice mail, from forty minutes ago. No other messages were sent though so maybe whatever he did wasn't that big of a misconduct. ZIM dropped off the guys at Timmy's house after explaining to them that he couldn't hang out for the rest of the day and quickly sped home. When he pulled into the driveway he noticed everyone's vehicle was gone except for Red's truck. That meant Red kicked everyone out so he and ZIM could talk, or yell, privately.

ZIM went into the house through the garage door entrance and saw Red with Leslie by the kitchen table. Red heard the door open and narrowed his eyes at ZIM. He motioned for ZIM to sit with them. The little Irken did as told for once and took a spot furthest away from Red. A pack of cigarettes were laying on the table. ZIM looked closer. A pack of _his_ cigarettes. ZIM's jaw almost dropped. _Shit, shit, shit_. ZIM thought to himself.

"Leslie found these in your jacket pocket before she threw it in the wash." Red said, a little too calmly. ZIM cocked a brow and decided to play dumb.

"What are they?" ZIM asked. Red's lips tightened.

"Oh I'm sure you know." ZIM paused for a moment.

". . . Cigarettes?"

"Yes, very good. Any particular reason why you have them?" Red asked.

"Someone else probably put them in there." ZIM suggested, hoping Red would buy it. ZIM sighed. It was no use. Red was way too smart for him.

"And who, pray tell, would do that?" ZIM thought about mentioning Mark but knew that wouldn't make it any better.

"One of my friends?" Red shook his head.

"Try again."

"Cast mates?"

"Nope."

"Crew members?"

"Nuh uh."

". . . Me." ZIM whispered.

"And why did you lie?" Red asked.

"I didn't want to get in trouble." ZIM felt cold. Now that he lied he was even more screwed than he was before.

"Here's an off topic question. Why didn't you come home when I told you to?"

"I ignored you."

"I see." Red gritted his teeth. "Why did you put these in your pocket?"

"Wanted to try it." ZIM mumbled not making eye contact. "Can you please stop interrogating me and skip to the punishment? I know what I did was wrong." Red was taken back by this. He shared a look with Leslie. She shrugged and stood up to leave the house. Once Red's truck was heard starting up and backed out of the garage and gone Red turned to ZIM, staring harshly.

"I know you're_ legal_ to smoke but I specifically told you not to. I don't care how old you are, as long as you're my brother I'm not letting you tar up your lungs."

"But you do it." Red bit his lip.

"That's because I don't care about my own well being as much as I do yours." ZIM was getting frustrated with the whole, 'you're my smeet' thing. He wasn't Red's smeet. He was some dead lady's and some possibly dead guy's smeet. Just because mom made Red ZIM's soul protector doesn't mean that obligates him to keep ZIM in a safety pen all his life.

"I wanna live a little, okay? All my friends make fun of me because I'm so sheltered. They say _you're_ worse than all their parents combined and I can't help but agree with them. You're a bit psychotic!" Red frowned deeply. "Truth hurts, doesn't it?" As soon as ZIM said that he regretted it. Not because he probably hurt Red's feelings, but because Red had gotten up and was ready to beat ZIM's ass. ZIM mentally smacked himself for being careless in his word choice. "I-I'm sorry, Red. I didn't mean it." Red pulled ZIM up and got in his face, snarling his next words.

"Trust me, brother, you're far beyond the point of 'I'm sorry' right now. Take what's next like you deserve what's coming to ya'." ZIM frowned sorrowfully, nodding, allowing Red to handle him accordingly. Red was taking off his thick leather belt and stripped it, holding it in one hand. He kneeled ZIM over the table, pulling down the smaller Irken's pants but leaving up the underwear. The only time he ever spanked ZIM bare was when he didn't have a belt to hit him with. Guess he made an exception for this time. Red held ZIM's wrists up with one hand as the other hand gave ZIM eight tremendously stingy swats to his rear. By the time he was done ZIM was in tears but not crying. Red felt love toward the little guy. He always did after he punished the boy. Red picked ZIM up, pulling his pants up to the correct height. "I wish you didn't make me have to do that." Red whispered into the boy's antenna. ZIM looked at Red with big, glossy eyes.

"I wish I knew when to hold my tongue." ZIM muttered. Red embraced ZIM then set him down.

"Go to your room. Stay there till I talk to you again. What you did cannot be ignored."

"Yes sir." ZIM said, looking down. He climbed up the steps to his room where he'll remain for the next three hours.

**November 7, 2000**

"Oh my God. I'm gonna mess up. I'm gonna make myself look like a fool in front of billions of people." ZIM shook with fear. He was backstage of Meijour's Pansell Arena for his first ever concert. Not only was it going to be broadcasted all over the galaxy and even parts of the universe, the Almighty Tallest was there and the Prime Minister as well. ZIM was feeling light headed at the thought of so many eyes on him at once. Him on stage in front of Irkens, Vortians, Plookesians, Meekrobians, humans, the list goes on. Something rose in ZIM's throat. Oh god, was it vomit? ZIM quickly swallowed. He felt like he was about to burst into tears from nervousness.

"Hey, Zei-Zei." Red spoke softly entering ZIM's dressing room. He was alone before the concert. ZIM asked his makeup artists for a moment to himself. ZIM stood from his chair.

"Hi," ZIM replied, meekly. Looking at the letters from friends at the studio who were also watching the concert. All of the letters wished him the best of luck. Luck. He'd need more than just luck. He'd need confidence to go with that luck with a healthy dose of insanity in the mix. Red smiled down on ZIM.

"Don't be nervous. You'll do great, I can guarantee it." Red noticed ZIM's shaking hands and pale face. He was either sick or too scared to go on stage. "You've had numerous hours of practice. You and I both know you'll be flawless."

"I wouldn't count on it." ZIM choked. His legs were shaking so bad he could hardly stand. "How many people are gonna watch me?" ZIM asked. Red debated whether telling ZIM that a little less than a trillion aliens were watching tonights broadcasting. That wasn't including the folk who were witnessing the concert live.

"Just a couple hundred." Red said.

"You're lying!" ZIM bursted. That did it for him. His knees gave out and collapsed to the ground. Red winced and picked the trembling boy up. He was crying now. "They're going to judge me! If I mess up they'll know and I won't hear the end of it ever!" ZIM cried.

"ZIM, you're much too brave to be doing this right now. I know you well enough to know that as soon as you get on stage you'll tune everyone out and do what you do best and that is making people fall in love with you." Red gave ZIM a big kiss on the cheek. "You're on in five. Let's get out there." Red led ZIM out of the dressing room to the lift that would bring him on the stage. "No matter what happens, Zei, know that I'll be down here supporting you." He gently pushed ZIM to the lift. His opening song's intro started to play which was an indication that the lift was about to go up. ZIM felt like screaming to Red, to Jalokia, to anyone to allow him to get out of this. He just wasn't ready for it. The hydraulics of the lift brought him slowly up. He assumed his first position. The first song didn't require much dancing. His choreographer did that on purpose knowing ZIM would still be too tense to do any rigorous movement.

ZIM could hear his heart pounding. His blood felt hot. His head was spinning. He heard the massive audience screaming his name. It was louder than a sonic boom. Soon he found himself on the surface of a dark stage. Smoke surrounded his feet. Everything was dark until a single light shined down on him. He looked out the the crowd in a daze but then he realized something. He forgot his cue. It already happened! He was late going into his song! So many things were bad already and the concert hardly started! ZIM whined, dropping the microphone in his hand and without so much as a warning, promptly fainted on stage in front of billions.

**Meanwhile**

"No matter what happens, Zei, know that I'll be down here supporting you." Red said. The lift carrying his smeet brother went onto the stage. Red was terrified for him. ZIM was always great in front of crowds but never crowds this huge before. He stood next to Jalokia and Mevlo as well as his siblings as they watched on the T.V. screen below the stage.

"Oh no." Jalokia muttered. "He must've not heard his cue."

"I think he knows it." Mevlo said.

"Oh God this is bad." Jalokia said. He started to yell orders at the operators to tell ZIM to welcome everyone instead of sing his first song since he missed his part. But it was too late. Red's eyes widened as he saw ZIM fall to the stage in a crumpled heap in front of everyone, totally blacking out. The audience gasped.

"Damn it!" Red yelped rushing to the stairway to the stage along with a few others. Without hesitation he burst onto the stage to tend to his fallen brother. "Zeiden." Red whispered. "Oh my Zeiden." The audience was talking amongst themselves in befuddlement. Zee came up front behind Red and started to pinch nerves on ZIM's neck to revive him. Finally the boy came to. He looked up to several people with concerned looks on their faces looking back down on him. ZIM nearly forgot where he was and what he was doing.

"I-I . . ." ZIM couldn't get any words out. Too shocked that he actually fainted in front of so many people during his first concert. He couldn't take it. He was far too humiliated. ZIM tried to sit up but was pushed back down again by a stagehand.

"Just take it easy, Zeiden. You don't have enough oxygen in your blood." He said. ZIM ignored the warning and once again tried to sit up only to be held down by Red and Zee who had both hands on his shoulders to prevent him from moving. The young boy just wanted to stand up more than anything right now. Nothing was worse than being in a vulnerable laying position on the stage floor in front of all these strangers.

"Let me go." ZIM gasped, attempting to push his way up. He was far too weak to do so.

"Just relax. Take deep breaths, Zeiden." Zee instructed. ZIM was struggling to get up but she would allow him to. He'd just fall back down again. "Relax." He was growing pale and was hyperventilating. Zee started to breath the way she wanted him to breath hoping that he would mock her. He did, sucking in much air then slowly releasing it again but all it did was make him more demanding for air. He felt sick.

ZIM didn't notice this before but he was panting, and confused. He was about to throw up. He couldn't! He already fainted in front of these people he wasn't going to-

ZIM turned to his side and vomited the water he drank before he got on stage. The lethal stomach acid sizzled as it ate up the mahogany flooring. This couldn't be happening! No, no, no! No way this was real! And if it was real, he was sure he didn't deserve it. Red, being the best big brother out there, blocked the audiences view of him throwing up but ZIM was still pretty sure a few people saw. ZIM just didn't know what to do now. His embarrassment was now agonizing. He'd never be able to go on stage ever again.

**Later**

"Shh. Shhhh. Honey, please stop crying." Tenn stroked ZIM's head. He was back in his dressing room, laying on the couch balling his eyes out. His heart was so heavy he was surprised it didn't drop to his stomach.

Jalokia was talking to some people whether they should try to put ZIM on stage again or not. There would be so many disappointed fans if they were told to go home. But ZIM didn't seem to be in any condition to go on. For now the mass of people were just waiting and seeing.

ZIM couldn't get himself to speak. All what came out of his mouth was sobs and cries. His family was being super compassionate about the whole ordeal. Tears streamed down the boy's face as if it were an endless reservoir. His siblings felt so bad. His dignity was hurt to an extent of almost being paralyzed and it'll take days to months to heal it.

"Jalokia's on stage making an announcement, Zimmy. See?" Tenn pointed to the T.V. and turned up the volume to hear what he was saying.

"As you know, Zeiden fainted from lack of oxygen to the brain. He was a little overwhelmed which is understandable. It's his first concert and he already has to perform in front of billions of people. He's alright now-"

"That's an overstatement." ZIM whimpered. Tenn couldn't help but smile. Even in humiliation he could still be humorous.

"I'll be talking with him shortly to see if he'd like to continue the concert so please stand by. I'll have an answer for you for sure in ten minutes." With that he left the stage. Tenn turned off the monitor.

"I can't go back on stage." ZIM said, sadly. "I'm never doing this again. I've learned my lesson."

"C'mon, ZIM. If at first you don't succeed; try, try again." Tenn encouraged.

"Yeah, bud. The fans still love you. They understand what happened. People faint, it happens." Zee said.

"Not in front of so many aliens, though." The door to the room opened. Jalokia came in looking regretful.

"Oh, Zeiden. I am so sorry." The green-eyed man said. "If you don't want to continue the show I understand. I wouldn't want to force anything on you." ZIM pondered for a long time about it.

"I don't wish to quit . . . But I also don't want to go back on to night. I'm sorry." ZIM bowed his head. Jalokia looked sympathetic. He patted ZIM's head.

"It's okay child. We have a back up act that can perform for a little bit. We will reschedule the concert for later if you want." ZIM nodded, feeling like a complete failure.

**The Next Morning 3:45 AM**

"Nuh! No! Not again . . . Ack!" ZIM wailed, sitting straight up in his bedroom in the penthouse they owned in downtown Meijour. He was covered with sweat and had a headache the size of Irk. Red came dashing into his room and flicked on his lights.

"What? What's the matter?" Red asked.

"I-I . . . I'm not letting the past go. I keep reminding myself. To some people it doesn't seem like that big of a deal but it's huge to me." ZIM whimpered. Red walked to the side of ZIM's bed where ZIM collapsed back down to the mattress exhausted. "I know the news rooms are raving about what happened last night already." Red put his hand on ZIM's forehead.

"You're burning up." Red said. "Lemme go get a thermometer." Red said leaving briefly then coming back with the device. He placed on end in Zeiden's mouth and waited till it beeped for the reading. "One-hundred-nine. That's nine degrees over the normal temperature." Red took note of ZIM shivering so he pulled the blanket back up to his chest. Red sat next to the laying child, wiping up the sweat off his chest and face. "Listen Zeiden. I know what happened earlier today seemed horrible but trust me, it wasn't as bad as it looked. Sure you fainted and puked but you know what happened to the Vortian singer Kol Du-som?"

"No, what?"

"His first concert he wet himself." ZIM curled his lips down in disgust. He didn't even know Vortians needed to use toilets. They were close cousins to Irkens after all.

"That's gross." Red nodded.

"It sure was." Red said. "Are you thirsty? When you have a fever this high you should stay hydrated." ZIM shook his head.

"I'll be fine." He said, quietly. "I just want this to blow over." Red bent down and kissed the sick boy's sweaty forehead. Red then picked the smaller up into his arms and brought him to his and Leslie's room.

"You better stay with me for tonight. I want to be able to keep track of your fever."

**That Day**

ZIM watched the T.V. A severe red blush apparent on his face as the celebrity news reporters talked about last nights flub.

"_The poor little guy just dropped like a ball. It was quite scary to watch actually._" One reporter said to the other as clips of the incident ensued. ZIM groaned.

"_You can hear the gasp of the audience as he falls. And may I add that he fell pretty hard too._"

The reporter was right. ZIM did fall hard. He had a bruise forming over his left eye and another on his elbow.

"_Yes, well, it's easy to say that Zeiden Macale wasn't exactly having the best of nights last night at his first concert. His producer Jalokia claims that they will be rescheduling the concert sometime soon to make up for this failed attempt._" Red grabbed the remote from ZIM's hand and turned the T.V. off.

"I was watching something."

"I don't want you focussing on that. I want you to recover from your incident and not have to worry about it. We're going back to earth today so you won't be bothered." Red said. Red was right. Reporters and paparazzi haven't left any of them alone. In fact the reporters were just outside the penthouse building trying to get a word with ZIM as they spoke.

"I just wanted to see what they were saying about me."

"Don't worry about it. You're stressed enough. Now get ready to go home." ZIM nodded. He still had a fever and just wanted to sleep some more but Red insisted on leaving early. The next few days were going to be hell.

**November 5, 2000**

The word spread to earth so ZIM wasn't safe there. Let's face it, he couldn't even get away from the tabloids if he were trapped on the moon where no one resided. At first the reviews of the concert were legitimate and had real facts but now the reviews were claiming that the reason ZIM fainted was because of a drug overdoes. Jhonen allowed ZIM to take a break till he felt well enough to be seen in the public eye. But for now, the only place where he didn't have to hear any of it was in his room where he stayed since then.

"Zeiden, Dillon is here." Zee said, looking in his room. "He wants to see you."

"No." ZIM said. That seemed to be his response for everything lately.

_Come down to eat_. No. _Watch a movie with me._ No. _Let's play a game._ No. _Do you wanna play catch?_ No, no, no. He didn't want to do anything. Not even hang out with friends.

"ZIM, c'mon! He really wants to see you." Zee said. ZIM didn't look up from his laptop. He was reading even more reviews and tabloids. This one was about the possibility that ZIM could have been drunk before going on stage, that's why he vomited and passed out.

"Leave me alone." Zee scowled.

"You're only hurting yourself, Zeiden. I'm sending him in here regardless and you better be nice." ZIM moaned in protest but Zee ignored it. A short while later Dib came into his room.

"Hi." Was all he said.

"Hey." ZIM mumbled not looking up from his laptop.

"I'm sorry about your concert." ZIM just shook his head. "The whole studio feels really bad and wants to do anything for you to make you feel better."

"It's fine."

"Is it really?"

"Yes." Dib narrowed his eyes. He didn't believe ZIM for a minute.

"I realize that you don't want to talk with anyone but you're my friend you can open up to me. I'm not judging you by the way you fainted on stage that night."

"Yes but everyone else is."

"And how do you know that?"

"I just . . . know. I'm reading articles and none of them are kind."

"Not one of them?" Dib tested. ZIM scowled.

"Okay a few actually got the story right but-"

"No one hates you, ZIM. So why don't you hang out with me and the guys today."

"I don't want to be seen just yet." ZIM said. "You don't know how bad it was."

"You know what, Zeiden? You're right, I don't know how bad it was. But that doesn't matter because what matters now are the people who don't care about how bad you failed. If your fans stopped being your fans just because of that incident then they were never truly your fans." ZIM was shocked. He never heard that tone from Dib before.

"It's not so much my fans turning against me as it is the embarrassment."

"Every celebrity will face embarrassment, Zeiden. I know I will and Timmy will and Chester will. Shit happens, ZIM. You know that. Now get off your sorry ass and enjoy your life." Dib snapped. ZIM's jaw dropped. Dib never showed any signs of having a backbone till now. Dib suddenly had a look of regret. "I'm sorry. I'll be going now." The boy said readying himself to leave. ZIM sighed then said,

"Not without me."

**Two Days Later**

"_I miss you so much already, Zeiden._" Tak's voice sounded over his Imp.

"A week feels like a year, huh?" A weak chuckle came from the other end.

"_We're not visiting again until December for Christmas._" Tak said.

"That's too long." ZIM muttered.

"_It really is, isn't it?_" She said. "_I want to hold you. Hearing your voice but not being able to touch you saddens me._" ZIM's heart fluttered. He missed his girlfriend more than anything and hearing that from her made him miss her a lot. "_Did you join a hockey league?_"

"I secretly did. The only person who knows is Purple and you. He's training me to play."

"_When I visit this winter I expect to see you on the ice._" ZIM laughed.

"I'm sure I will be, after all, Purple is coaching the recreational team I play for."

"_He's coaching? That's wonderful!_"

"Yeah he loves it. Our first practice was this week Wednesday." ZIM said.

"_Do you like it?_"

"I found out that I really enjoy it, yeah. I'm still having trouble with just my skating ability but I'll get better."

"_I wish you luck, sweetie."_ Tak cooed. "_I got to go now. Behave yourself_."

"Alright, Tak. I will, just for you." ZIM said then tapped the end call icon on his screen. He sighed laying back on his couch in his dressing room. There was a knock at his door. "It's open." He called. The door slowly creaked open and Gretchen came walking into the room. She looked like she's been crying again. "What's wrong, Gretch?"

"They keep calling me ugly." She whispered. "That I'll never get a boyfriend no matter how hard I try. They said I'd never even get a kiss from a guy other than my dad." ZIM was getting frustrated with the girls' constant need to tease her. She was innocent. "I told them you gave me a kiss the night of the Halloween party and they didn't believe me."

"It's okay, Gretchen. They're jealous I danced with you and not them." ZIM patted the spot next to him. The purple-haired girl sat. They sat in silence for a bit.

"I liked it." Gretchen said.

"What?"

"I liked it when you kissed me." She repeated. She looked at ZIM. "I like you."

"I like you too, Gretch-"

"No. I mean I really like you, Zeiden. Like more than a friend." ZIM raised a brow.

"Like a crush?"

"More intimate." ZIM was starting to get uncomfortable.

"I'm flattered, Hun, really, but I cannot be with you."

"Why not? Because I'm ugly?"

"No! Because I have a girlfriend whom I've been dating for a long time now." Gretchen looked down.

"Can I at least kiss you? Just so I can get my first kiss over with?"

"Why don't you wait for someone who doesn't already have a girl?" ZIM asked. Gretchen looked as if she could cry again.

"Please, Zeiden? It doesn't have to be a long one just a short one is okay." Gretchen was blushing hard. ZIM realized that it must of taken a lot of courage built up to ask him. ZIM sighed.

"Fine. Just one kiss. But don't go around bragging about it, okay?" The girl nodded, smiling. ZIM leaned forward to press his lips against hers. It didn't take an expert to figure out Gretchen had no clue how to kiss. She sat there awkwardly as ZIM's lips brushed hers and kissed hers. He was about to pull away thinking it was over when Gretchen put her hands around his head and pulled him back. ZIM's eyes went wide as the girl opened her mouth and pretty much sucked his entire mouth. Not by any means cute. He felt her tongue flick his lips but he closed those tightly so she couldn't get inside his mouth. After a few second, that felt like hours to ZIM, she pulled away, giggling.

"That was amazing." She huffed. ZIM looked at her then gave her a sheepish, toothy smile.

"Uh huh." Was all he said.

"Can we do that again later, maybe?"

"Nuh uh."

"Oh, okay." Gretchen leaned over to hug him. "Thank you for being a good friend."

"Yeah, no problem." ZIM said. When Gretchen didn't leave he figured that she wanted to talk some more. "So what you been up to?"

"A lot less than you I'm sure." She said, timidly. ZIM nodded. "Zeiden?"

"Yeah?"

"Who's your girlfriend?" ZIM sighed. She wouldn't let this girlfriend thing go, would she?

"Takayla Griffon. She's like my other half. I've known her since I could remember."

"Is she pretty?"

"She's gorgeous."

"What does she look like?"

". . . Violet eyes, light green skin, curly antenna." ZIM's thoughts travelled to his girlfriend putting him in a daze. He wanted her by his side so bad.

"She's Irken?"

"Yeah." ZIM said. He felt a hand on his leg. He looked down and saw Gretchen's hand giving his thigh a tight squeeze. "Ehm." ZIM cleared his throat. The door of his room opened and Purple walked in. He saw the two on the couch together and narrowed his eyes.

"Zeiden, you're not allowed to be alone in a room with girls."

"She's my friend, Pur." Gretchen looked down.

"I should go anyway." She said, leaving in haste. ZIM frowned at Purple.

"Don't look at me that way. I'm just enforcing your brother's rules."

"His rules are stupid." ZIM said.

"Yeah, a lot of them are but he trusts me that I'll help carry out with them." The taller Irken said. "You ready for hockey practice?"

"How long is it today?"

"It'll only be an hour long today. Tomorrow's practice is an hour and a half."

"Where's Red?"

"Leslie forced him to spend time with Gaz. Apparently they need to develop a better relationship." Purple shrugged.

"Is that right?" ZIM chuckled. Purple smiled.

"Yes. You got your stuff?" ZIM nodded reaching beside the couch and picking up a large duffel bag full of gear that he had recently bought when on a shopping spree with Purple. It had all his Bauer hockey equipment in it.

"Yes, Sir."

"Great. Let's get going then." Purple said leading the way to the parking lot. Purple slid in the drivers seat of his car. ZIM got in the passenger side. He hated Purple's car. It was a very nice and expensive car and all but it was a stick. Stick shift made him sick. He drove themselves to Iceland Ice Skating arena where he coached his team and held all their practices. The pair walked into the building discussing what they were doing that day. The Irkens entered the locker room where nine other boys were getting their hockey stuff on.

"Hey, Coach Kinley!" One boy greeted.

"Afternoon, boys. Be on the ice in ten then we'll start our warm ups." Purple announced going out of the locker rooms to the ice rink. ZIM set his bag down and dressed quickly then walked out with the other boys to the ice. There, Purple gave them their first orders. "Skate three laps around the rink then gather in the center circle. And ZIM, we're not racing so don't push anyone down this time."

"Yes, ma'am!" ZIM saluted and took off in front of everyone. The other nine follow suit. ZIM's was learning to skate really fast. The only struggling point for him was stick and puck handling. When ZIM was done with his laps he slid over to the center and fell back on his butt to sit. Purple himself skated to the red circle as the rest of the boys gathered around too.

"Today I'm deciding your positions based off skill. Don't take your position personally if you don't like it. You guys are just lucky to be on my team." The boys chuckled. Purple looked at his clipboard. We're gonna start by passing. We have an even amount of players so no groups of three." The boys slowly started to pair up. ZIM quickly snagged a partner. A five foot tall boy, the second shortest on the team, ZIM being the shortest. Some of the others were even taller than Purple. Everyone on ZIM's team was either twelve or thirteen so it was a team of peers.

After seven minutes of just passing Purple called for the boys to get into two lines side by side.

"This drill is for me to see who is good at rushing for the puck." Purple skated about thirty yards away and dropped the puck to the ice. "When I blow the whistle I want the two boys in front of each line to get the puck then make a shot at the goal. You may steal or fight for the puck. ZIM was second in line. He looked to his left to see who he was against.

"Oh shit." ZIM cursed to himself. Max, the six foot tall giant and biggest on the team. During the fall he was a football player and spring he was a wrestler. ZIM felt as if the boy would pick him up and snap him in half across his knee. ZIM knew he had one advantage over Max though and that was speed. The kid was strong sure but he was as slow as molasses. When the first set of boys did their round. A kid named Kyle was the one who made the score the other one was eliminated. Kyle had to hop back in line for his next round.

Purple set the puck again and blew the whistle. ZIM darted at lightning fast speed for the rubber disc on the ice. He was first to get there, Max was hot on his trail. ZIM sped to the goal, handling the puck with his stick then flicked the disc into the net just before Max knocked him to the ground. ZIM slid a bit the bounced back up. That happened all the time in hockey. It was just part of the sport and that's why most hockey players are tough as nails.

"Sorry Max." ZIM said.

"It's alright, dude." He said skating away to stand by the other who was eliminated. Max sure took that easy. Maybe he wanted to be a goalie or defenseman. ZIM went back in line.

"How'd I do, Pur?" ZIM asked, hopefully.

"Not bad, kiddo. Next time at least give your opponent a chance." Purple winked then left to reset. ZIM smiled. The kid, named Jason, in front of him scoffed.

"Kiss ass."

"Excuse me?" ZIM said.

"Stop kissing up to the coach. He treats everyone as equals so you might as well stop trying to get on his good side. Just because you're both Irkens doesn't mean he likes you better than everyone else." ZIM cocked a brow. Jason didn't realize that they were brothers apparently.

"Umm, actually he does like me quiet a bit more than everyone else. You see-"

"Oh stop. For all we know he hates you and is just being kind. It's pretty obvious that he doesn't show favoritism." Jason crossed his arms.

"That's a load of shit and I'll prove it."

"How?" Jason questioned.

"Well you see, the coach and I are brothers."

"Yeah right."

"I'm serious. Don't believe me ask him yourself." ZIM said, smugly.

"Fine I will," Jason yelled over to Purple. "Coach Kinley!" Purple looked up from his clip board. "Are you and Zeiden related?"

"How is this relevant to what we're doing now, Jason?" Purple asked.

"He said you guys were brothers." Jason said.

"Yes, we are. Now please focus." Everyone's gazes traveled to ZIM. The Irken boy frowned. He felt like a Pastor's son but only in this case it was Coach's younger brother. He shouldn't have said anything because now if Purple gives ZIM special treatment, the rest of the team will take it the wrong way.

"Well I'll be darned." Jason muttered. ZIM shrugged.

"I told you."

**Later**

"Here's the primary and secondary positions." Purple said in front of the ten boys. "If you have any complaints please wait till I'm done with the list." ZIM looked around in anticipation. He knew that being a defenseman was equivalent to being in the outfield in baseball, it wasn't as important as the other positions but it was still needed. He didn't want to be defense. He always thought of himself as more as a offensive player. But whatever Purple decided ZIM decided to trust it. He has been playing for almost thirty years now after all.

"Lucas, winger; Jason, winger; Max, primary goaltender or defenseman; Zeiden, primary center or backup winger; Jared, backup center or defenseman; Tony, defenseman or backup goaltender; Sam, winger; Paul, winger or center; Terry, defenseman; and Kyle, secondary center." Purple said. "Any questions?" ZIM raised both hands. "Yes?"

"What if we come home from a match and I got hurt? Red will find out." ZIM said. Purple sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"I'll answer that later when we go home. Any questions about their _position_?" ZIM raised both hands again. "What?"

"Are centers awesome?" Purple paused for a long time.

". . . Sure, Z."

"Okay." ZIM stood from the bench. "Can we leave now?" Purple nodded dismissing the boys. The team of ten walked to the locker rooms to shower.

"So to answer your question from earlier, the only solution I can come up with is, don't get hurt."

"Seems legit but you know me well enough that I'll more than likely get hurt anyway." ZIM said, stripping his clothes off.

"Then make sure your injury is minor." Purple said. "I gave you a difficult position but I know you can handle it. If you truly cannot then I'll pull you out of the game, especially if you're going up against a boy like the size of Max." ZIM looked at Purple. "Red's right, you are small compared to the other guys, but I think you're indestructible which is another reason why I gave you that position. Your stamina would put an Olympian to shame."

"Thanks, Pur."

"Don't mention it. Go shower quickly. We need to get home before Red."

**The Next Day**

"Tomorrow will be our last rehearsal till we start filming." Jhonen said. "Tomorrows rehearsal is _mandatory_, so you _must_ show up." He glared at Gaz.

"I come and go as I please." She growled. ZIM snickered, earning a smack to the head by Gaz. "If I were you Jhonen, I'd be more afraid that Zeiden wouldn't show up."

"I'm always busy! Sometimes I can't help but skip." He retorted.

"Shut up both of you. We're going through the whole thing tomorrow so be here at four." ZIM raised a hand to ask a question. "In the morning, Zeiden." His jaw dropped.

"You're crazy!" Jhonen rolled his eyes.

"Show up, don't argue. Leave me now." The cast stood from their chairs and left the room.

"Wanna hang out this afternoon with the guys?" Dib asked ZIM.

"Sure but it'll have to be at my house. My sister is watching me today and she doesn't want me going out."

"Which sister?"

"Tenn."

"Well, where is everyone else?"

"I don't even know anymore." ZIM said. "Let's get the others and leave. We can find something to do." ZIM and Dib travelled two sound stages over where the Fairly Odd Parents set was. ZIM walked in just as there director was making an announcement. He stop as did everyone else to stare at him. "Don't mind me. Go on."

"Hey ZIM!" Several cast members shouted. ZIM simply waved at them. Dib entered the room, not sure if he should go in or not. The two waited till their director was done talking then the cast was dismissed. A few cast members including their three friends approached them.

"Hey how's the show going, you guys?" Timmy asked.

"Swell. How's yours?"

"Great. We hanging out?"

"Yeah we're going to my house." ZIM said. He noticed a few girls from Timmy's cast waving at him. He winked back and they giggled. "Lets go." ZIM took the lead and brought his four friends to his car to go home. He got into his car and started to drive.

"How's hockey going for you?" A.J. asked.

"It's fun. I'm lucky I have my brother as a coach. He put me as center or back up winger. They're pretty important scoring positions from what I gathered."

"Is it too late to join the team?" Timmy asked. ZIM glanced at him in the backseat and nodded. "Shoot. Oh well, I'll just stick to basketball."

"Right, you do that." ZIM said. He jumped when his Imp vibrated in his pocket. "Damn." He reached in his pocket to pull out his phone. He was about to answer it when Dib grabbed it out of his hand.

"Don't use the phone and drive at the same time." Dib warned. He looked at the phone's caller I.D. "It's Tak." He said. ZIM tried to grab the cellular device back but Dib held it out of reach. "You can call her back later."

"Dillon!" Too late the Imp stopped ringing and the voice mail picked up.

"_Hey baby, I just wanted to warn you that I'll be coming back to L.A. before my parents do on Christmas. I'll will be visiting in two weeks from today. So I'll be looking forward to seeing you then. I miss you. Call me back when you get this message._" ZIM smiled when he heard Tak's voice. She was visiting soon. In three weeks. Three weeks was a long time to him though.

"Awww, young love." Chester cooed, mockingly.

"So precious!" Timmy added. ZIM rolled his eyes.

"You guys just wait till you find someone you really like."

"You Irkens don't understand how us boys work. We don't start liking girls till we hit puberty. When did you start dating Tak? When you were eleven? Crazy." Timmy said.

"Irkens mature faster than humans." ZIM stated. Timmy crossed his arms, stumped as to what to say next. It was a proven fact. Though at times it seemed as though Irkens didn't have much maturity. Especially male Irkens.

It didn't take long to get to ZIM's house since they left midday and not rush hour like usual.

"Dude, you need to teach us to drive one of these days." Chester said, getting out of the car and walking into the house with ZIM and the others.

"Yeah, you have almost three years of experience now. I think you're good enough to be a teacher." Timmy agreed.

"You humans aren't allowed to drive till your sixteen."

"So?"

"So, you're under aged." Timmy and Chester groaned.

"ZIM?" Someone called from the kitchen. It was Tenn.

"Yeah?"

"You need to feed your crocs. They're getting bigger and need more food." Tenn walked out. ZIM's eyes almost hugged out if his head at what she was wearing. A short, sleek, dark blue club dress that showed lots of cleavage and lots of leg. Her face was painted with make up. She never really had a need to wear make up. She looked pretty without it. He looked at his friends who had similar expressions as his.

"What are you wearing?" Tenn smiled.

"You like it?" She asked, presenting herself.

"No. You walk outside and you're a prime candidate to be a rape victim." Tenn's smile disappeared.

"I'll take that as a, 'You look lovely, Tenn'." She said. ZIM frowned.

"Where are you going?"

"A rave with some friends." She said.

"Red would never allow you to leave looking like that." ZIM said.

"Zeiden, please. I'm an adult. He can't control me anymore like he can you."

"Dude, your sister is freakin' hot." Timmy whispered to ZIM. Tenn's antenna perked.

"Thank you. At least someone thinks so." Tenn glared at ZIM.

"She heard me." Timmy said, flabbergasted.

"Duh, stupid. She's two feet away from you." ZIM shot at him, smacking the boy really hard upside the head. "Don't ever call my sister hot."

"Well, I'm best be heading out now. Stay indoors ZIM. When Purple gets home tell him where I am. He may want to join me." Tenn was about to leave. ZIM grabbed her arm.

"I don't want you leaving the house like this, Tenn. Timmy just called you hot so that means more people will think your hot and will want to mess around with you and slip stuff into your drinks that make you go funny and it's just too much of a risk so please, please, please dress a little more modestly for me." ZIM pleaded. Tenn raised a brow and ripped her arm from his grasp.

"I can handle myself, Zeiden. Go feed your crocs now. I'll be back by midnight." ZIM frowned as she left the house. The five boys stood there in awkward silence.

"Daaaamn! I take back whatever I said about girls from earlier. Your sister is_ fiiine_!" Timmy quipped. ZIM scowled, pushing the boy roughly to get him to shut up.

"You sick pervert. That's my_ sister_. You don't call your friend's sister hot! It's like a law." ZIM said. "Besides, she's in love with Purple." ZIM desperately changed the subject after that. "Lets go. We're going hunting."

**Later**

ZIM and his friends were wadding in the water just twenty feet out from the shore was a mini reef where lots of marine life resided.

"What are we doing again?" Dib asked.

"Shh. I don't care what you guys do but let me concentrate." ZIM walked around for a little bit more, looking down in the shallow water. "Ah hah!" ZIM exclaimed. He suddenly dipped his arms into the water and grunted as he grabbed hold of a heavy rock-like object. The four boys watched him intently with a brow raised in confusion. ZIM grunted as he yanked up a sea turtle out of the water. ZIM hastily walked to the shore and threw the turtle down. ZIM got on his knees and grabbed the turtles head then violently twisted it's neck, snapping the spine. A sickening crack was heard. His friends gasped as the cruelty. ZIM got back up and waded out into the water again for more.

"What the heck, Zeiden?" Timmy gasped. "You just killed that thing with your bare hands."

"At least you know now that I ain't no city slicker." ZIM said. "I was raised in the outback. I've done so many more gross things. I once had to crawl into a dead kangaroo's carcass to cut the meat out from the inside." The boys wrinkled their noses in disgust. ZIM smirked. He'd had to take them in an adventure to the outback one of these days.

ZIM reached into the water to pick a few sea stars off a rock. By the time he had five of them his arms were full. He walked back to the shore and laid them by the dead turtle. He pulled out his pocket knife and stabbed each star in the center then he went back out again.

"Why are you doing this?" A.J. asked.

"My crocs need to eat." ZIM muttered his response, not taking his eyes off any possible prey. ZIM saw a rather big and slow moving fish submerged in the water right by a big rock. He walked slowly toward it. With a lightning fast move he snatched the fish up. It thrashed wildly in his hands almost to the point that it could fall out of his hands. Not wanting to drop it he took it's knife to it and skewered the animal. ZIM carried it back to the beach. It had to be a twenty pound fish! It was big and heavy. ZIM asked his friends to help carry the dead creatures back to his house. They hesitantly did, cringing in disgust as they touched the slimy animals, bringing them to the cage in the backyard where ZIM held his crocodiles. ZIM threw the fish over the gate then took the turtle and ripped the top of it's shell off with some struggle. He threw both pieces in the pen as well as the star fish. Thinking it was good enough for the three remaining crocs, ZIM proceeded to go back into his house with his friends.

"What do you guys wanna do?" Timmy asked.

"We can play video games." Dib suggested.

"Nah, lets go get some lunch. I'm hungry." Timmy said. "Oh! Lets order some pizzas and play video games! ZIM do you got money?" ZIM frowned.

"I always have money." ZIM said. "Fine you order the pizzas. But after that I'm not paying for anything else."

**That Night**

"You went out looking like a slut!"

"ZIM's friends said I looked nice!"

"ZIM's friends are children!"

"Children, yes, but even they can have their opinions!"

"I thought you'd have enough respect for yourself to go out in public dressed modestly!"

"Who cares how I dress! I'm an adult! You can't force me to wear turtle necks and sweat pants all my life! I can show off anything I want!"

"Your body is to be _respected_, not ravished by boys you never met before!"

"I didn't let strangers touch me!"

ZIM groaned. He wanted to get out of this argument but Red wanted him there to help back him up.

"Listen, you're both right. Can we please leave it at that?"

"No!" They shouted at ZIM in unison. Well, at least they finally agreed on something.

"Can I leave then? I feel like this fight isn't going anywhere."

"Yes, leave, please." Tenn said.

"No, stay here and tell your sister how much of a whore she looks right now." Red told ZIM.

"Tenn, you're a slut. Red, you're obnoxious. Can I leave now?" ZIM moaned. Both older siblings gritted their teeth.

"Yes." Red finally agreed.

"Wait, wait, wait, Zeiden. Tell him exactly _why_ he's obnoxious." Tenn said, keeping ZIM there.

"Red, you're obnoxious because . . . you're you."

"That's not a good-"

"What do you guys want from me?" ZIM cried, cutting Tenn off. "I'm leaving! I'm not even asking this time!" ZIM retreated to his room to get away from his bickering siblings. ZIM flopped on his bed and started to text Tak. He laid in bed for a good ten minutes texting his girlfriend until his bedroom door opened. He turned his head to the side to see who it was. Tyson came trotting into the room. ZIM must of left his door partially open so the dog could push his way in.

"Here boy." ZIM called the dog up. The Samoyed jumped on the bed and sat on ZIM. "Oof! . . . Uh, yeah you can sit there." ZIM snickered petting the animals head. The dog grunted and laid down next to ZIM. The animals was now larger than ZIM, length and weight wise. When Tyson was on his hind legs then he was taller that ZIM. On all fours he was a little more than half ZIM's height.

Tyson's thick tail thumped against ZIM's body as he petted the creatures, thick, shiny white coat. ZIM hurried his face into the fur breathing in his pet's aroma. ZIM pulled back in disgust.

"Have you been rolling around in mud? You reek." The dog obviously didn't respond.

"Zeiden!" Leslie called from the main floor. "You need to come down here!" ZIM groaned.

"God! What now?" He walked uncoordinatedly down the stairs and to the laundry room where his sister-in-law was. "What?"

"You need to give me the clothes you're wearing so I can wash them." She said.

"You can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm wearing them."

". . . Then take them off, Zeiden." Leslie said. ZIM gave her a look but obeyed. "Also, I found out you joined a hockey team without Red's permission." ZIM froze. Damn it. Leslie was gonna tell Red for sure.

"Please don't say anything to him." ZIM begged. "I'm doing it for Tak. We made a deal."

"I wasn't going to tell him. I'll let him find out for hisself. I think it's really cool you joined Purple's team. I used to play coed hockey in high school for two years. My brother did too." ZIM let out a sigh of relief.

"Were you any good?"

"I wasn't good at puck handling. I was a decent shot though." Leslie said. "I wasn't too big in sports beside hockey and martial arts. I'm more academically inclined than physically."

"Huh . . . I had no idea." Leslie smiled.

"Learn something new everyday." Leslie threw ZIM's clothes into the washing machine. "It's late, honey, and you have a long day tomorrow. You need to get to bed." ZIM nodded. Leslie kissed the top of his head. "Goodnight, sweetie."

**November 11, 2000**

"When do you think you'll be ready to try again?" Jalokia asked.

"I honestly don't think I'll ever, but I don't want to quit. When's the earliest we can have it again?"

"Two weeks from now."

"Let's do that then."

"Are you sure, Zeiden? It seems a bit early."

"I want to do this. I upset a lot of people that one night. I need to redeem myself." Jalokia's eyes told ZIM that he understood. "Two weeks from now. I'll rehearse whenever you want me to." Jalokia grinned.

"You will always be my favorite person I've ever worked with, ZIM." ZIM returned the smile.

"Thank you, Jalo."

"Now get outta here. You're late for filming your show." ZIM nodded, standing up. He waved goodbye to Jalokia and beamed himself to earth.

**Later**

"ZIM, get your PAK on!"

"But it hurts!"

"No whining! Where is Dib's trench coat?"

"I'm wearing it."

"I knew that! Gaz needs her hair fixed! Someone fix her hair!" ZIM slumped in his makeup chair and looked at Dib right next to him as their director continued to go off on a rant.

"I don't even see the significance of having that stupid backpack on. What's it for anyway?"

"I'm thinking it's apart of you. Like you can't live without it or something. Or maybe it's to make the Irken race more . . . I don't know, mechanical?" Dib said. ZIM leaned forward as the costume designer placed the PAK into his back. He grunted as she pushed the metal pack into place on his back. The PAK was designed by Irken scientists just for the show. The PAK has two circular magnets that attached to two magnets that they put on ZIM's back. One on his upper back in between his shoulders. The other was on his lower back. To get the adhesive magnets off ZIM's back required a lot of pulling. Once after a filming session they pulled a little too hard too quickly and ripped some skin off with the magnet.

ZIM heard Dib chuckling. "What?" the boy pointed at ZIM's brothers who were in their costumes. The two idiots were giggling like girls while punching each other in the chest, knowing their body armor would protect them from the impact.

"They amuse me."

"Erm . . . I don't know those two."

"Okay, we're starting in five minutes! Finish up whatever you're doing then get ready to film the chase scene!" ZIM frowned. The chase scene's set was too big to be indoors so they were going outside to film it. It was very hot out that day too and ZIM being in a heavy, leather-like material costume made him feel queasy. Not only that but Irken's body temperature was one hundred degrees and the fact that they didn't sweat, unless sick, would make it even hotter. It was gonna be hell.

ZIM got out of his chair and walked with Dib outside. Quite a few stars from other shows were going to watching the filming just for kicks.

The sun was unbearable already and ZIM just got outside.

"Okay, lets quickly film this, then we can go back inside where the AC is." Steve said. "Actors get in your positions." ZIM and Dib went to one side of the stage as Steve told them exactly what they were to do. Both listened closely, then did exactly what they were told for the next few hours.

It took forever to film the entire chase scene outside. Two and a half hours later they finally wrapped it up for the day. By the time they ended ZIM was almost sweating, which meant he was getting sick. He took refuge in the air conditioned building's lobby. He flopped down on the couch exhaustedly. Dib saw this and grew concerned.

"Are you okay, ZIM?" He asked. ZIM cracked open an eye to look at Dib.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just hot. I need to get out of this material." ZIM pulled the front of his pink shirt back airing his chest and stomach.

"What are you doing after this?" Dib asked.

"I have a makeup concert rehearsal." Dib sighed. "What?"

"Are you never not busy? You're either rehearsing for something, or practicing for a sport or training to stay fit for whatever sport."

"Sorry, mate. I live three different lives." Dib tilted his head at this. "I'm some sort of hot celebrity on Irk, I'm a new actor here as well as an athlete. Believe me, I have to sacrifice a lot of time that I could be spending on my friends and give it all up to my work."

"Which life would you say described you best?" Dib asked after a long pause. ZIM never thought about it before. "What's your personality in a nutshell?"

"I . . . don't know. What do you think it is?"

"Well I'd say you're an individual. You're your own personality. There's not one word to describe you. Talented would definitely be one though. You're just way too complicated to understand, ZIM." ZIM smirked.

"That something to be proud of?" Dib shrugged.

"I guess so. Makes you mysterious . . . Are you sure you're alright? You look like you're about to pass out."

"I told you, I'm okay. It's probably just low blood pressure from my high body temperature."

"Do you need water? Maybe a salty snack? I know you had low blood pressure so I did some research on it just in case of emergency."

". . . You remind me of my brother. Always concerned."

"Just trying to be a good friend." Dib said. ZIM looked at the clock on his phone.

"I have to go, D. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay. C'ya, ZIM." ZIM left for his dressing room, then to Irk.

**November 12, 2000**

"You've been surfing for an hour straight now, ZIM. Why don't you take a break?" Dib suggested.

"No way dude! The waves are great today! Plus my brother is gone so I don't need to worry about him lingering to keep an eye on me." ZIM said. "Don't you surf?" Dib shook his head.

"No, Zeiden. I'm into photography, remember? I'm not that physical."

"That doesn't mean you don't have to try it out." ZIM sat on his board. He noticed Dib looking at his body. ZIM looked down not seeing anything new. "What are you looking at?"

"How are you so ripped?"

"I'm not ripped." ZIM said. Sure he had noticeable pecks and abs but he was by no means 'ripped'. Just a lean, fit preteen.

"I never seen a twelve year old with muscles like yours." Dib said. "Of course, most twelve year olds I meet aren't as active as you." ZIM studied his body. He was lean, his abs weren't_ that_ prominent and he had a flat stomach. He compared himself to Dib. The white boy was flat all around. No muscles. Just a typical kids stature.

"You're not jelly are you?"

"Yeah, I'm jealous!"

"Then don't be. I'd much rather be brains like you than bronze." ZIM admitted. ZIM always envied Dib's brilliance. He was a 4.0 student and went to a academically inclined school for gifted children. Smarts would get him further in life than muscles.

"Do you have to go to Irk today?"

"Yeah, concert practice." ZIM said.

"Constant practice, huh? You better catch a break soon."

"After the concert will be my break."

"What are you doing after the rehearsal?"

"I have a T.V. interview then a commercial meeting. They want me to do a television ad for clothes as a model." ZIM said. "They also might give me another clothing line."

". . . ZIM, every time you talk I feel more and more like a looser. You have so much going on."

"Don't call yourself a looser and tell me about it. I'm surprised they didn't give me a reality T.V. show yet."

"Uhhh, yeah that's probably next actually." Dib said.

"You wanna make a bet?"

"Sure, if you get a reality T.V. show by the next year you owe me fifty bucks. If you don't, I owe you." Dib said.

"Huh, deal. Actually a reality T.V. show would be fun."

"Zeiden, you're kidding." Dib said. ZIM shrugged.

"Well, some people have a reality T.V. show because they're famous for being famous. People like that are just retards."

"You got me." Dib said. "Hey ZIM,"

"Yeah?"

"Whenever you're not busy is it possible you could come to anther sleepover with the guys at my house."

"Err, I'll have to ask. But yes. I'd like to come."

"Great. One more thing."

"What?"

"What time did'ya have to be at Irk?"

"Three, why?"

"Because it's three-thirty right now." Dib stated. ZIM scrambled to get his phone and double check the time.

"Shit! Dude! Jalo will hate me for keeping him waiting! I gotta go, Dib. I'll be back in a few hours and we can hang out some more or something!" ZIM ran into his house to change and leave. Dib stood there in a moment not knowing what to do. How was he gonna get home?

**November 14, 2000**

"Thus concludes, the great assigning!" ZIM continued to run through the thick crowd shouting. "Help yourself to some nachos and we'll see you at the equipping station."

"Yes! Gorge yourselves! You, mooch it!"

"Wait!" ZIM cried, raising a hand over the stage.

"That voice!" ZIM pulled his upper body up but did not raise his head to make eye contact.

"It can't be!" Suddenly ZIM's elbows gave out and went crashing down to the stage floor, smashing his jaw in the process. He groaned and slid off the stage as his older brothers laughed hysterically. The Irkens in the audience joined in. ZIM rubbed his jaw standing up.

"You okay, Z?" Red asked through his laughter.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Thanks for checking_ before_ you laughed!" ZIM said sarcastically.

"Okay, try that take again. ZIM, this time _do not_ fall off the stage like the other three times." Steve said.

"It's too high! I can't reach!" ZIM cried.

"Somebody get this kid a stepping stool!" Steve called to the stage and prop designers. They obeyed and ZIM went back to his position. "We're going to take it from when you climbed on the stage and is about to look up. Purple, say your line, 'it can't be' again. Ready? Scene one, take four! Action!"

"It can't be!" ZIM rose his head to look at Purple and Red.

"ZIM." The audience all gasped. ZIM got on the stage and stood next to Skoodge who backed away slowly.

"Sorry I'm late, my Tallest. I couldn't seem to find my invitation. You're lucky I made it at all."

"You weren't_ invited_ at all." Red stressed.

"Weren't you invited to-"

"I just said that line, mate." Red interrupted.

"Fuck! Man! How many times am I going to do that?" Purple cursed himself. Red smacked his companion hard.

"Don't say that in front of Zeiden!"

"Okay, just chill you two. Purple start from your line . . . and action."

"Weren't you banished to Foodcourtia? Shouldn't you be _frying_ something?"

"I'm on break." ZIM smirked. Purple face palmed.

"You did that just so I have to say my lines again, didn't you?" ZIM just gave Purple an innocent look. Steve sighed.

"Start from the banished line!" Steve said, patience thinning. "Go! Action!"

"Weren't you banished to Foodcourtia? Shouldn't you be frying something?"

"Oh, I quit when I found out about this." ZIM waved him off. Purple looked flabbergasted.

"You quit being _banished_?"

"The assigning is over, ZIM." Red said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"But, You can have an invasion without me! I was in Operation: Impending Doom One! Don't cha remember?"

"Oh yes," Purple rubbed his chin. Red pressed his palm to his eyes as if trying to forget something horrible. ". . . We remember."

"Cut! This is where the flashback will be put in. Everyone, let's call it quits for today. We have three more days of filming what's left so everyone get here early tomorrow." Steve said. ZIM sighed, rubbing his sore jaw.

"A bruise is starting to form." Red noticed, cupping ZIM's chin to look at his jawline. "Does it hurt?" ZIM nodded.

"Not too bad."

"I once broke my jaw when I was sixteen taking lifeguarding class." Red said. "We were pretending to rescue each other and I went in to 'save' a classmate. She flung her head back and cuffed my chin."

"Ow. Did you finish the rescue?"

"No, it was her who ended up rescuing me. I was in shock from the disgusting cracking noise and blood was everywhere." Red chuckled. "I asked her out later that day."

"What?" Purple asked in disbelief as the trio brought themselves back to earth and into their dressing rooms.

"And she said yes too."

"Heh, how long did that relationship last?"

"Two months till she broke up with me. She was complaining that I wouldn't kiss her." Red rolled his eyes. "I _would_ have kissed her if she didn't break my God damn jaw!" Purple slapped Red.

"Don't say that in front of Zeiden! You frickin' hypocrite." Red glared at Purple.

"I don't even care what you guys say. I don't listen half the time anyway." ZIM said.

"Yeah, but you heard us just now." Purple said. ZIM scratched his butt not paying attention till he saw Purple looking at him.

"What?" Purple frowned.

"Ugh. Never mind." Purple turned to Red. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Going out with Les. Why?"

"Don't we have to finish a report?" Purple asked. Red pursed his lips.

"Ohhh yeah. Can you do that?" Purple gave Red an 'are-you-kidding-me?' look.

"I _guess_!" Purple sighed, exasperatedly.

"Have ZIM help you. He's a good writer." Red said.

"He'll start writing down lyrics for any possible future songs." Purple said. "He's done that before."

"ZIM is creative." ZIM nodded as he spoke.

"You sure are. Hurry up and put on your clothes or we'll leave without you." Red threatened. ZIM crossed his arms, standing proudly in just his jeans.

"I'm not stupid, Red. I know you'd never do that."

". . . Shut up." Red muttered. ZIM smirked and pulled buttoned up his shirt but then noticed it wouldn't fit on him. He looked behind him and saw the PAK still attached to his back. ZIM groaned and motioned for one of his brothers to help him pull it off along with the magnets in his back. "I have some bad news for you too, Z."

"What?" ZIM asked, putting on his shirt.

"Mark is staying for a few hours again tonight so you'll be confined to your room." Red said. This made ZIM angry.

"That man cannot force me to be stuck in my room! I'll go wherever I want and he don't get to say shit." ZIM huffed.

"You could always just leave the house and hang out with your human friends." Purple suggested. ZIM thought about it. Sounded good.

"Yeah I'll do that actually."

**Later**

ZIM's friends wanted to stay at his house instead of their own. Apparently their houses weren't fun. But of douse they were to stay in the basement while Zee and Mark were upstairs. But that was okay with them. Downstairs there was a home theater with a 130 inch, wall mounted flat screen T.V. with several Irken gaming systems hooked to it. There was also a second kitchen and bar. Billiards and poker table.

They all sat in big comfy separate chairs playing a shooter game, lights off. All talking, laughing and all around having a good time.

"So then Trixie says to me that she finds that one kid from _Rocket Power_ cute. Well obviously I didn't care so I said, 'okay' then she yelled at me for not listening to her! I can't believe she's supposed to be my crush for the show! She's such a . . . Ugh!" ZIM and Dib looked at each other with unamused expressions as Timmy went on with his rant. "She also says she has a crush on you! That's just dumb! She hates me but likes my best friend. She also likes an actor from Disney. I don't remember his name . . . Oh! And she likes Purple, ZIM! Next time you see Trixie tell her that he's dating your sister."

"Dude, I could care less. Red and I and even Purple all get love letters through the mail every day." ZIM shot the last of the enemies on his screen then saved his game. "I know a few girls from my show who think you and Dib are cute." Timmy let out a long groan.

"I have to poop, guys. Where's your bathroom, ZIM?"

"The only one with a toilet is Gaz's and my sister-in-laws bathroom. It's upstairs next to Red's office. He's probably working yet so don't stink it up too bad. He has a keen sense of smell." Timmy frowned.

"I feel like I should wait till he's done with work." Timmy waited for a moment. "Nah, can't wait that long. He'll learn to get used to the stench that is my butt." Timmy prances up the steps. ZIM was tempted to face palm.

"Do all you humans announce when you have to defecate or urinate?" ZIM asked turning to the others.

"Only on occasions." Chester said whereas Dib and A.J. shook their heads.

"Huh! You humans are so inferior to my race. Irkens can't be bothered with the need to use the toilet." ZIM said, pulling their legs. "That's why we vomit and burp instead." Dib chuckled.

"I bet your food tastes a lot better the second time, huh ZIM?" ZIM smiled, folding his arms.

"Tastes delectable." ZIM started up another game. The three other boys watched as he played a rather complicated level. Minutes later Timmy came back down looking embarrassed. "Took you long enough."

"Dude, as soon I left the bathroom. Your brother's office door was open and he told me to courtesy flush next time. He didn't sound too happy either."

"Well yeah. You took a huge shit when he's writing a report."

"He wasn't writing no report. He was sucking face with his wife! I saw him!" Timmy exclaimed.

"Your brother scares me, man." Dib said.

"What makes him so scary?" ZIM seriously had no clue why his friends kept saying that. He was lovable and funny.

"It's just his personality, I guess. Kind of a dry sense of humor."

"A dry one is better than a wet one." Chester stated. The boys gave him a look. "In all cases. Farts, poops, burps, humor, girls-"

"Shut the hell up!" ZIM cut him off. ". . . Girls are better when they're wet." ZIM grinned a toothy grin. His friends didn't get it. Not even Chester who made the joke. Idiot. "Meh! Never mind that, guys."

"Speaking of _girls._ When is your British lover coming back to you?" Timmy asked.

"Six days."

"I bet you're excited."

"Actually, I am." ZIM said. "I like Tak. A lot. She's really good to me."

"She seems like she has you whipped." Chester snickered with the other boys.

"Yeah, funny. So what? I don't let that bother me." ZIM said. "It's not like she abuses me or anything."

"Yeah but you're getting pushed around like a dog." Timmy said.

"She doesn't push me around, dumbass. She's kind and gentle yet assertive when she needs to be."

"I saw her once pin you to a wall to kiss you." Chester pointed out.

"Like I said. She's assertive when need be." ZIM said. "Besides, if I ever marry her I can tell she'll definitely be good in bed by the way she dominates. That's hot."

"ZIM, you're so gross." Dib said,

"Just making a claim. Don't shoot me for being honest." ZIM held his hands up in defense. "Guys, I'm hungry let's go get something to eat." Timmy jumped up.

"I get to choose what we eat!"

**November 17, 2000**

Finally! Done with filming the first episode! What a relief! Now time for the first hockey game. This should be interesting. ZIM's mind raced with numerous thoughts. His concert was coming up, his first game was today, Tak was visiting in three more days, Mark was asked to watch ZIM for the night, Tenn got a job as a high school band director. There was a lot happening at once and it was overwhelming.

"How could you say that?" ZIM cringed as Leslie's yell echoed.

"You asked me!" Red defended. "I was being honest! I didn't want to lie!"

"When a woman asks you if she looks fat in something you always say what she wants to hear!" ZIM puckered his lips brows raised. What a nice conversation. Leslie was stomping down the steps to the living room where ZIM was.

"I'm sorry. I was gonna tell you that it wasn't the pants that made you look fat." Red followed her. she whirled around.

"Then what?"

"Well . . . you're going through mid-life crisis and you're just getting . . . chubbier." Red said. Leslie fumed. ZIM chuckled. She _did_ change from when Red first met her. Her legs were fatter. She developed a slight muffin top and not only that but she was also getting wrinkles around her eyes. Leslie was still pretty just not what she used to be.

Leslie rose a hand to strike Red across the face but then lowered it when she noticed ZIM.

"I think you look great, Les." ZIM said, turning on the charm. Leslie huffed.

"Thanks, ZIM. I always knew you were a good child." She said. Purple poked into the living room.

"You ready, Z?" They were going to his first hockey game. As they were gone Leslie would help cover for them.

"Where are you two going?" Red asked.

". . . A water polo meet. ZIM was curious about the sport." Purple said quickly.

"That's the other sport I did in high school! I totally forgot all about that! I've played for five years." Red said. "I haven't been to a meet since my last match."

"Did you have to wear those ugly swim cap things?"

"No, but they did make me tape down my antenna occasionally. Don't want those getting torn off." Red said, smiling at the memory.

"Soccer, water polo and basketball. What other sports did you play?" ZIM asked.

"I told you I never played basketball on an actual team! And the other sports were lacrosse for two years and cricket for eight years. And another one that was very dangerous . . ."

"What was it?" ZIM cocked a brow.

"Uhh . . . I'll tell you when you're much older . . . I don't like talking about it." Red said. "And knowing you I know you'd probably want to pick up on it and that's never going to happen." ZIM was very suspicious. Red had a secret that's been well kept for a long time until they moved to Santa Monica. ZIM couldn't imagine what Red was hiding though. Oh well, he'd find out in time.

"Alright, we can't be late, ZIM. So let's go." Purple tugged ZIM along. ZIM's bags were already in Purple's car. Purple sped to the ice arena. Being a coach he tried his best to get there first before the rest of the team. "It's your first ever hockey game. You nervous at all?" ZIM shrugged.

"Not right now but I will be." ZIM said.

"If you don't think you can start as center I can put Kyle in for you till you're ready."

"I'll see." ZIM said. "We've had ten practices plus the one-on-one training you gave me, so I think I'll be good."

"Okay."

"You don't care too much about winning do you?" ZIM questioned. Purple shook his head.

"Only when I'm playing at my level. Then I start caring but not at your league." Purple and ZIM walked into the building. A few boys were already there changing into their bright orange and dark grey uniforms. Purple waited till everyone was attended for before he began. "Okay, boys. First game, here's the your starting positions. Goaltender, Max; Zeiden you're center, Lucas and Jason you're both wingers, fight each other for what side you want. Tony and Jared, defense. You two may fight as well. Be ready and on the ice in ten! Then we'll start out warm ups." ZIM hurried to get his stuff on. Last time he got on the ice late Purple made him lick the ice for a minute straight. His tongue nearly froze off in that time.

"ZIM! You starting center?" Tony asked. ZIM nodded.

"Coach just said that." ZIM said.

"I wasn't listening. What am I playing?"'

"Defense, bro." ZIM muttered. "You gotta get yer head in da game now, mate."

"Oh, I was just wondering. We need to go, Z. Skate out with me." Tony said. ZIM laced his last skate and went with Tony. When they got out to the rink the stands were filled with parents and relatives and even some random hockey fans in general.

Purple immediately started their warmup. He made them practice shooting, passing and skating as a whole. Some the official called for them to get into position and wait for him to blow the whistle initiating the game. ZIM skated to the red circle in the very center of the arena. The center in the opposing team was a short guy like ZIM. About a foot taller but still a rather petite kid as was ZIM. The Irken looked on either side of him through the hard plastic of his helmet shield for the eyes and saw his wingers.

The ref blew the whistle and dropped the puck in between ZIM and the other center. ZIM's reaction was faster than his opponent. He slapped the puck to one of his wingers, Jason. Once the boy received he skated up the ice to the scoring goal. ZIM and Lucas the other winger went with to assist. Jason sped to the goal only to get the puck smacked away by a defenseman. The puck slid to ZIM's half of the rink where one of their defenseman got it and passed it to Lucas who passed it to ZIM who used his sticking technique to bring the puck to the opposite goal. His chances of scoring were blocked by a huge defenseman right in front of him. ZIM passed to Lucas who was on the other side of said defenseman, Lucas snapped the puck into the goal. An announcers voice came over the P.A.

"Point goes to the Jackals. Goal made by Lucas Dirano assisted by Zeiden Macale." ZIM smiled as he skated back to the red circle. He looked at the rest of his team. Purple looked proud. He winked at ZIM. The tiny Irken grinned, feeling good. No wonder Purple liked this sport so much.

**After the Game**

Purple was so proud of ZIM. He assisted two goals and even scored one on his own on a break away goal and another where he was assisted by a winger. His little brother was in the passengers seat worn out, smiling contently to himself. They've won their first game, 12-7.

"Why are you so good at everything, Zeiden?" Purple asked, smirking. ZIM shrugged.

"I'm not good at _everything_. School for an example where I'm a C average student." ZIM said. "Ice hockey, I'm only good at that because I have a great teacher." ZIM looked at Purple. The older Irken felt flattered.

"You're such a doll, Zei-Zei." Purple ruffled ZIM's antenna. "So you looking forward to tonight?"

"Huh! You're joking right?" ZIM asked. "I hate Mark! I don't even know why you guys are trusting that abusive jerk with me."

"He's not abusive, ZIM. And we're doing it because we're trying to get you two to bond."

"Bond? He'll kill me!" ZIM shouted. "And yes he does abuse me! I told you he smacked me and threatened to kill me!"

"Mark is a sweet guy. He'd never do something like that."

"But he did!"

"You're main things up to get rid of him." Purple stated.

"No! I'm telling the truth to get rid of him!" ZIM said. He sighed, knowing Purple won't believe him.

"Just relax, Z. It's only for a few hours." Purple said. "In the mean time, Tenn and I will be going on a date as will Red and Les and Zee I heard was working at the hospital tonight."

"Were will Gaz be?"

"She's with Zita, Morla, Jessica and those other background characters. She's formed an alliance with them. I heard their little clique accepted Gretchen in because of you." ZIM beamed.

"Did they really?"

"Yeah, turns out they've been hanging out a lot lately and have become close friends. I think you helped change a life, Z." ZIM smiled.

"I think I'll continue to change lives in little ways like that. It feels good." Purple shared ZIM's smile.

"You're such a good kid. I wish I had a little brother . . ."

"_I'm_ your little brother."

"I mean a biological little brother that I could have grown up with." Purple said. "I'm grateful now though." Purple pulled into their driveway. Tenn was waiting for him outside and Mark's car was already there. Everyone else left already. ZIM got out of the car. Tenn kissed ZIM briefly before crawling into the spot where ZIM was.

"Behave yourself, Zeiden! And I mean it. If Mark gives us a bad report then you're grounded. Understand?" Tenn warned. ZIM waved her off.

"Yeah whatever." ZIM hung his head as he entered the house. Mark was watching T.V. in the kitchen. ZIM didn't make eye contact. Instead he planned on bolting upstairs and locking himself in his room in fears that Mark would try to beat him up.

"Get your ass over here, you little bitch." ZIM stopped dead in his tracks to look at Mark. He was drinking a beer. ZIM gulped. What if he got drunk? What if he was an angry drunk and killed him? ZIM acknowledged the Vortian.

"Yes, your highness?"

"Don't fuck around with me. If I hear one peep outta you at all tonight I'm gonna slap the shit outta you."

"This is my house. I can do whatever the hell I want." ZIM crossed his arms. Mark gritted his teeth, standing up and stalked toward ZIM backing him up to the wall. ZIM shrunk back as Mark put both hands on both of ZIM's shoulders and slammed the small Irken against the wall. ZIM grunted at the impact.

"Don't get smart, bitch. I'll beat your ass." ZIM gulped and nodded. Mark shook him once before letting him go. ZIM glared at the man and walked away to his room. The next few hours, he was sure he wasn't going to survive them.

**That Night**

ZIM went to bed with a sore cheek. He made the mistake of going downstairs to get a textbook for his homework. Mark apparently was disturbed by the seemingly harmless action and decided to smack the poor boy across the face. ZIM was shocked at this. Instead of running back up the steps he took his chances and continued to get his book then go back up. It wasn't till he closed the door when he started to cry. It hurt physically and emotionally. How did his siblings not believe him? They already made their judgment that Mark was a good kid and that Zee had a good catch. If only they knew.

ZIM's door opened and in came Gaz. The slightly younger girl entered the room and jumped on ZIM's bed not caring if he was asleep or not.

"What do you want?" ZIM moaned. Without a word Gaz bent down and kissed ZIM's face. Right where he was hit as if she knew he'd been slapped.

"I just wanted to tell you congrats on your first game's victory." She said.

"Thanks, Gazelle."

"No problem, Z." She replied. "You seem upset. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Bull crap."

"Mark . . ." Gaz nodded.

"When isn't it about Mark with you?"

"He hit me, Gaz." ZIM whispered.

"Uh huh. Sure he did. That guy would harm a fly." ZIM was about to burst. No one believed him.

"I knew you wouldn't hear me." ZIM mumbled, sadly. He so desperately wanted someone to cuddle up with right now. Who would apologize for not believing him and comforting him as his feelings slowly heal again.

"Good night, ZIM." Gaz said.

"Night." Was his only response.

* * *

><p><strong>Happy Halloween! I had lots of frickin' difficulties getting this chapter up!<strong>

**Question of the Chapter!**

**Do you still trick-or-treat? (I don't.) If so what are you dressing up as? (I help out with trick-or-treating with my church. I may just dress in all black.)**

**Fact!**

**I got the idea of ZIM hating Halloween from the show! Go fig!**

**Since that fact was pretty self explanatory I'm gonna give you another one.**  
><strong>The way I portray Red I kind if pictured him to be a mixture of redneck, sporty, and genius. Sounds contradicting, huh? But that's the point! You see, not one person has just one personality. I'm sure you can all agree. And like I said before, I based the characters off me so it's easier to write for them. They have my personality. Redneck-ish, creative, weird . . . Yeah that's all me.<strong>

**That leads me to another question! I want to give Gaz more of a personality. I want one of you guys to describe your personalities to me so I can base her alter ego off you! It I don't get suggestions, I'll just continue to write her in as I have been doing.**

**One last fun fact! The 'I have to poop' part, said by Timmy, was a real life example of what I have to put up with everyday in my lifeguard class.  
><strong>


	16. Ovation

**I managed to fix the chapter orders and I took a lot of time to do some editing and revision. **

**Note: I made up a school so don't try to Google map it. You'll see what I mean.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>November 20, 2000<strong>

"Thanks for coming to the airport with me, guys."

"No problem, Z. After living together for a few years, I bet you're not used to being separate." Dib said.

"Yeah, I always feel like I'm missing something without her." ZIM said, pulling into the airports parking lot. He was picking up Tak with his friends. After he got her they'd all go do something fun. ZIM was happy, she was staying till January 2 of next year. Then she would come back again on the 29th and stay till February 3 for his Bar Mitzvah. ZIM got out of his car and entered the port with the four other boys. "Tak's plane should have landed ten minutes ago." ZIM said. He scanned the dense crowd looking for his girlfriend. Finally he spotted her texting on her Imp on a bench by the edge of the port. ZIM smiled widely and approached her quickly. Before she could even look up ZIM jumped in her lap and gave her a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Zeiden!" Tak squealed. "Aww, you scared me, you boob!" She kissed him back. "How are you, babe?" She asked, excitedly.

"I'm great now that you're back. I was all lonely." ZIM got off her and pulled her up. Nothing changed. She was still four inches taller. ZIM got on his toes and kissed her lips, holding both her hands.

"Eww! PDA!" Timmy cried, covering his eyes along with Chester. "Get a room!" ZIM smirked.

"Okay!" He grabbed Tak's hand and led her to the unisex bathroom. He opened the door then locked it behind them. Tak was chuckling. ZIM pushed her against the wall which surprised her. She was usually the one claiming dominance. ZIM must've really missed her. He stood on his toes again and kissed her lips feverishly. Tak cracked a smile and slid her cold hands in his shirt, touching his hot belly. This made him gasp and tense, getting goosebumps all over his body. Tak kissed him back, loving the affection. ZIM's hands traveled to her waist as he pulled her closer to his body. The bathroom door was knocked. ZIM groaned and released Tak. He opened the door and found Timmy looking rather annoyed.

"Dude! You're disgusting." He said. "Let's go. We were all gonna do something, right?" ZIM and Tak were disappointed that they couldn't be alone right away but nonetheless decided to leave anyway. Dib and A.J. were holding her bags and carried them to ZIM's car. Tak got in the passenger's seat as the rest of the boys crammed into the back. ZIM reached over and grabbed Tak's hand. Holding her's in his as he drove to find a place to eat.

"How's hockey, Hun?"

"Won our first game!" ZIM exclaimed. "Our second game we weren't so lucky."

"Well great job on the first game and there is always room for improvement, right?" Tak said. ZIM nodded.

"Are you doing competitive figure skating this year?"

"Yup. I'm actually gonna sign up for a competition here in L.A. on December 2."

"Can't wait to see you." ZIM said. Tak squeezed his hand.

"And I can't wait to see you maul over guys twice the size of you." Tak said. "When is your next game?"

"We have them twice a week so next week Tuesday then another on Thursday."

"And when is your concert?"

"Very soon. That's next week as well. Friday." ZIM said, less enthusiastically.

"Are you nervous?"

"Well yeah! I fainted the first time! You saw that on T.V. right?" Tak nodded.

"I started crying. I was nervous for you and when you fainted I felt really sad because I couldn't be there for you. Luckily the rest of your family was there though."

"Aww, you guys are so cute." Chester piped up. "Your casual conversations make me happy." ZIM sighed.

"Almost forgot they were in here with us." ZIM mumbled.

"Where are we eating ZIM?" Timmy asked. "I wanna go to Roy's." ZIM shrugged.

"If no one else has any suggestions then we'll go there." No one spoke up. "Alright then. Next time Chester gets to pick because you already picked twice in a row, Tim." The brown-haired boy did a fist pump as he got what he wanted.

After they ate the guys all wanted to do something different which caused a dispute amongst them. It was very distracting for ZIM to drive when there was constant yelling in the backseat.

"I'm telling you, we should go to the video game store and get the new console!" Timmy said.

"ZIM already bought lunch for us. He doesn't need to get an entire new gaming system!" A.J. countered.

"We can just go to the park and play football." Chester said.

"Or the beach." Dib said.

"Or we could all go shopping!" Tak suggested, excitedly.

"Yeah!" ZIM exclaimed.

"No!" The four boys all agreed at once. ZIM looked at Tak who looked increasingly irritated that they couldn't settle on one thing.

"You know, you're behind the wheel. You can do whatever the hell you want." Tak pointed out.

"You're right. Guys we're going to the park to throw rocks at squirrels! No objections or you'll get out and walk back to your house." They all shut up. ZIM looked at Tak with a smile on his face. "And when they're preoccupied with the squirrels, you and I can can go off on our own for a little while and get a little squirrely ourselves." He winked. Tak smiled back.

"Sounds great." She said. It was a short drive until they found a nice, big grassy park with woods and walking trails through them. They all got out of the vehicle and the four younger boys started to run around and throw a ball to one another. ZIM and Tak watched for a little bit.

"We're going for a walk!" ZIM called to them. "Don't go anywhere else. I don't wanna loose you guys! Mostly because your parents would kill me and never trust me with you blokes again!" They gave him a thumbs up. ZIM, satisfied with the answer, took Tak's hand once more and proceeded to walk through the woods with her.

"I can't stand being so far away from you, ZIM. It drives me crazy." Tak said.

"I know exactly what you mean." ZIM agreed. "How's your dad doing?"

"He's half way in. Another three more months and a smeet should pop right outta him." ZIM chuckled.

"Tak, you and your words . . . " Tak laughed with him.

"One of these days ZIM, would you ever consider birthing a smeet? It's becoming more common for men in the relationship to conceive than women on Irk."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, men have the advantage of loosing weight, post-birth, quicker than women. The labor process is a lot quicker too."

"I never thought about it, Tak." ZIM said. "A regular Irken couple doesn't usually have their first smeet till they've been married for at least ninety years."

"I think that's weird because Irken law also says Irkens may marry at age of ten but should be at least twelve to have a smeet." ZIM said. "What about you? Ever want to have a smeet?"

"I don't think I'd want to go through all that." Tak said. "Five to six month pregnancy, the labor, then the fat around your waist after that."

"I see." ZIM said. "You just don't want the pain."

"I can handle pain. It's the other things that I mentioned." Tak said. Tak looked at ZIM. His antenna were slicked back against his head, hanging down by his shoulders giving him a cute, innocent look. That wasn't his normal antenna posture. Usually they weren't slicked to his head but at a forty-five degree angle, just above his head. Tak knew antenna language and ZIM was distraught. "What's up, babe?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's bothering you?" She inquired.

"Nothing."

"That's bull shit." Tak said. "I've knowing you since you were a smeet. You're upset about something." ZIM gazed at her for a long time. She knew him too well for him to be lying to her.

"It's nothing. Really, Tak. I'm fine." He sounded definite but didn't show it.

"Tell me now, Zeiden Macale." Tak urged.

"I have nothing to tell you." He said.

"Zeiden! C'mon! You're not yourself! What's up? If you don't tell me and I'll be forced to embarrass you in front of your friends." ZIM stared at her. She wasn't playing around.

"My siblings don't believe me." ZIM said. "I told them several times and they won't hear of it."

"Hear of what, ZIM?" Tak asked.

"That Mark is a complete ass. He hit me and threatened me."

"Mark, Zee's boyfriend?" ZIM nodded.

"Yes. He's a jerk to me."

"He _hit_ you?" Tak's voice was angered by the news. "And your siblings believed _him_ and not their own kin?"

"Shocking, I know." Tak frowned.

"I'm sorry, Z. I wish I could help you out but I don't know him well enough yet to be biased just yet." ZIM sighed.

"That's alright. As long as you're here, I'm happy." Tak smiled and kissed him. They approached a grassy clearing ahead. The clearing was surrounded by trees so it seemed to be private enough to have their fun. When they emerged from the dense wood they found themselves standing in tall soft grass. The sun was bright and shone on a crystal clear lake in the middle. "Ohhh, it's probably the only beautiful thing in L.A." Tak said.

"I see something a lot more beautiful than this scene." Tak looked around to see what ZIM was talking about.

"Where?" She looked at him and noticed he's been looking at her. Tak grinned finally getting it. "Oh quit it, you." ZIM and Tak walked through the field to the edge of the lake. ZIM faced her staring deep into her eyes. Magenta into violet. Her eyes unique, his eyes hypnotic. The two were perfect together. Tak was dominating and assertive yet kind and sweet. ZIM was more laid back but very extroverted and rambunctious. It was as if they completed each other.

ZIM was quite sure he loved her. Not just as a friend but as an actual lover.

Tak pressed her lips hard against his, slipping her tongue into his mouth. His own tongue greeted her's. The two snake-like appendages wrestled each other in ZIM's mouth until ZIM gave up and Tak slowly just started to lick the inside of ZIM's mouth.

"You taste so sweet." Tak muttered through the kiss.

"I was just chewing fruity gum." ZIM said. Tak giggled and opened her mouth wider as did ZIM as they deepened the kiss. Tak's hands brushed his antenna making an involuntary purr escape from his lips. ZIM's hands rested on her shoulders. Her other hand traveled to his chin, tilting it up more so she could have access to his neck. ZIM's knees shook at the great feeling of her lips on his sensitive neck. Tak gently sat ZIM down on the soft grass. She straddled his hips, facing him. Not breaking the kiss once. Her hands went to his shoulders and pushed him down on his back. ZIM put his head back so she could resume nibbling his neck. Tak chuckled at this and did so. ZIM closed his eyes in bliss then realized that it wasn't fair for Tak so he reached up and stroked her antenna. She must of liked that by the way she groaned. Her hand traveled to his chest and rubbed the area. Her other went to his hip and groped him there. It all felt so good. Then Tak went lower and kissed the portion of his chest that was bare. ZIM grinned wanted her to go lower still.

"God! Every time I see you two, you're always going at it!" Timmy yelled. ZIM and Tak both jumped, blushing for having being caught. Tak got off ZIM and ZIM scrambled to get up.

"We were just . . . I was choking and she performed CPR." ZIM stated weakly.

"Suuuurrre." Chester teased. ZIM scowled.

"Guys, c'mon leave 'em alone. Can't you see they want to have their own time?" Dib said, trying to get them away from the scene.

"Yeah! Listen to Dib or Tak and I will start making out right in front of you."

"You just were."

"Then we'll starting touching each other in erotic ways right in front of you." ZIM said, crossing his arms. He stuck his butt out toward Tak. "Grab it. Squeeze my ass. Do it!" Tak cocked a brow but patted ZIM's butt anyway. He then reached back and placed a hand on her chest. She froze. The other boys just cringed with disgust and retreated back to the main park area to continue play. "Finally." ZIM huffed. He turned to Tak then realized his hand was still on her chest. "Oh!" He pulled away quickly. "I'm sorry! I just wanted them gone and-" Without a word Tak grabbed both of ZIM's hands and placed them over her breasts again. This made ZIM blush worse. Female Irken's breasts were for show and seducing the male Irkens. They weren't for breast feeding like human's were. Kinda like how a male peacock and his tail feathers. Male Irkens would seduce their women by puffing out their chest and showing off their lower back. They didn't know why, it was in their nature.

"If you wanted to see them run away a lot quicker you can go _under_ my shirt next time." Tak winked at him and stepped closer and ground her hips into his.

"Please, don't tempt me." He whined. Tak kissed him.

"Alright, Sweetheart."

"Thank you." He whispered. ZIM looked at his phone to see the time. "We should get home soon."

"Yeah, I need to see everyone else yet." She said. The two held each other's hand and walked through the woods together.

**November 25, 2000**

"I'm sorry this happened. Lost footage happens sometimes." Steve explained to ZIM and Dib who had to re-film a part that took place later in the episode. "But now that it's done you two may leave. Next week swing by to pick up the scripts for the second episode." The boys nodded.

"Will do, mate."

"Yeah, good luck with editing." Dib added. Steve thanked them as they left. Dib opened his mouth to say something to ZIM but closed it again.

"What?"

"Never mind." Dib said.

"You know, you can't just act as if you're about to say something and don't say it. What it it?" ZIM asked.

"I was gonna ask if you can hang but then I assumed you have a concert practice."

"I do. Sorry, mate. You may come if you want. You have never seen me perform live before."

"Really?" Dib asked. "All the way to Irk with you?" ZIM nodded.

"Yeah man. Why not? As long as you don't get in the way, you'll be fine." Dib looked excited.

"So we probably shouldn't invite Chester and Timmy along then, huh?" Dib said. ZIM winked at him.

"They don't have to know about it." ZIM said. "Let's go. Jalo is waiting for me

**A Little Later**

Dib couldn't believe it. All the Irkens rushing around the stage, setting amps and décor for ZIM. His best friend was getting into his first costume. They were running the concert all the way through so he needed his makeup done, costumes on, and a microphone headset attached to his antenna so he could dance and sing all at once.

Dib's eyes were wide as he looked around the magnificent concert hall. No wonder ZIM fainted from fright the first time. This place was huge! Some backup dancers stood on the stage talking as they waited for ZIM to get ready and take his place. One particularly tall dancer approached Dib. The young boy stood back a little as the dancer started to speak Irken at him. Dib looked around confused, not knowing what to do. He heard ZIM's voice yell at the dancer in Irken as well. ZIM came out from backstage and pushed the dancer away from Dib then jokingly started to fight the dancer. From what Dib gathered, the two did that often.

ZIM laughed hysterically as the bigger dancer picked him up and threw him at the other dancers who caught him and playfully tossed him.

"_Irite nuff, et don!_" ZIM exclaimed. The back ups put him down, all laughing then started talk about something or another. Dib should start learning Irken. ZIM walked over to Dib.

"What was he saying to me?" Dib asked.

"He was jus being weird. He knew you couldn't speak Irken so he was teasing you. I put him in his place though."

"Uh huh. Well, by the looks of it, it seemed as though he had you beat." ZIM waved him off.

"Sure it _seemed_ like that but looks can be deceiving." ZIM said.

"You're not fooling anyone, Z." Dib chuckled. ZIM's shoulders drooped.

"Bloody jerk. Can't I ever be right when I'm around ya?"

"Zeiden, get in your position!" Jalokia called, walking on the stage. "Your concert is in two days. We can't be goofing off."

"Okay, Jalo. Dib you can go down where the crowd would be. Stay there until I say you can come back up." Dib did as told.

"ZIM, I want you to start with the second song. From the top. Exclude the choreography. Dancers you _may_ dance, but ZIM, sing standing still." There was a part of the song where ZIM had to fall back and be caught by the backup dancers which usually went wrong so ZIM wanted as much practice with that as he could get.

"Can I at least go to my spots and do the fall back thing? My voice tends to get rough at that part."

"Yeah, go ahead. Just don't dance." Jalokia said. The producer gave a thumbs up to the sound team. They played the song of choice. ZIM waited in his spot with the mic attached to his antenna, for his cue to come in. The music started soft for the first few verses then turned more energetic.

"_Where're you going? Don't leave yet. You only just got here. So stay a little longer, for me._" Zeiden started singing softly. He moved to his first spot. "_Tonight will be the night we can dance together. Spinning around under the moonlight. As nature's harmony plays us a song. We'll hold each other close as we sway in the other's arms._" ZIM's singing got louder and more full as the music got more fuller sounding. "_We don't have to call it a night. Why should our dancing end? Stay with me a little longer and we can twirl, twisting in our love for each other!_" ZIM moved to another position by the dancers. "_Nothing could ever break our bond. As long as I'm with you I'll never tremble. I'll never fall!_" This was where ZIM slumped back and the dancers were to catch him. They must've forgotten because he fell all the way back to the stage floor. "Oof!" ZIM heard laughter of everyone present.

"Oh, ZIM! We're sorry!" One dancer said, helping him up.

"How did you _all_ forget to catch me? You scared I'm too heavy? If you can't lift thirty pounds then you guys as a whole are very weak and should get a local gym membership!" ZIM crossed his arms. Jalokia sighed.

"Start again from the top." Jalokia said. ZIM pouted.

"Ugh! I hate you guys." ZIM went back to his opening spot and sung the opener again. "_As long as I'm with you I'll never tremble. I'll never fall!_" ZIM was a little more hesitant to lean back this time but when he felt the hands on his back reassuring him that they'd catch him this time, he let out a breath of relief. His dancers pushed his body back up in standing position. "_The night is ours, we'll spend it as we wish. Lets make tonight feel like the last. Lay down on the ground, side-by-side. Star gazing into the infinity. The universe is quiet just for us. The only sound is our rhythmic breathing, as we sprawl on the dew covered grass. Dance with me, sing to me a new song. One I've never heard. Tonight will be the night we can be alone. As if we're the only two in the galaxy._"

"Great ZIM." Jalokia cut off the music before the other verses. "I wanted to tell you before I forgot." ZIM's antenna perked at what it could be. "Did you know you're the top country singer for Irk?"

"I knew I was the top artist, but country artist too? Beat that, Dib!" ZIM shouted the last part in English, pointing at his friend.

"What are you even talking about?" Dib asked, frightened.

"See what I like about you, ZIM, is you're so versatile. You can sing pop, country, you can even rap! That's impressive." ZIM smiled.

"Why thank you."

"Anyway, I want you to sing your latest country song you wrote awhile back. Goodnight."

"Then put it on that track." ZIM said as he prepared to sing the song. Jalokia went back stage. "You want me to dance for this one?"

"Yeah! Practice line dancing or whatever you do for this one!" Jalokia called from out of sight. The country toned music emitted from the speakers.

"_Walking by the lake, taking a dip to get rid of the itch. I've got a feeling so strong, I'm ready for dusk, so lets go. Get your muddy boots on and tag along. Pile in my truck and let's have a goodnight!_" For this song ZIM changed his voice to sound more hoarse, but in a good kind of way that makes the song appealing to the ear and/or antenna. "_Stomp you feet in the hardwood floor as we all move in step._" ZIM scuffed his pretend boot to the stage floor. "_We could take it outside, by the river front and we could start a great bonfire. Everybody let's just have a goodnight. Pour some alcohol on the flames, make it bright. We can grab our honeys and show them that we love 'em. It's gonna be a goodnight!_" ZIM voice suddenly cracked as he was about to sing the next verse. He cleared his throat. "_Toss a ball around and wrestle in the dirt. Where I come from, class doesn't exist. Those who are offended can kiss this._" ZIM turned around, poking out his butt and slapping it. "_I can tell that it's gonna be a goodnight, goodnight, goodnight._" ZIM's voice cracked again. Jalokia groaned and stopped the track.

"What's up, ZIM? Been singing too much?" ZIM looked shocked.

"I don't know." ZIM said. "I never made those sounds before."

"Oh Yahweh, please don't be going through puberty." Jalokia mumbled. ZIM's eyes widened. What if he was going through puberty? Would he be able to perform? There was no way in hell ZIM would perform on Friday if his voice kept cracking. He couldn't go on stage and embarrass himself twice in the same year. That just wasn't going to fly.

"Maybe my voice is just failing. I should rest it." ZIM said, optimistically. Jalokia nodded, forcing himself to believe that it was just a sore throat or something.

"Go home and rest, Zeiden. Don't speak too much either for the rest of the day. I want your voice crisp and clean on Friday." ZIM slumped a bit that his rehearsal has been cut short.

"The concert is on Friday. I need to practice."

"You need your voice more than anything, ZIM. Go home and rest your vocal chords." Jalokia said, firmly.

"But I really-"

"No buts, ZIM. Go home, speak minimal." Jalokia was more strict-sounding this time. A tone that was rare for ZIM to hear coming from him. Jalokia was usually very mellow.

"Just one more song-" ZIM cut himself off when he saw Jalokia's glare. "I'll go home now."

"That's what I thought." ZIM looked out to the seats toward Dib who was watching intently. "Let's go, dude."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"They want me to rest my voice." ZIM said, taking out his transporter. He beamed the two to ZIM's house in the garage. ZIM walked to the door to the house, Dib followed. ZIM and Dib walked into the kitchen. Leslie was there preparing a meal, Tak and Gaz were helping.

"Hi, Sweetie. You're home early." Leslie noticed.

"Uhhh . . . Yeah, they want me to take a break." ZIM said, sitting at the table. Dib took the chair next to him.

"How are you, Dib?" Leslie asked.

"I'm good, Mrs. . . . Macale? Strud?" Dib said nervously. ZIM snickered.

"It's technically Macale Strud, but if you don't wanna say both you may say either one." Leslie said. "Irken laws are confusing, I know." She winked at him. Dib smiled. "You boys hungry?"

"Sistah, please. I'm always hungry." ZIM said.

"Yes, you eat all the time too. How you stay that skinny is beyond me." Leslie mumbled. "We're gonna eat supper now. Can you get your brothers? They're in the office." ZIM nodded and went to get Red and Purple. Dib stayed back to help set the table. ZIM opened the office door and found Red typing furiously into his laptop and Purple was behind him hitting random keys with one finger to make Red mess up.

"Stop it." Red muttered.

"No." Purple replied, nonchalantly.

"Stop it."

"No."

"Please stop it."

"No thank you."

"Stop it."

"No." This went on for a while longer until ZIM decided to interrupt.

"It's time for dinner." ZIM said. Red and Purple both looked at him.

"Okay." Red folded the top down over the keyboard. Him and Purple then started to walk out, side-by-side as if they were on a mission. They walked past ZIM then suddenly it turned into a race between the two. They started to shove each other giggling and punching the other.

"You two, stop your fighting!" Leslie yelled from the kitchen. Red composed himself and Purple crossed his arms. ZIM shook his head. What is _wrong_ with them?

"Hey!" Red exclaimed, turning around to ZIM. "Why you here?"

"Jalokia sent me home early to rest." Red stared at ZIM for a long time. He then shrugged and continued on. "Dibby is here!" Red exclaimed walking into the kitchen. Dib smiled and waved nervously at Red. Red still intimidated him.

"Hi." The boy said. Red pulled up a chair and sat next to Dib, really close. Red rested his elbow in the table facing Dib. He propped his head up on his hand. Red watched Dib as the boy grew more and more uncomfortable. "Umm . . ."

"How are you?" Red finally asked.

"I'm . . . good."

"That's freakin' great." Red said. Purple pulled a chair from the other side of Dib.

"Hey, friend." Purple whispered, mirroring Red's posture. "What's up?" Dib looked from the two to ZIM, who shrugged it off.

"Stop making the boy feel uncomfortable!" Leslie yelled at them. "Geez, he's never going to want to come back after being attacked by you two dimwits." Red scowled.

"Dillon! You got us in trouble! We hate you now!"

"Unfriend!" Purple shouted. He turned in his seat to face away from the boy.

"Knock it off." Tenn hit Purple's head when she just entered the kitchen. Dib didn't know what to say. ZIM pushed Purple out of his chair and took his place. Purple scowled but moved down a seat.

"Sorry about them." ZIM whispered.

"I suppose I outta get used to that." Dib chuckled. ZIM smiled.

"That may take some time."

**The Next Day**

Dib and ZIM sat at the dining room table eating breakfast. Dib had spent the night because his dad had a late night at his lab. A curse was heard coming from the garage followed by the door opening. Red entered the house looking annoyed. Purple followed him in. They've been working on Red's truck all morning. It decided to break down just for the fun of it.

"I'm getting a new truck. In 2001 they're launching a new model of Chevy called Avalanche. I'm gonna get it." Red said simply.

"You do that." Purple said. "I'm going to get a frickin' four wheel drive Jeep." He said.

"We have one back in 'Stralia." Red noted. Purple brushed him off.

"Yeah, but I want my own." Purple said. "It's gonna be pink with a yellow flower paint job." Dib laughed, Purple glared at him. "What? You laughing at my style? For shame, Dillon!" The boy closed his mouth but was still amused.

"Can I get a truck too? I want to try driving higher up." ZIM said.

"No. You won't be able to reach the accelerator." Red said.

"That's why we'll get the drivers side custom made to fit me." ZIM said. Red shook his head.

"No. No. No . . . Okay, I'll think about it." He said. ZIM smirked. If he got a truck he wouldn't look like a pretty boy driving around a Mustang. He'd look like a proud redneck like his brother.

"Can I have your car then, ZIM?" Dib asked.

"Boy, you have to wait another five years." ZIM said. Dib didn't seem to care about the response. "What do ya wanna do?"

"I don't care." Dib said. "Anything fun."

"Whatever you do, take Gaz with you." Red said. ZIM groaned.

"Noooo," ZIM whined. "She's bossy and always gets her way." Red narrowed his eyes at ZIM.

"Zeiden." He said, sternly.

"I need guy time, bro!" ZIM begged. Red's features turned darker. "Ugh! Fine. Where's Tak? She coming too?"

"She went out with Tenn to the school she works at now." Red said. "Be home by twelve for lunch." ZIM nodded.

"Where's Gaz anyway?"

"I'm in here you, boob!" Gaz called from the living room.

"Come on! You're coming with me!" ZIM shouted back, voice cracking.

"Where are we going?" She yelled.

"I don't know! Just come!"

"You two are only a room away, you don't need to yell." Purple said. ZIM scoffed.

"You should know by now that I yell instead of talk." ZIM said. He rubbed his throat. "God, that hurt."

"Yeah you should really stop yelling before you strain your voice further." Dib said. Gaz came into the kitchen. She nonchalantly punched ZIM hard in the arm.

"Don't yell at me." She growled. ZIM shot a glare at Red. His brother wasn't even paying attention anymore. ZIM and the two humans walked out together. Red and Purple looked at each other.

"We're alone now?" Purple asked.

"Yup." Red said. The two sat in silence for a few moments.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Purple smiled widely at Red.

"Slide down the stairs on our snowboards?" Red asked. Purple nodded then both darted off to get their boards.

**Later**

The parking lot ZIM stopped at was large and empty. It was a parking lot for an old office building no one used anymore. ZIM put his car in park and got out, confusing the two humans still in the car. He told Gaz to get out and for Dib to switch sides with him.

"What are we doing, ZIM?" Dib asked getting out of the car.

"I'm teaching you how to drive. Gaz stand _waaaay_ over there." ZIM pointed to the sidewalk by the road. "Get in the drivers side, Dib." ZIM instructed and climbed into the passengers seat. Dib was shocked and frightened.

"What if I total your car?" Dib asked.

"You won't. Get in." Dib hesitantly slid in into the driver's seat.

"Adjust your seat so you can reach the peddles." ZIM said, calmly. Dib was frozen.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" He asked. ZIM nodded.

"That way when we meet Chester, A.J., and Timmy, you can brag to them how you were the first of the three to drive!" ZIM exclaimed. Dib looked down to see where his feet were.

"I don't think I need to adjust. We're like the same height." He said.

"Okay then. Turn on the car." ZIM said. Dib looked at the ignition. He grasped the key and turned it but not far enough. The car struggled to turn on. ZIM rolled his eyes and pushed the key further forward so it started. Dib blushed. "Now put it in reverse." Dib looked at ZIM.

"How?"

"The shift. Grab hold of the shifter and put it on the 'R' setting." Dib was about to do just that when ZIM remembered something important. "Push the brake down first so you don't kill my transmission!" He quickly added, his voice cracked again. Dib snickered. "Shut up and do it." Dib closed his mouth and pushed down the break then slowly shifted it down to reverse. "Now let off the brake." As soon as Dib did and he noticed they were rolling backward he slammed on the brake again, panicking. "What are you doing?"

"We were moving!"

"Well yeah! That's what a car does! Ease off my brakes man, I don't want to have to replace them." ZIM said. "Take your foot off the break. The car automatically starts rolling whether you tell it to do that or not." Dib released the brake and the car coasted backwards. "See? You're doing it. Now crank the wheel to the left then stop when you're out of the parking space." Dib nodded and started to turn the wheel. "You can give it a little gas. Gently apply pressure to the accelerator." Dib put his foot on the peddle and pushed down a little too hard. The car went lurching backwards. Dib stomped on the brake again trembling. ZIM face palmed and sighed. "_Gently _apply pressure unto the accelerator . . ."

"ZIM, I don't think I can do this." Dib said.

"Of course you can! Don't give up on me now! Just a little further then you can put it in drive." Dib took his foot off the brake and allowed the car to roll back. "Now brake then switch gears to 'D'." Dib pressed the break then downshifted to drive. "Gently! Put your foot on the accelerator and press down." ZIM said, his voice cracked again. Dib nodded and eased on the peddle and started to go slowly.

"Hey! I'm doing it! Lookit me go!" Dib shouted happily.

"Good now you need to turn up here." Dib started to crank the wheel to the right. "Great job! See you're a natural!"

"Really?" Dib asked hopefully. "Were you exactly like me when you first began?" ZIM waited a moment before making his response.

"No. I actually drove like I've been driving for years. I don't know. I guess I pick up quick on things like this." ZIM said. Dib looked distraught. "But it's okay if you don't get it right away. You have five years." Dib nodded. ZIM suddenly had an idea pop into his head. "Hey! You want me to show you how to drift?"

**Meanwhile**

"Thank you for helping me out, Tak." Tenn said, sitting in her office chair in her big band room. "I can't wait to get started. The school really needed a band director and the long term sub was about to leave without getting a new replacement. Then these kids wouldn't have a music teacher." Tenn looked proudly at the blue and gold Vinton High School banner in the music room. "Marching Maelstrom, we're called."

"How many kids are in your band?" Tak asked, setting down a box on Tenn's desk.

"About one-hundred-fifty."

". . . Is that big?"

"It's a little over average yeah." Tenn said. She spun in her chair.

"When do you start?" Tak asked.

"Next week Monday. I'm gonna start preparing the kids for the first concert of the school year. They should be used to performing by now. They already marched several half time shows." Tenn said. "I'm so happy! This was like my dream job since I started band in fifth grade. As soon as I bought my first flute I knew this is what I wanted to be." Tenn looked at the time. "We should get home now. ZIM's got a hockey game."

"Does everyone know ZIM plays hockey except Red?" Tak wondered.

"Yeah, pretty much." Tenn said. "The game starts in an hour and a half. You going?"

"Yes. Are you?" Tenn shook her head.

"I don't want to raise suspicion. If Red finds out he's gonna be pissed at Purple and he'll ground ZIM for sure. Then he'd get mad at everyone who knew for not telling him. That'd put a damper on all of our days."

"Have you gone to any of his games yet?"

"No, but I plan on it soon." Tenn locked the building's door and walked to her car. "Let's get you home so you can get ready."

**That Day**  
><strong>Afternoon<strong>

"The kids on the Sharks are big and strong, ZIM. I don't want to see you trying to knock them down because they're like running into a brick wall. Just use your nimbleness and speed to maneuver around them, okay? Remember, if you get hurt, Red will find out and he'll pull you off the team." Purple said. He smacked ZIM on the helmet. "Good talk, bud. Now get out there and show those Sharks what you're made of. And make sure you show off for that lovely lady in the stands as well." ZIM smiled, skating on the ice to the red circle. He looked to the crowd of people. Tak was in the third row of seats grinning from antenna to antenna. ZIM blew her a kiss at which she giggled at.

"Gee, ZIM. You're such a ladies man." Jason mumbled.

"You know it." ZIM said, as he got ready to face off. The opposing center skated up to ZIM and stood in the middle of the circle with ZIM. ZIM's eyes widened as he saw the other team. Purple was right, they were all huge! Six foot or taller!

"I'm gonna crush you, little Jackal." ZIM shrunk back at the cruel words spoken by the Shark team member.

"That's no way to make friends!" ZIM said, confidently, not letting his fear of being crippled sway him. "Let's start again," ZIM held out his gloved hand. "My name is Zeiden. Yours?" The boy snatched ZIM's hand and started to squeeze it very tightly.

"The Zeiden Crusher. You're going down." ZIM forced a smile through the cringing face he made.

"Nice to meet you too." The ref blew the whistle signaling face off. ZIM got ready to slap the puck away. The black and white striped official dropped the puck between the two. ZIM got the puck first and flicked it to Jason who passed it on the Lucas. ZIM skated after his fellow team mates in order to help were needed. Lucas passed it back to ZIM to make a shot. ZIM was about to slap the rubber disc in until he felt himself fly far forward and land on his face. He dropped his stick. He groaned and opened his eyes. The other team had the puck now.

ZIM growled and got up, retrieved his stick then pushed toward them trying to get the puck back. He was coming up fast behind one of the largest players on the other team. The little Irken skated around the guy and snagged the black disc back. As soon as he thought he slid out of reach of anyone he was pushed up against the side wall roughly. ZIM hit the glass hard enough to rattle the entire thing. His helmet flew off as his head smack the glass. ZIM moaned in pain and crumpled down to his side. The ref blew the whistle and skated to see if ZIM was alright. ZIM got on his hands and knees with his head bowed, attempting to shake away the head ache. Purple came running up to him.

"You okay, bud?" He asked. ZIM nodded and stood to his feet with the help of Purple. "Do you need to sit out?" ZIM shook his head, looking in the stands at Tak who was concerned.

"I'll be fine." ZIM said. Purple gave him a curt nod and put ZIM's helmet back on his head, tightening the chin strap.

"Be careful, please."

"Will do." ZIM said. As they resumed play ZIM went another way of approaching the gorilla-like humans. He was already using his nimbleness to his advantage, he needed to add the speed now. These Sharks were slow movers, if ZIM could beat them by quickness, they don't stand a chance.

**After The Game**

"You looked so good. Even when you got knocked down." Tak said, embracing ZIM and not letting go. They took refuge in his room as soon as they got home. Sitting side-by-side on the edge of his bed. "I couldn't help but laugh every now and then when you'd skate through those huge boys. You're so tiny I was afraid they'd step on you." ZIM smirked and rolled his eyes. Tak kissed his cheek.

"I can't wait to see how beautiful you are when you do your figure skating." ZIM said, nuzzling her cheek. She held his hand tightly and kissed his head. "Mmm, Tak,"

"Hmm?"

"I want to tell you something. I feel like we've been dating long enough for me to decide that . . . I love you." Immediately after saying those words ZIM blushed hard. Tak was speechless. Her heart fluttered and her stomach twisted in knots.

"I-I . . . Oh ZIM, you don't know how long I've been wanting you to say that." Tak said, happily. ZIM looked her in the eyes. Tak used both hands to hold his face. She leaned down to kiss his lips. ZIM was beyond happy. He was ecstatic. ZIM smiled through the kiss. His smile widened when Tak started to push him down to his bed so that she was laying on top of him. ZIM's arms sealed around her as her own hands travelled around his torso. ZIM's eyes closed in bliss. Who knew you could fall in love so young?

**That Night**

ZIM looked at the clock on the T.V. in his dressing room on the studio lot. It was almost ten. He wasn't allowed to drive past ten. Shit. ZIM thought. He got up and staggered to the fridge and put the bottle of whiskey he was drinking away. How was he going to drive home? He couldn't if he was tipsy. ZIM thought for a long moment, trying to figure out what he should do. He had an idea. He got out his Imp and called Red. After two rings his older brother picked up.

"_Zeiden, where are you? You left and didn't tell me where you were going! I was worried._"

"I'm fine, I'm at Jalokia's studio . . . with Skoodge. I'm spending the night on Irk with him."

"_Zeiden, you can't do that! I get to say what you can and can't do! Come home now!_"

"I'll be home by ten in the morning tomorrow." ZIM said.

"_Get your ass home now! You don't even have your medications with you or anything!_" Red yelled.

"Goodnight." ZIM ended the conversation with that. He then turned his phone off so he wouldn't be bothered anymore. ZIM pondered for awhile. He wasn't sure if he'd be in more trouble if he came home tipsy or if he didn't come home at all. And on top of that he lied. ZIM smacked himself mentally. The only reason he went to the studio in the first place was for the new script. When he got caught up watching a Red Wings' game he lost track of time and how much he had drank. "Damn it, ZIM. You dun goofed."

ZIM just shrugged and planned on sleeping it off. Who knows, maybe Red won't even be that mad.

**Next Day**

Boy was ZIM wrong. When he got home Red started yelling and shaking him. He apparently was in panic mode all night last night according to Leslie, who was equally disappointed in ZIM. Now ZIM was grounded from everything Red could think of. No friends, no laptop, no phone, no T.V., no going outside, no anything. He even wouldn't let ZIM talk to Tak when he got home. He was ordered to go straight to his room and do nothing. He wasn't allowed out till Red or someone else came and got him. It's been three long hours in his room alone. Staring at the ceiling. Bored out of his mind. Zee finally came not his room.

"Hey. You got to get ready for your concert." ZIM gasped. How has he forgotten about that? He's been practicing for it for weeks now. ZIM jumped from his bed and hurried to get his transporter and trotted down stairs where everyone was waiting. It didn't take long for ZIM to bring them all the way to Irk to the auditorium. As soon as ZIM got there makeup artist and the costume crew swept him away to prepare him. Tak followed.

"Tak! I need you to go back to earth and get Dib." ZIM threw the transporter to Tak who caught it but just barely. Without a word Tak went back to earth to get his friend.

"Are you ready for tonight, ZIM? You're on in an hour." Jalokia said.

"I'm nervous. I forgot all about the concert till just ten minutes ago." ZIM squeaked.

"And how's your voice? Will it hold up?"

"It hasn't cracked in awhile it should be fine." ZIM said.

"Great! Okay when your makeup is done go get your costume on then come to the private quarters for vocal warm ups." ZIM nodded. He remembered the concert yesterday. How come he didn't today? ZIM pushed that out if his mind and started to focus on what was just ahead. Once he was dolled up he warmed up his singing voice then proceeded to the area where he'd be lifted onto the stage just like the first time. Jalokia was there to counsel him before he went on. "You'll do great, Zeiden. You won't disappoint tonight. I can count on it. You're extremely talented and I know you can be flawless."

"Thanks Jalo. I'm still petrified though."

"That's fine to be scared. At first you may be a little stiff but after the first song on stage, you'll forget the crowd is even there." ZIM nodded. "Now, get on the lift and knock 'em dead." Jalokia patted ZIM's head. ZIM stepped onto the lift and it started it's ascent to the stage and in front of the crowd of billions. When the lift stopped it was like déjà vu. His first song started to play. It was dark, smoke was hovering just below him then the spot light shone on him. ZIM's face was emotionless as the crowd started to roar. It was like thunder. ZIM's headset microphone was on and he waited for his cue. The dancers around him doing there slow and steady routine waiting for the music to pick up.

"_The night is young! A shadow of hope is hovering right over us. We're going to stay up till midnight, so lets get ready to rave._" ZIM first lines were flawless. He sung the song and moved to it as if he was used to being in front of big crowds. Jalokia was right, midway through the song his fears melted away and he forgot all about the audience. "_Break away from you every day life! Come with me and raise you voice! Sing a song of exhilaration! Cause we are here, and this is now! Live in the moment not in the past! Throw your cares away as we dance!_" The crowd sung the final chorus with him in harmony. ZIM beamed as he finished the song in his last pose. The crowd went nuts for him. Maybe he could get used to this. "How are you doing tonight?" ZIM asked, excitedly. His legs were shaking. A hint of nervousness was still flowing through him. The people cried with joy. "Welcome to my very first concert! You are watching history in the making!" ZIM announced. They cheered again. "Thank you!" ZIM waited for them to calm down. ". . . This next song is on of my more famous country genre songs. It's a mix between Southern Irken country and Earthen American country. I call this genre, confused mixed country, obviously." The people laughed at the clever name. "You should know this song!" ZIM was handed an acoustic guitar. "_Walking by the lake, taking a dip to get rid of the itch. I've got a feeling so strong, I'm ready for the night, so lets go. Get your muddy boots on and tag along. Pile in my truck and let's have a goodnight!_" ZIM sang his song happily as he danced with his dancers and guitar.

Eventually the song ended and it was time for a costume change. The performer for the down time in between acts danced in the mean time. ZIM pranced off the stage and was met by a big kiss on the head, courtesy of Jalokia.

"See! I knew it! You're doing great! Augh! I love you! I already have hundreds of reviews coming to my phone. All of them are good!" Jalokia exclaimed. "Get your next costume on and get ready for your next two songs!" ZIM smiled and did so. He couldn't find his siblings anywhere. Jalokia refused to let them see him as he was performing. He didn't want ZIM distracted. When he got back on stage he sat down on an amp and started to talk.

"You see peoples," ZIM said. "The first concert didn't go so well. I apologize for that." The crowd was quiet. "I had no idea what happened. One moment I was standing in front of you then I thought all I did was blink but when I opened my eyes again I was on the ground!" ZIM said. "I faint a lot, especially when I just get out of a hot shower. Good thing I wasn't naked this time." The mass laughed at his humor.

"It sucks you weren't naked!" Someone from the crowd screamed. ZIM's antenna perked up.

"Who said that?" He asked. A random hand from the group of people shot up. "Should I be flattered you want to see me naked or disturbed?" The audience laughed again, ZIM chuckled with them. "Ah, well. You came here to hear me sing not chat so I'm gonna go ahead and sing a song about someone who is very dear to me." ZIM nodded at the sound guys and they played the right track. ZIM waited for the beginning instrumental to end. "_From the first moment I saw you, our very first memory we shared. I could tell you were different, and It took me awhile to figure out. I came to realize that you were the only one I could ever want._" ZIM walked down the length of the stage touching several squealing girls' hands as he did. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw her. The one who he was singing about on the far side, right by the stage. He walked over to her as he sung. "_Would you carry me home? Lay next to me? Stay by my side forever? Be my sweetheart as our love never fails._" ZIM stopped in front of Tak who was standing by Dib. He winked at her and held out a hand to yank her on stage. Tak was shocked and pleased. When he brought her on stage the crowd screamed. "_I have an ache that only you can help. My heart beats for you, you're the only one I want in this moment._" Tak was blushing hard as he held her hand and sang to the people. After a few more verses the song came to a close. "_The fire in our beings that only proves that we are young, our love is young, our future will be long. So stay with me till the end._" As ZIM cut off he kissed her lips briefly earning several whistles and aw's from the concert-goers. Tak smiled brightly and hugged ZIM. He grinned and led her back down to her spot. ZIM waited for the people to stop yelling again. "I have no idea who that was." ZIM joked. "Nah, I'm kidding. That was my girlfriend of two years now . . . I think." ZIM looked at Tak to verify the answer.

"November 30 will be our third year anniversary." Tak said. ZIM's eyes widened.

"Really? That long already?" ZIM said. "Whoa, that's crazy. Three years, I'm sorry. I apparently can't remember shi- . . . crap." ZIM caught himself. "Anyway, my next song will be dedicated to all the good country folk out there. Yes! I'm going to torture you with another country song but this time, it's a fully Irken country song." Everyone clapped for his new song. ZIM chuckled and waited for the song to kick up. "_Out in the middle of no where, that's where I'd prefer to be. I can't stand the big city, I just don't feel free. Confined in this concrete slab on the ground, no grass can be found. I need to get outta this place and live in the sticks._" ZIM sang his song with enthusiasm. He felt great! He's never felt so comfortable in front of so many people before. He'd definitely be doing another concert.

**Post Concert**

"You were awesome! Your songs! Your singing! It's a good thing your voice didn't crack!" ZIM hasn't seen Dib this pumped since ever. ZIM couldn't help but laugh and talk with the boy.

"Well it did once when I was singing one of the country songs but it sounded like the crack should have been there anyway so it worked out good." ZIM said. "I hope it's not puberty. Maybe you were right about the whole singing constantly thing. It takes a toll on my voice." Dib nodded.

"You should celebrate!"

"Yeah, I'm celebrating by giving another mini concert at the studio, remember?" ZIM asked.

"Oh, yeah. I do." Dib recalled. "I can't wait to see you perform again! It was amazing!"

"Thanks, D." The door to ZIM's room opened. Red was in the doorway. He was still upset about last night but he lightened up after the concert.

"Purple is bringing you home, Dib." Red said. "He's waiting in the garage for you." Dib nodded and gave ZIM a hug then left. Red stared at ZIM. The younger Irken stared back.

"I'm sorry I disobeyed you last night." ZIM said.

"You also lied." Red hissed. ZIM's heart beat faster. "Skoodge was at the concert and he said you never stayed the night with him."

"I was actually at the studio. I spent the night there."

"Why?"

". . . You said I wasn't allowed to drive home after ten. It was almost ten when I called you."

"Yes, but I gave you consent to drive home." Red said. He was getting suspicious. "Why really didn't you come home?" ZIM was getting annoyed at being interrogated so he decided to be blunt about it.

"I was tipsy." ZIM said. "I was drinking and I didn't want to get in an accident."

"Are you serious?" Red asked, bitterly. "After I've punished you for drinking before, you still disobeyed those specific orders and drank again anyway?" ZIM nodded. Red looked very angry for a split second. His face then dropped as he sighed. "I'm being hypocritical here. I started drinking at twelve and our parents allowed it."

"Then why won't you let me?" ZIM asked. Red ran a hand over his antenna.

"Because I- . . . Fine, you can. Just drink responsibly. Never come home drunk. If you do you'll have hell to pay." Red said. "I just don't want to see you grow up so fast. You're old enough to drive, drink, smoke, go to clubs. You just . . . grew up too fast for my liking."

"Can I be off my grounding then?" ZIM asked hopefully. Red narrowed his eyes at him.

"Don't get too brave. You're still under my rule." Red said. ZIM pouted, lowering his antenna. Red watched as his younger brother pulled the cute face on him once again. "Ugh, ZIM . . . Well, you did have an exceptional concert. I guess I'll let you off for the most part. You still will not be able to access your laptop."

"But I can hang out with friends?"

"Yes." Red mumbled, feeling bad that he went soft. He hoped he wouldn't regret it. If only ZIM knew how much he meant to him. That damn promise he made to his mother almost thirteen years ago changed his life, changed _him_. How he acted, his personality, his future, all changed. Red felt a small amount if pressure on his lap. He looked down and saw that Zeiden had crawled on him as he did when he was a smeet. He still is a smeet. ZIM smiled warmly at Red and snuggled into his big brother. Red returned the smile and hugged ZIM closely.

"Aww! Are we having family bonding time?" Tenn asked loudly, poking her head in the door. Red smirked and welcomed her to join them. "Zee! Get up here! Family moment!" Tenn shouted down the stairs before jumping on ZIM's bed and tackling her brothers playfully. Zee came into the room holding clutching her chest where her heart was.

"We haven't had one of these moments in a long time!" She said happily and crawled on the bed with the rest of her siblings. "Aww! I freakin' love you guys!" She threw her arms around all of them and squeezed as tightly as she could. ZIM was in the middle of it all, practically suffocating.

"ZIM cannot breath!" Zee loosened her grip and sat on the left side of Red and Tenn took the right and ZIM was still content in his lap. ". . . Well this is nice."

"Oh, we're so cute! I'm gonna hug us now!" Tenn exclaimed hugging her kin close. They remained like that for a few seconds more when ZIM's phone went off. He reached to grab it but his hand was smacked by Tenn. "ZIM! It's family time!"

"But-"

"Faaamilyyy." Tenn hissed. Yup, it sure was family time. And it was a beautiful moment for the four. A moment they didn't have in a long time till now.

**Next Morning**

ZIM sighed contently, slouching further into his couch in his dressing room as Tak rubbed his leg and every now and then kissing his check and neck. Dib was in the room talking to them about the photographs he took of ZIM and Tak when he was singing to her at the concert the night prior.

"You should take our wedding pictures, Dib." Tak said. ZIM looked at her.

"Who said we're getting married?" ZIM asked.

"It's obvious that one day we are." Tak said, getting closer to ZIM's face as if she was about to kiss him again. ZIM narrowed his eyes and turned his head away from her.

"Anyways, Dib, I can't wait to see them." ZIM said.

"I can't wait for you guys to see them either." Dib said. A knock came to ZIM's door.

"Grasp the knob and twist to open!" ZIM called. "Seriously, when will you people learn how to open a frickin' door?" The door opened and Spongebob came in.

"ZIM, we need you in the cafeteria quick!"

"Why what happened?"

"Your brother is having a seizure!" ZIM cocked a brow skeptical.

"Red's not epileptic, I am." ZIM said. Spongebob's eyes shifted from left to right.

". . . Just c'mon!" The yellow sponge grabbed his hand and darted out the door with him. Tak and Dib followed to see exactly what was going on. When the group of four burst in the cafeteria ZIM was surprised to find almost everyone who worked for the studio there. As soon as he ran in everyone cheered for him. A stage was set up on the far side of the area. Red was on that stage sitting by a grand piano, waving dorkily at him. "Time for our personal concert!" Spongebob pushed him toward the stage. ZIM was escorted on the stage in front of about two-hundred toons, aliens, and humans. The Irken frowned when Spongebob handed him a microphone and a guitar.

"What the heck, Robert? How am I supposed to hold the mic and play the guitar at once?" ZIM asked. Someone else who was a stage hand climbed on stage with a microphone stand and situated it accordingly. ZIM groaned sitting on a chair in front of the mic and guitar on his lap. "I couldn't even get a warning we were doing this today?" ZIM asked, jokingly. He strummed the guitar, tuning it along the way. "Well, what song are we even starting with?" ZIM asked Red. The older Irken shrugged.

"I don't know, I'm just your pianist and back up vocals."

"Mmmnnn . . . okay. _Tonight_, sing it in English." ZIM chose the song then started to strum his guitar to the song's notes. He looked out into the crowd before starting and saw Tak looking pleased. He smiled the sang. His friends all enthusiastically cheered for him as he provided for them a show. Anything for his friends.

**Later**

Tak wasn't comfortable. The girl 'classmates' that were in the show kept glaring at her and looking her up and down. She didn't know what she did! She didn't do anything to them yet they seemed to strongly dislike her anyway.

Tak joined ZIM for a meeting for the next episode of the show just for the fun of it. She now regrets it because of the multiple stink eyes she's been getting from the background female characters.

She felt an arm drape across her shoulders. Tak grinned at ZIM and leaned her head against his. She laid a hand down on his leg and gave it a squeeze. ZIM turned his head and kissed her over her beauty mark under her left eye as her hand massaged his thigh.

"Hey you two! Cut it out before I punch you both in the neck." Jhonen snapped at them, jokingly. "You guys and your sickening romance." The young man looked at the clock in the room. "It's almost time to wrap it up anyway. Any questions?"

"Yeah, what were you just talking about?" ZIM asked. Jhonen's eye twitched.

"I'll just call you whenever we need you, ZIM. Next time you should stay focussed." ZIM wasn't listening again. He was fiddling with Tak's fingers. "Alright everyone, leave my sight. I'm done with you all." The actors and actresses dispersed from the room and half of them met up in the lobby.

"ZIM! You should totally come to my birthday party tomorrow! It's a boy-girl party! I invited Dib but he and his dad were going on a trip to San Diego." Jessica chimed, yanking ZIM away from Tak by the arm.

"Is it really? Dang, well I had plans for the weekend . . ." ZIM said, scratching the back of his head. "I have a game and Tak and I were goin' on a date afterwards." ZIM saw Jessica momentarily glare at Tak. "But I'll have more games and Tak and I can just reschedule. Your birthday does only come once a year after all." ZIM said. The blond grinned, victoriously.

"The party is at my house. Starts at two and ends at six. I'd like it if you stayed the entire time." She said,

"But that's like four hours." ZIM said.

"Yeah, so? It's not like I'm not gonna have anything fun to do." Jessica looked back toward Zita, Morla, Aki, Sara and a few other background actresses. "He said, yes!" The girls looked excited.

"May Tak come along? I mean, I just cancelled right in front of her with out checking to see if she was okay with it." ZIM reasoned. Jessica stared at Tak for a long moment.

"Umm . . . Well you see, I'm only allowed to invite twelve people and if I invited her she'd be the thirteenth." Tak was crestfallen. ZIM looked doubtful. He loved Tak. How could he blow her off.

"I'm sorry, Takayla-"

"Oh, it's fine Zei-Zei. I can spend the night with Zee if she's not doing anything with Mark." ZIM nodded and kissed her.

"Thanks for being so understanding." Tak faced him.

"You owe me." ZIM smirked and pecked her lips again.

"I know I do, babe." He replied. "I'll make it up to you as soon as I can."

**November 29, 2000**

ZIM pulled into Jessica's driveway. No other cars were in the driveway except for her parent's vehicles. The other kids were probably dropped off by their parents. He got out and saw a big group of girls barrel out of the house to greet him. He was taken off guard as they all hugged him and squealed.

"I'm so glad you could make it, Zeiden!" Jessica screamed in his antenna. ZIM smiled.

"Yeah, no problem. Where's the others?" ZIM asked, expecting some boys to come out too.

"This is it!" She said. "Just us girls and you! It would've been us ten girls and two boys but Dib didn't show up. Remember he had that thing or whatever. So yeah! But it'll still be fun!" ZIM grew suddenly uncomfortable. Eleven girls and him. What would Red say to a situation like that? Or Tak?

"Ooohhh." ZIM drawled. "Alriiight." Sara and Zita grabbed his wrists and practically dragged him inside and in Jessica's room.

"You came just in time, ZIM! We were about to play truth or dare."

'Oooh shit!' ZIM mentally screamed.

"I'll go first!" Morla announced. They had an empty Coke bottle in the center of a circle they had just formed. ZIM looked around. Sure enough, he was the only guy. Zita, Morla, Sara, Jessica, Gretchen was invited, Aki, Mary, Peeyoopi, Penny, Trish, and Doot. Morla spun the bottle and it spun and spun for like a total of forever, it seemed to ZIM. He was hoping it wouldn't land on him. He sighed with relief when it ended on Mary. "Truth, dare, kiss, or promise, Mary?"

"Truth!"

"Who is your crush?" Morla asked. The girls leaned in with anticipation at what she would say. Mary looked from ZIM then down.

"I-I like Dib . . . He's cute." She whispered. ZIM smiled. He was pretty sure quite a few girls in the room had a crush on Dib considering he was the only other boy invited. Mary spun the glass bottle weakly. It went around twice then landed on Sara. "Truth, dare, kiss, or promise?"

"Uh!" ZIM interrupted. "I have a question! Why is kiss an option? I mean almost everyone here are girls so . . ."

"A kiss can be on the cheek, hand, or lips. Depends where the person who is doing the kiss wants it." Jessica explained.

"I choose kiss." Sara announced.

"Eskimo kiss, ZIM!" Mary said. The girls awed. ZIM's eye twitched. He had a feeling that eventually this would get bad. Sara went across the circle to ZIM. She closed her eyes and pressed her nose to where his nose would be.

"Aww! It would work better if he actually had a nose!" Jessica said. "Okay, Sara, spin!" The blue haired girl spun the glass. It landed on Zita.

"Truth, dare, kiss, or promise?" Sara asked.

"Dare."

"Lick Morla's armpit." Sara said. Zita wrinkled her nose.

"Ewwww! Guys! No yucky dares!" She yelled.

"Fine, draw a mustache on your face with a sharpie." Sara said. Jessica smiled and ran to her desk and grabbed a sharpie. She then handed it to Zita who looked unsure.

"I can always draw it on you." Jessica said. Zita growled.

"Fine!" Jessica laughed and drew a toothbrush mustache on her upper lip.

"Jessie! No! Don't draw a Hitler 'stache! You could be offending Zeiden!" Sara stopped her. "He's Jewish!"

"Oh! Sorry, Zeiden." ZIM shrugged. Hitler killed human Jews not Irken Jews. Once a nice handle bar mustache was in Zita's lip she twirled the bottle and it landed on ZIM. Deciding to play it safe he choose truth.

"Oh, ZIM you're no fun! Choose kiss next time!" A girl yelled. Zita thought for a long time to come up with a good and more than likely embarrassing confession for ZIM to say.

"Do you sleep naked?" A light blush painted ZIM's face.

"Err . . . Well," ZIM said, trying to think up a good answer. "I do sometimes. On occasion, but it's not like every night!" His blush burned brighter when the girls started to coo and whistle.

"That's hot." Jessica said, twirling her hair in her fingers.

"I can picture you doing that. I always saw you as more of the _naughty_ type." Sara added closing her eyes. Oh God, was she mentally picturing him nude right in front of him? "Those boys deserved to be punished." ZIM looked like he could be sick. Punished? Really?

"Okay then, I'm going to spin now." ZIM pushed the glass then it landed on Jessica again. "You know the options." He said.

"Kiss." ZIM frowned. He didn't want to see any lesbian action and he himself did not want to get kissed either. Unless of course it was Tak. "Kiss . . . your crush next time you see him." ZIM said.

"On the lips?" Jessica wondered. ZIM shrugged.

"You pick." He said. Jessica's smile widened and she approached ZIM.

"What if your my crush, ZIM?"

"Cheek! On the cheek!" He said quickly. Jessica's smile barely faded. She puckered her lips and planted a wet kiss on his left cheek holding it like that for a long time to milk it as long as she possibly could. This was getting more and more awkward for him. Jessica sat back down and turned the glass. Gretchen.

"Truth." She said.

"Have you ever kissed a guy?" Gretchen looked at ZIM.

"I did kiss ZIM like twice." She admitted. A gasp was heard.

"Nuh Uh! Not even!" They all looked at the Irken. "Is she for real?" ZIM hung his head.

"She's not lying." He confessed. The girls went nuts as Gretchen spun the bottle next. It landed on Penny. A girl ZIM barely knew. He didn't know she was even in the show till yesterday.

"Dare." She said.

"Uh, I'm not good with dares." Gretchen said. "Aki will you choose it for me?"

"Give ZIM a lap dance!" The Indian girl shouted. ZIM raised his hands in front of him.

"Uh! How 'bout we play something else?" ZIM asked.

"Seven minutes in heaven!" A girl piped up. ZIM nearly shouted in frustration. He shouldn't have came. These girls apparently didn't know the meaning by, 'Not Available'.

"ZIM and I go first!" Jessica yelled. She grabbed ZIM by the arm.

"No!" He yelled. "Not happening!" Jessica stopped and stared at him along with the other girls. He sighed. "Listen, I'm taken." He explained. "I know you girls know that I have a girlfriend. Tomorrow is gonna be our third year anniversary. I love Tak. I truly love her and one day I'm hoping that we can spend the rest of our lives together. I'm sorry, but I just don't love you as I do Tak."

"You love her?" Jessica challenged. "Or is it just lust?"

"I've known her my entire life. I grew up with her. I'm positive I love her." He said. "And if you can't respect that then I'm going to leave to spend the day with her." Seconds of pure silence passed. The girls in the room seemed to shift uncomfortably.

". . . We're sorry, ZIM. We should have been nicer about it." Jessica finally said. "Well, then, how about a movie?" ZIM slumped with relief, feeling good about how he stayed loyal to his girl.

**November 30, 2000**  
><strong>Morning<strong>

"Wake up, honey." ZIM groaned and cracked open an eye. He saw Tak hovering over his bed. She greeted him with a kiss. "Happy anniversary!" She squeaked, excitedly. ZIM closed his eyes smiling pulling up his covers to his chin.

"What do you wanna do today?" He asked with a yawn.

"I don't care." Tak laid next to him, embracing him tightly. The two remained like that for some time, enjoying every millisecond of it. "I got you a gift." ZIM's antenna perked. "Wait here." She said. Tak slid off his bed and ran to her room. She reentered with a small box with wrapping paper around it. ZIM sat up, rubbing his eyes. She sat next to him and handed it to him.

"Oh, I love it, Tak!"

"You didn't open it yet, you boob!" Tak chuckled. ZIM smirked and peeled off the paper. It was a velvet box. He opened it and saw a rather large earring stud. His eyes widened. "It's alexandrite, one of the rarest stones out there." She explained. "It changes color in certain lighting and it symbolizes love and luck." ZIM was touched. "I had it exported from Sri Lanka and made specially for you." ZIM gazed at the magnificent gemstone in wonder. It must've costed her a fortune! Where did she even get the money?

"Will you put it in for me?" He asked. Tak smiled and nodded taking out his authentic diamond in his left antenna and replacing it with the round cut alexandrite. ZIM noticed the new stud was slightly heavier, mostly because it was a tad bigger than the diamond. "Thank you so much, Tak. I can't wait to see what others will think. They'll be so jealous." Tak beamed.

"I'm glad you like it."

"I have something for you too." ZIM said. He hopped off the bed and opened his drawer. Tak rose an eyebrow with curiosity when all she saw was paper in his hands. A pamphlet. He handed her the brochure. She looked at it. It was a list of trip options. "Choose anyplace from this brochure where you wanna go and I'll take you there." Tak looked at him. A trip? Just him and her? How would he even be allowed to do that? "I talked to Red and he said it was fine if we went on a vacation together as long as an adult came too. I'm thinking Tenn and Purple are going with us." Tak looked at the options. Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Prague, Beijing, Auckland, Brisbane, Vienna, Dublin, Cancun, Istanbul, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Rome, Venice, Cape Town, so many options. Tak couldn't pick one.

"Oh my gosh, ZIM. This is amazing! When are you going to have time for this?"

"Next month, hopefully. Pick a place that is not Australia. I've lived in Australia all my life and I wanna see another country."

"Is Aukland out too then?"

"Auckland is in New Zealand so I don't care if you choose that. My older siblings been there before, not me."

"Oh! How about two?" Tak asked.

"Choose one." Tak looked over the list again. It was exciting.

"I'll decide later, ZIM. Thank you." She kissed his head. "I love you."

"We can always visit the other places that you don't pick another time." ZIM winked. "And next time we'll be alone." Tak smiled.

"Well let's see. I've been to Paris. I'm from London. Vienna and Prague are fairly close." Tak scratched her chin. "Something out of Europe. No Rome, Vienna, Prague, Paris, Venice. Rio and Beijing sound like fun. Or maybe Cape Town."

"It's okay if you don't decide now. Go ahead and take your time." ZIM said. Tak couldn't stop smiling.

"This is one of the best gifts I received." Tak hugged him tightly. "Thank you." ZIM wrapped his arms around her.

"Welcome." ZIM's door opened.

"Hey you two!" Purple said, entering the room. "Three frickin' years and your still not sick of each other. You better start searching for an engagement ring, Zimmy." Red came into the room next pushing Purple harshly.

"Don't give him any ideas, stupid-face!"

"Hey! Don't be such a meanie-butt, I was just messin'." Purple said, punching his arm.

"Ow! I have a bruise on that arm! . . . Your torso is ugly." Red said, adding an insult in the mix. "Oh yeah! Happy anniversary! Today is the day where you can get away with anything that would otherwise make ZIM mad on any other days." Red told Tak.

"So I can pinch his butt?" Tak asked. Red and Purple looked at each other then chuckled.

"I don't care. Just be gentle. He's fragile." Red said. "Where ever you guys go today make sure you let me know, okay?" ZIM nodded. "Good. Pur and I are going to go quit our jobs." Red was about to leave but ZIM stopped him.

"Why are you quitting?" He asked, shocked.

"We're applying for a biology research facility on Irk. Biologists on Irk get paid a lot more and their treated a lot better too." ZIM raised a brow.

"Um, okay. Have fun with that then."

"Good luck." Tak said.

"I'm going to need to borrow your transporter." ZIM pointed to his dresser. Red looked and took the orb and left with Purple. ZIM took a deep breath.

"I'm gonna go take my meds while you get ready. Then we can leave." ZIM got off his bed and put a pair of pants on so he didn't go out in just his boxers. He walked down the steps to the kitchen and groaned when he saw Mark and Zee at the kitchen table. 'Just don't look at him, ZIM.'

"Hey, little guy." The Vortian said. ZIM frowned and gave him a weak wave.

"ZIM, say, hello." Zee said. ZIM ignored her and grabbed all his medications and a bottle of water. He took them all at once.

"How are you, ZIM?" Mark asked. ZIM ignored them again.

"Zeiden, he asked you a question!" Zee snapped.

"I'm great! How are you, Marccim?" ZIM exclaimed, sarcastically.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." Mark said, pretending to be oblivious to the sarcasm. "And please, Zimmy, call me Mark. All my pals call me Mark." ZIM sneered and turned to leave.

"Get rid if that attitude right now, Zeiden Macale!" Zee yelled after him. ZIM wanted to shout back at her but went against it. He was gonna let his sister's stupid boyfriend ruin his day. He walked back to his room and put on a nice black, quarter length sleeve, button-up shirt for the day. He grabbed a belt and slid it through the loops of his dark denim jeans. Tak poked her head through the doorway. ZIM stared at her. She looked really cute. Skinny jeans, flats, a white blouse and a black denim jacket.

"Hey Cutie, you ready to go?" She asked. ZIM grabbed his wallet and car keys.

"Yes I am. Let's go." He said. ZIM took a few minutes to feed his crocs and then they drove off. "So I was thinking we could just start by doing any fun activities that strike our fancy, then tonight we can go to a club or rave if you wish."

"Sounds like fun, babe." Tak said. "What are we starting with then?"

". . . Do you like horses?"

**Later**

"I'm not that good with animals that are considerably bigger than me." Tak said, keeping a wary eye on the beast before her. ZIM was already mounted on top of a black American quarter horse. Her horse was a brown and white appaloosa.

"I've ridden these things before. They ain't that bad." ZIM said.

"Can you help me get up then?" ZIM jumped off his horse and assisted Tak on her's. Once she was on ZIM got back on his. A guide approached the two.

"Are you experienced horse riders?" ZIM nodded but Tak shook her head. "Alright well, lemme go saddle up and I'm gonna ride with you two." He said and walked away to go get his own horse. ZIM choose a trail that was three miles long. After the trail ZIM and Tak planned on going to a movie then out for lunch. Once the guide came back they made their horses walk down the trails. ZIM and Tak were side-by-side and the guide went up a head just a bit.

"May I ask you something, ZIM?"

"You just did."

"Then can I ask you another question?"

"You just did again."

"Zeiden, cut it out!" Tak playfully kicked at ZIM's leg. He chuckled.

"Yes, what is it?"

"What did you do at Jessica's party? I heard you were the only guy."

". . . They wanted to play seven minutes in heaven. I wouldn't allow it." Tak nodded.

"What else?"

"They asked me if I slept naked."

". . . Do you?"

"Sometimes. Just so you know I didn't do anything bad or anything that would upset you." ZIM said. "I couldn't do that to you, either way."

"Okay babe. I trust you." Tak said. ZIM smiled at her. "By the way I already knew you sleep naked often." ZIM raised a brow. "I sometimes come into your room late at night to see you when I can't sleep." ZIM was slightly disturbed by that comment. Or maybe turned on. He didn't know.

"Umm . . . "

"Sorry if that creeps you out." Tak said. ZIM just forced a crooked grin.

"Well, that's nice to know, I guess."

**Later**

ZIM took Tak to see a movie. They watched some horror that Tak didn't really pay attention to. The whole movie ZIM was clinging to her, frightened. He scared easily. ZIM then took out for Mexican food. Mexican food never sat well with him. He hoped Tak wouldn't mind if he let out a loud belch every now and then. But her being a proper English young lady, he doubted it. Now he was taking her to a show. An illusionist. Something ZIM had no interest in but Tak did. After the show which was about two hours long they'd go to the beach, watch the sunset then go party.

ZIM sat in his seat watching the illusionist do his thing. ZIM wasn't impressed. Tak on the other hand was in awe. Wondering how he did half the tricks. ZIM gazed at her. Her beautiful flabbergasted face. He was _lucky_ to have fallen in _love_ with a girl like her. ZIM thought back to the stud in his antenna. How the gemstone stood for luck and love. How appropriate. ZIM put an arm around Tak's shoulders. She leaned her head on his shoulder. They remained like that for the rest of the show.

ZIM drove Tak to the beach. It has cooled off quite a bit since the day started and ZIM was shivering. He should have brought a jacket like Tak had.

"Are you okay, Hun?" Tak asked, holding his hand as they walked down the boardwalk.

"Bit chilly, is all." ZIM said. Tak pulled him in for a hug.

"Warm now?" She asked. ZIM let out a shaky breath.

"Yes."

"Lets go sit on that bench." Tak led him to the bench facing out to the horizon. They cuddled up, cozily together watching the distance change colors. Bright oranges, reds, and pinks painted the sky. A few scattered clouds swept across the air, reflecting the light colors. The sun was burning a fiery orange and was just dropping into the water. The roar of the waves were calming to the antenna and the mist from the water that the wind carried gently caressed the two Irken's faces. "This is nice. A calm November sunset."

"In Australia it wouldn't be this cold though, mostly because it's summer time in Oz right now. It has to be like fifty or something here." ZIM looked at his phone to check. It was actually sixty-five degrees. "Huh, must be so used to the hot weather now. I have to go back to Michigan to change that."

"I heard Michigan had a pretty hot summer this year actually. Ninety plus everyday."

"That's not unusual or anything. It's a frickin' bipolar state. Minnesota is just as bad." Tak giggled.

"It's not the state, it's the weather. I think we should stay a few weeks up north though. That would be fun. Here they have no snow. I like the snow. I was born in the winter, after all."

"Yeah, that would be fun. I hate big cities. Especially this one." ZIM said. "So overrated. Annoying how everyone seems to live here. We should move out of Cali all together and live in Tucson, Arizona. That place isn't overrated." ZIM said. "Oh and Meijour! Move out of the capital city and go to that small town about fifty miles south. What's it called? Kholer! Yeah, good place . . . Cute beach town just like Mears."

"You should look into that then."

"Heh, yeah, I could build a mansion there. That could be our luxury home." ZIM said. "Yup, that's what I'm doing. I don't own any mansions yet but I will."

"Well, some people consider your big ass houses to be mansions. I mean come on! Three story houses for a small family? Why?"

"Girl, I don't know. We need some place to put all our shit." Tak laughed and kissed his temple.

"Oh, ZIM. You make my day everyday."

"I'm glad I can do that for you." ZIM felt more kisses pepper his head. He turned so she could catch his lips instead of just his cheek. Tak brushed her lips against his. ZIM closed his eyes at the feeling. The couple pressed their foreheads together, longing for each other. Tak's lips parted and her tongue slipped out of her mouth and licked ZIM's soft lip. ZIM opened his mouth inviting her in, she was happy to oblige dragging her tongue along his jawline till it reached his open mouth. They closed the space between their mouths and kissed. Tak cupped ZIM's face in her hands. Her tongue was exploring his hot, wet mouth. She could taste the gum he always chewed. A fruity blue raspberry flavor. His favorite artificial flavor.

"You taste so good." Tak said through their kiss. ZIM cackled a bit.

"Huh huh, double meaning." He whispered, not abandoning the kiss once. He got chills when Tak snaked a cold hand up his shirt to his warm chest. That seemed to be one of her favorite parts on his body. He pressed harder into the touch. He saw it coming and it finally happened. A pressure started to build up in his chest and it just had to come out. ZIM pulled away from Tak and let out an incredibly long and loud burp. "Whoa! Ten! That was easily a ten!" He beamed, victoriously. ZIM caught Tak's eye. She looked disgusted. "What?" He saw her raise her hand. Tak smacked him hard upside the head, then pulled him in for another kiss. ZIM groaned from the sting but resumed kissing his girlfriend once more. Tak pulled away after thirty seconds to catch breath. She looked deeply in his eyes.

"You ready to party?"

**At The Rave**

The room was dark, the only light provided was a few extremely dim orange-ish lights over head. The music was loud and smoke filled the air. The couple went to a place on Irk called '_The Spot_'. The area was filled with Irkens, Vortians, Plookesians, and other aliens ZIM couldn't decipher. ZIM confidently entered the place. Yes he was a kid yet, but he was still allowed in there. He was legal to smoke and drink. ZIM took Tak's hand and led her to the bar.

"ZIM, what if someone recognizes you?"

"These people here are probably too drunk to care." ZIM said. He turned to talk to the bartender. "Scotch whiskey on the rocks."

"Zeiden Macale?" The tender questioned.

"Yes sir, that is me."

"I didn't know you were a drinker." He said.

"I'm not a heavy drinker." ZIM said. "I'm just celebrating." The bar tender poured ZIM's drink.

"And what would the young lady want?"

"None for me at the moment. Gotta make sure both of us go home safe." She said. The bar tender handed ZIM his drink. Tak pulled him to the side. "You know your limits. Don't go over." ZIM put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it." ZIM said. "I can handle it." He lifted the glass to his lips. Tak watched in awe as he downed it without making a single face.

"You're crazy." Tak said. ZIM sat down on a sofa in the lounge. Tak sat next to him. She took note of the group of girls who were staring at ZIM from a distance. They had to recognize him! The young female Irken adults made their way over to the young couple.

"Oh my gosh, you were right." One whispered to the others. "That is him."

"I told you!"

"Shh, he could here us."

"Lets go say, 'hi' or something." Tak kept an eye on the girls as they stood right in front of her and ZIM.

"Hey, ZIM!" A particularly bubbly girl said. "We're big fans! We all went to your concert! It was amazing!" ZIM smirked.

"Thank you."

"Would you like to dance with us or something?" Another girl asked. ZIM looked from Tak to the girls.

"Err . . . Well I'm here on a date with my girl."

"Oh, I see."

"Yeah, I'm sorry." ZIM said. "It's our anniversary today, so tonight is special." The group of girls looked to one another.

"Oo, you gettin' laid tonight?" One girl asked ZIM. Her friends slapped their hands over her mouth.

"We understand. Maybe later, right?" The sane one of the group asked.

"Uhhh . . . I wouldn't count on it but maybe." The posse of Irken females smiled and walked away. "Not a chance." ZIM muttered. Tak smiled, leaning on him. ZIM looked around. His eyes finally settled on a guy smoking a cigar. "Hey mate, you got another?" The man looked at ZIM.

"Not a cigar but I do have a cigarette I can give up." He said.

"I'll take it." ZIM said. The man flicked a cigarette to ZIM. ZIM reached in his pocket for his lighter.

"You're gonna tar up your lungs." Tak mumbled. ZIM puffed his smoke and grinned.

"One cig won't give me lung cancer." ZIM said. Tak frowned. ZIM noticed this. "Fine, after this one I won't smoke for the rest of the night." ZIM took another drag and blew out the smoke after holding it in for a moment. It didn't take long until the cigarette was just a nub. ZIM out the remains in an ashtray and stood. He offered Tak his hand and pull her up. "Wanna dance?" Tak smiled and led the way to the dance floor. A upbeat song was playing at the moment but it was coming to an end. ZIM quickly approached the D.J. for a song suggestion. The mixer nodded at whatever song ZIM had wanted and put the record on. ZIM went back to Tak as a nice, slow song played. "I honestly didn't think he'd play a slow song at a rave." ZIM said. Tak chuckled.

"You always get your way." She rested one hand on his waist and the other held his hand. ZIM overlapped her arm on his waist. They swayed with the music, resting their heads against each other's, closing their eyes. ZIM cracked open an eye to see what other people were doing. They all had their honeys and were dancing similarly to ZIM and Tak. ZIM smiled, he started a chain reaction. As the song went on more and more people danced slowly with their mates. When the song came to an end the music turned upbeat again and more energetic. ZIM pulled back still in Tak's embrace.

"You know how to dance to this kind of music?" Tak grinned.

"Not really, but I know how to grind." She admitted.

"Good enough."

**A Little Later**

ZIM didn't know what he was doing. Whether it was wrong or if it was right. It seemed wrong, but it felt right. He had three drinks since he got to the rave and was now getting surrounded by girls who all wanted to grind with him. He felt a older female Vortian behind him grinding on his rear, she also had one arm around his waist pulling him more into her. A Irken girl on his left was grinding into his hip. Tak was on his right and was making out with him as she rubbed her pelvis into his. ZIM returned the gesture and rubbed his own self against her. He felt hands touch his body all over. It was making him feel hot and tingly.

Tak had a few drinks too, but she was barely tipsy. ZIM was totally buzzed. Red wouldn't appreciate him going home like that. Tak's hands wandered his body. His own hands did the same to her body. Feeling each other up and down. It was a great experience. Tak glared at the other girls who were rubbing up against ZIM. "Lets go somewhere private." She whispered in his antenna. ZIM smiled and nodded. Tak grabbed his hand and led him outside and down the ally of the club. She pushed ZIM up on the wall, pinning him there before kissing him feverishly again. Tak started to unbutton his shirt. ZIM pulled off her jacket. Tak ground her hips into ZIM's. The younger Irken rolled his hips with her as they made out. They weren't acting very innocent at the moment. Tak parted ZIM's legs and placed her pelvis between his legs and continued her dry hump. Her crotch caused friction to ZIM's and he could feel himself wanting more and more. He thrusted his hips forward to press harder into Tak's. She grabbed his hips and held them steady so she could grind more intimately.

"Zeiden?"

"Yeah, Takayla?"

"How much do you love me?" Tak kissed his neck, sucking his skin there.

"I . . . I love you so much. I don't know why I never admitted it earlier. I love you." He breathed. Tak nibbled on his neck and collar bone.

"Zeiden, I love you too." Tak said. She kissed him. "More than anything." Again she kissed him.

"Tak," ZIM pulled her away so he could look at her. "I want to commit myself to you. I want you to know that I'm only yours." Tak beamed, hugging him tightly.

"And I'll commit myself to you." Tak whispered. She sealed her words with another kiss to his lips. "I only have eyes for you, babe." She cupped his face, kissing him deeply, squeezing his buttocks. ZIM giggled through the kiss as she pinched him. He brought his hands up over her chest. When they parted ZIM looked down feeling wet. Between his legs. This both confused ZIM and worried him. Tak leaned in for another kiss but he rejected it.

"We should stop for now," ZIM mumbled, realizing that he was turned on and he didn't want to go too far. "I mean, it's getting late and if we want to continue we can go home and finish." Tak nodded in agreement. ZIM sighed and got out his transporter and zapped them home. When back on earth they were in his garage, which is the locked coordinates he put in for the transporter. ZIM looked at his Imp that immediately switched to earth time. It was almost eleven. ZIM snuck into the house with Tak following and secretly made their way up to his room without so much as a creak from climbing the steps. ZIM closed his door tightly the hopped on his bed with Tak. She glanced at him. ZIM groaned and laid back, sprawled across the bed. Tak smirks and takes this opportunity to crawl on top of him.

"I had a wonderful day today, Zei-Zei." Tak said, planting a kiss on his moist lips.

"I did too." ZIM shivered when Tak's lips swept across the skin of his neck. "After all what's happened today, I'm exhausted." Tak pulled away and looked down at him.

"Are you saying you want to call it a night?" Tak asked, sadly.

"Uhh . . . Few more minutes." Tak did a slight fist pump. She peeled off his already unbuttoned shirt. The older Irken ran her hands up and down his chest, lovingly. Tak put her hands firmly on his shoulders and pushed down so he couldn't go anywhere. She pressed her lips to his and bit his bottom lip. Tak started to grind her pelvis in his again creating that pleasant feeling. ZIM didn't realize it but his legs started to open slowly so he could feel more of the friction. When they pulled away from their kiss ZIM's legs were nearly wrapped around Tak's waist. ZIM blushed this. His current position was usually one of submission and passiveness. It always happened to Irkens who were not the dominate type. ZIM tried to act dominate but there was no fooling anyone, in this relationship, he's whipped.

"You are so cute." Tak chuckled. His eyes got big as he looked up to her. "I could just eat you up!" She tilted her head down to give ZIM a nip on the neck. Tak ran her tongue over his chest, kissing every now and then. They even hear the door to ZIM's room open.

"Whoa! You two! Calm it down, calm it down!" Tak jumped, startled. ZIM shot up to a sitting position and looked to the door. Purple was standing in the entrance with arm around Tenn. The two looked amused. "Damn, it really did look like you were about to eat him, Tak. The way you were ravishing his body like that." Tenn hit Purple hard.

"Don't be saying that! That's my little brother you're talking about!" Tenn said. "You two didn't do anything else beside kissing today, did you?"

"No, of course not!" ZIM was blushing. "We were behaving . . . for the most part." Tenn looked skeptic.

"Uhh huuuh. And where is your shirt, young man?" Tenn questioned. ZIM looked around his bed for it. He couldn't find it.

"I don't know." ZIM said. "Tak ate it." Tak nodded.

"He didn't feed me." Tenn grinned and rolled her eyes.

"Hey ZIM, I was wondering if you'd like to come to school with me tomorrow? You can be the band assistant." ZIM smiled.

"Yeah! Sure! What time do I need to be up?"

"Six for sure." Tenn said. "I'm really excited about tomorrow. You better not make me look bad."

"I won't! I'll behave!" ZIM said. Tenn looked satisfied with the answer. She took a few steps toward the bed and kissed ZIM's forehead.

"Goodnight, Zei-Zei."

"Night." He said back. The older couple left the room. ZIM looked at Tak. She then asked,

"Ready to continue?"

**The Next Day**

"Zeiden!" ZIM shot straight up in his bed, scared.

"What! What?"

"You guys _slept_ together?" Tenn asked. ZIM looked down at Tak who stirred and woke.

"Yes we slept together but we didn't do anything else . . . It was a . . . slumber party." ZIM said. Tenn gave him a look. "Promise." Tenn just shook her head.

"You need to get ready now." Tenn said. "Be downstairs in five minutes." ZIM nodded, hopping out of his bed. ZIM undressed out of his nightwear. Tak watched him change into his nice everyday clothes.

"Have fun at school." Tak mumbled. ZIM walked to the bed and gave her a quick good morning kiss on her cheek and left the room going down the steps to where his sister was waiting for him.

"Get in my car, I have to go get something real quick." She told him going back up the stairs to her room. ZIM walked outside to the driveway and climbed in the passenger seat of his sister's car. Moments later Tenn came back out and slid into the drivers side. ZIM nearly fell back asleep as she drove ten minutes to Vinton High. "Class doesn't start till 7:45."

"What's your first class?"'

"Jazz band. Second period, nothing. Third period is percussion ensemble. Fourth hour is concert band then fifth hour is symphonic band and last hour is AP music theory."

"May I participate in all your classes?" ZIM asked.

"Yeah, that's partially why I wanted you to come with me. Did you bring your laptop?"

"Was I supposed to?"

"Well I was thinking you could do your school work during second period. You can use my computer in the office." ZIM nodded, looking out the window as they pulled into the high school staff parking. ZIM exited the car and Tenn led him to the band entrance door. ZIM looked around the big carpeted room then spotted Tenn's office in the far corner. He beelined it over there to look at it. Her office was large. He sat himself down on her chair. She had plaques, diplomas and other achievements hanging in the walls. A few trophies she's won during her high school band. She also had instruments all around the office. A saxophone, trumpet, guitar on the wall, baritone, clarinet and flute. "You may use those instruments when you want, Zeiden. Just put them back in the same place you found them." Tenn said coming into the office too. She looked at the school's clock. "Class starts in five minutes. I'm going to unlock the band room doors and let the students in." ZIM jumped up from the office chair to see her students for the first time.

"May I take role?" He asked. Tenn shook her head and opened the doors. Just as soon as she did students pooled into the room. Every pupil that entered gave Tenn and ZIM a strange look then went to get their instruments from the storage rooms. After five minutes the bell rang and almost all thirty of the jazz band students were seated in concert form. Tenn walked up to her podium and gazed at the humans and smiled brightly.

"Good morning," She started. They mumbled back their good morning. ZIM took a seat behind her podium, amused at her first attempt at teaching. "My name is Miss. Macale. I'm the new band instructor for Vinton High. I look forward to working with you all. Now to begin, I realize you already have gotten music for the autumn concert?" The students nodded. Tenn looked at her paper of instructions. "Would you please find your_ Root Beer Rag piece_?" The teenagers shuffled through their things and found the sheet music. Tenn got her our teacher copy, eyes widening. "Tempo one-eighty . . . Um, we'll slow it down to one-twenty for now." A kid raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Who's that behind you?" Tenn looked back at ZIM.

"That's my little brother, Zeiden. He's only twelve. He'll be joining us for today and any other day he wants to come in."

"I'm the unofficial band aid. Get it? Band aid? _Band-aid_?" ZIM was highly amused with himself as were a few other students.

"Yeeeaahh, he's the weird one in the family." Tenn explained. "Anyway," She took out her Imp that had a metronome application on it and set it on the tempo she wanted. She rose her arms and counted off. The children lifted their instruments and played to her hand movements. The sound was off. The trumpets were too fast and the clarinets and saxophones were lagging with their feature. Tenn motioned for them to stop, cutting off the metronome. "Clarinets and saxes, may I hear you play the first few measures?" The two sections played together, slower than they should have been playing. "Okay practice the fingering for it then the tonguing." Another kid rose her hand. "Yeah?"

"Mr. Gene said that he wanted to add a drummer in the song but he never assigned one before he left." Tenn looked under the podium for the sheet music.

"He told me the same thing . . . I have not yet met with the percussion yet so I'll have Zeiden play the part for today." Tenn got the music and handed it to ZIM. He looked at the score. "The drum kit is over there, ZIM." Tenn pointed just to the right of him. It was on a short stage. He made his way over there. He sat behind the set and found the sticks resting on the snare. ZIM scanned over the music. "You may try it once or twice before we start." ZIM gave her a curt nod and attempted the music at the right tempo. He beat the drums for awhile to get the rhythm. Not too bad for the first try. "Okay, ZIM, your the new metronome. Stay at this tempo," Tenn gave him the sample tempo from her Imp. "And play along with the band." ZIM nodded and clicked the tempo on the rims for the saxophones to start off. As the band rehearsal went on ZIM enjoyed himself more and more. Maybe Tenn will let him officially join the band.

**Fourth Period**

ZIM's antennas were still ringing from the percussion ensemble. All the kids ever did was bang on the drums as hard as they could even when Tenn told them to lightly strike the head. ZIM also got involved with the ensemble. They let him play the marimba since their peer who would have otherwise played it was absent that day. Now the full band was coursing into the room. All hundred-fifty of them. They'd stop to talk to their new teacher and ask her all sorts of questions. Where are you from? Where did you go to college? How old are you? Am I your favorite student? ZIM was asked a few questions too. They seemed to like him well enough until he told them he was only twelve. After that they lost some respect for ZIM. He couldn't imagine why.

"Afternoon students. I see I have some kids back in here from first and third hour." Tenn said noticing a few percussionist and jazz band members. "For those who don't know me yet, I'm Miss. Macale and I do believe this is concert band and symphonic band combined, correct?" Most kids nodded. "Good well, we will be playing today but we will also be doing a bit of an orientation. That way I can get to know you better." Tenn said. Tenn pointed at ZIM and told him to come up to the podium. ZIM stood on the small stage. "Tell them who you are, what you do, and why you should qualify as a musical instructor."

"I'm Zeiden Macale, Miss. Macale's younger brother by only twelve years. We hail from Australia, if you can't tell by our accent. On earth I'm a new actor for a show that's coming out called, _Invader ZIM_, on Nickelodeon. On our mother planet I'm a veteran singer, actor, model, musician, and lyricist . . . not to brag or anything. Anyways, I'm the help for the band and even though I'm twelve I still probably have more maturity than all the boys in the trumpet section combined." ZIM winked at that music group in the middle of the band. The teens laughed. Even the trumpets laughed after they feigned anger. "Yes, I'm all those things but in my other life, my regular, everyday, family life, I'm the youngest child out of four. And like my sister I'm excited to be working with y'all as well . . . Oh! Did I mention she's getting a cameo appearance on the show? Ya best be looking for her when it airs that way you can go out in public and yell at random strangers that you saw you band teacher on T.V." ZIM said. The kids chuckled again.

"Don't listen to him. Did I mention that he's slightly delusional?" Tenn asked. "He has several medical conditions. Just lots of things wrong with him. We think it's from all the concussions he's previously had."

"I'm not crazy! I'm just not mentally sound." ZIM crossed his arms.

"You and Red both are out of your minds. Zee and I are the only sane ones." Tenn turned her attention back to her students. "Sooo . . . Get out your song Kitty Hawk and we'll go ahead and play through that a few times." ZIM smirked.

"I'm playing your trumpet." ZIM walked back into her office to get the instrument, pondering to himself. 'I think I made a good first impression.'

**Later**

The bell rung signaling that the day was done. "Alright class, make sure you read pages eighty-four through ninety-six and take notes!" Tenn called after her last class, AP music theory. Not her favorite class to teach but she couldn't say she hated it either. She stepped down from her podium and entered her office where ZIM was doing his school work. "You ready to go home, sweetie?" ZIM rubbed his eyes and nodded, saving his progress in the computer.

"Teeennnn, my head huuuurrrrrtttsss." ZIM whined, pressing his face into her stomach. She cooed and petted his antenna.

"Probably because this band doesn't know the definition of _piano_." Tenn said, kissing his head. "Don't worry. When I'm through with them they'll be considered professional musicians by the end of the year."

"I'll hold you to that." ZIM said, walking outside with Tenn to her car.

"Zee texted me." Tenn said. "Mark is babysitting you again tonight."

"First of all, I don't need to be babysat! I'm almost two years away from being an adult! Second, where is everyone going tonight? Third, Mark is going to kill me while your gone!"

"One, you're our precious little smeet brother, we don't want any harm brought upon you and you don't act like a mature pre-adult. Two, Peder and I are going on a date, Red and Leslie are going to a vehicle dealership for a new truck. Tak and Gaz are staying the night at one of their friend's house. Zee is working at the hospital. Three, Mark is really sweet. I still don't get what he could have done to you that makes you so tick."

"I told you!"

"You didn't tell us anything! You lied!" Tenn said. ZIM growled and slumped back, crossing his arms. "Anyway, as soon as we get home, Purple and I are leaving. Mark should already be there." ZIM's antenna slicked back. The ride home couldn't have been shorter. When Tenn pulled in Purple practically dragged ZIM out of the passengers seat and took his place, briefly telling him to behave, then leaving without another word. ZIM didn't want to go inside with the Vortian who was no doubt raiding their fridge. After awhile of wondering of what he should do, ZIM went in the house. Sure enough, the Vortian was stuffing his face with a variety of foods.

"Aww, look who's here!" Mark exclaimed. "The little whiny ass bitch himself. You gonna tell on me some more?" ZIM frowned, trying to cross the kitchen quickly but was stopped by Mark. "You told them I hit you didn't you?" ZIM shook his head. The Vortian narrowed his already small eyes. "Yes you did you lying son of a bitch! Don't you dare try to play innocent with me!" Mark raised a hand. ZIM winced in fear of being struck. "One last chance for you to tell the truth. Did you attempt to tell them?" ZIM was frightened but slowly nodded. The sharp slap across his cheek took him off guard. It stung. ZIM held his face.

"What did I ever do?" ZIM whined.

"Shut up or it'll be a punch to the jaw this time." ZIM closed his mouth. Mark pushed ZIM to exit the kitchen. "Go to your room and stay in there. Don't you try to leave either or I will hurt you." ZIM bit his lower lip to prevent himself from yelling at the Vortian. He obeyed even though it angered him to no end. How dare Mark intrude his home and order him around! ZIM closed his door wishing he had a lock on it. It once did but Red took it off because he wanted to be able to keep an eye on ZIM when he was in his room alone with Tak. The little Irken flopped belly down in his bed and breathed heavily wishing he was bigger and stronger than Mark so he could beat him into a lifeless pulp. He shut his eyes and fell into a deep slumber.

**Later**

The noise of a door being slammed open jolted ZIM from his sleep. "Zeiden!" ZIM sat up in his bed. Zee has entered his room and was now stalking towards his bed. "Mark told me you were misbehaving. He said you swore at him and when he tried to send you to your room for cussing, you hit him!"

"What? That never happened-"

"Shush! If you try to lie one more time you're grounded! Mark has been nothing but nice to you and you treat him like shit!" Zee yelled. "Mark showed me where you hit him! So don't say you didn't do anything!" ZIM's eye widened. How could that happen? ZIM didn't touch Mark at all!

"Zannah, listen to me-"

"Shut up, Zeiden! I've had enough of your stupid ways of getting attention!"

"I'm not demanding attention!"

"I'm talking! If you don't start shaping up then I don't want anything to do with you! You're being awful!" ZIM felt like crying. Why would his own sister not want anything to do with him? They usually got along so well. ZIM could only come to one conclusion, Zee was blinded. She couldn't see that Mark was the one hurting him physically and emotionally. "I'm letting Red know what you did to Mark and I'll have him take care of you." Zee snarled, leaving the room with a slamming door. The young Irken refrained from showing any emotion. Crying was for wusses. ZIM laid himself back down, deep in thought. His siblings still don't believe him. It stressed him out. And that wasn't the only thing that was stressing him. His life on Irk as an actor and singer made him super busy. His life as an actor on earth. He was behind on school, failing almost every class. It was all too much for him sometimes. ZIM closed his eyes and tried to find sleep. He couldn't seem to drift into unconsciousness. He went the whole rest of the night with out a wink of sleep.

**December 3, 2000**

"Ow, don't tug on it!" Gaz shouted. ZIM was combing through her hair getting her ready for a script read for the next episode.

"Do you ever condition?" ZIM asked. "There is snarls everywhere!"

"I use conditioner every night!" ZIM huffed and set the comb down and got a hair tie instead.

"I'm not messing with your hair anymore. We're throwing it up in a messy bun." ZIM pulled her hair up into a bun letting her bangs hang down. "We gotta go. Get a coat and meet me outside."

"Whatever." Gaz mumbled. ZIM went outside to his car and waited. A minute later Gaz came out.

"Where's your coat?" ZIM asked.

"If I don't need it right now then why bother getting one?" Gaz asked getting in his car. ZIM groaned and got in his seat starting up his vehicle and driving to the studio. He was surprised to see all the the cast needed for the second episodes outside. They were huddled up in a group to block themselves from the chilly wind on the fifty degree Fahrenheit day. Though with the wind included it would have probably been forty-five degrees. ZIM shoved his hands into his Detroit Tiger's jacket and walked over to the group. Gaz behind him holding herself, shivering as she was only wearing a nice, short sleeve, blouse and skinny jeans.

"What are we doing?" ZIM asked one of the backups for the classroom scenes.

"Jhonen wanted to torture us by making us cold read out in the cold."

"So it's like a literal cold read, huh? Hilarious, J.V. Very amusing." ZIM muttered to himself.

"Zeiden! Get your butt up here and grab your scripts!" ZIM could hear Jhonen yell over the crowd of people. ZIM sighed and squeezed through to get what he needed. The young man handed him a bunch of papers that were bound together. ZIM flipped through the book, that was when he noticed Red standing beside him.

"What are you doing here?" ZIM asked, looking up at the older man.

"I came to help out." Red answered. "And because Jhonen threatened me if I didn't come."

"But your not even in these episodes."

"I know! I guess he just likes my company." Red said. He suddenly leaned over and whispered to ZIM. "I don't want to alarm you but, your costar in episode two A is . . . well, homosexual." ZIM's antenna went erect.

"Who is it?"

"His name is Keith, but he prefers to be called Keef."

"How do you know he's gay?" ZIM asked. Red shook his head.

"I talked to him ten minutes ago. He straight up told me that he had a serious crush on you and asked me if I could give him your number."

"You didn't did you?" ZIM asked, scared of what the answer may be.

"No! Of course not! I wouldn't do that to you."

"How old is this kid? Everyone here seems to be too young to decide their sexuality yet."

"He's ten."

"And he's gay?" ZIM didn't want to believe that such a young human already choose what his sexual preference was.

"'Fraid so." Red said. "Why don't you go meet him? He seems to be a big fan." ZIM looked unsure. "Oh come on, you've had gay boys hit on you before. Now go." ZIM pouted but went off to find said boy. He got distracted when he saw Dib and Gretchen talking. Gretchen was smiling and giggling at what Dib was saying. Dib seemed to be enjoying himself talking to her. Aki and Morla were watching the two as well. Aki seemed to be jealous of Gretchen. ZIM grinned. Dib was getting so popular. ZIM felt someone punch his arm hard.

"Ow!" He held the area glaring at whoever done it. "What was that for, Gaz?"

"Gimme your jacket." She hissed.

"No, I told you before we left to get your own. You didn't want to listen."

"Give it to me now, Zeiden." She growled.

"No!" Gaz's features darkened. Unexpectedly she turned around and called to Red.

"Red, I'm cold!" The man glanced over at her.

"Zeiden, give her your jacket." He called back. ZIM crossed his arms grumbling.

"Fine! Damn it, Gazelle. Never ask anything from me again." He peeled off his athletic jacket and gave it to Gaz. She took it and put it on. She smirked at ZIM and went off to talk to her friends. ZIM was in nothing but a white, slim, dressy, short sleeve shirt that showed a bit too much of his chest which he and Tak personally didn't mind. But Red told him to never wear the shirt outside the house. His fault for making ZIM give up his jacket to bratty Gaz. ZIM felt goosebumps form on his now exposed skin. He let out a breath, shivering in the chill.

"Heyya, buddy!" ZIM jumped and whirled around. A kid with wiry, orange hair, extremely pale skin, and green eyes, stood directly behind ZIM. What shocked ZIM most was that Keef was wearing bright purple skinny jeans and a tourist Hawaiian shirt with all the colors of the rainbow on it. ZIM almost barfed at the poor fashion choice. ZIM gasped as the boy grabbed him and took him in for a hug. The kid reminded ZIM of himself. Happy, energetic, extroverted, bubbly, but not gay! ZIM sheepishly smiled and pried Keef off him.

"Hey there . . . Keef. So-"

"Oh my gosh! I _love_ you! I have every one of your albums and I listen to them all the time! I have so many posters of you on my bed room walls! Can I have your autograph?" Keef squealed. ZIM cringed at the loudness. Now he knew how other people felt whenever he'd yell.

"There will be plenty of opportunities for you to get my autograph. How about we get down to business first-"

"Or we can get to know each other better! Although I already know everything there is to know about you! Your three feet tall, twelve years old, a Messianic Jew, you're obsessed with baseball, woo go Tigers! You only weight thirty pounds. Your a singer, actor, musician and model. You win third place on Irk's most sexiest male celebrities. You love to surf, and do dangerous stuff . . . " The boy continued to ramble. ZIM was scared at just how much he knew. ". . . You have a light green birth mark shaped like a crescent moon on the underside of your thigh right below your bootie and-"

"Yeah, yeah! I know! Thank you for enlightening me about my own life. Maybe you should write my biography." ZIM joked.

"I already started a long time ago." ZIM looked at Keef as if he was kidding. The boy was dead serious. "I can't wait to write about my first encounter with you!" ZIM wasn't sure how to respond. "Are you cold? Oh, honey! Your trembling!"

'Because I'm terrified of you!' ZIM thought.

"Oh! You poor thing!" Keef wrapped his arms around ZIM's slender waist and moved his hands up and down his body to create friction. "I'll get you nice and warm again!" ZIM subtly pulled away from Keef. The boy was still ecstatic. "You wanna hang out later with me?" Keef asked. ZIM gulped.

"Uh, well you see, my _girlfriend_ and I were gonna go out for a little while-"

"No you weren't." Red butted in. "You were complaining earlier that you had nothing to do this afternoon." Red smirked when ZIM shot him a glare.

"I never said that! Silly Reeeeed." ZIM gritted his teeth. Keef kept staring at ZIM dreamily. ZIM sighed dramatically. "Fine, but only for a few hours." ZIM said. The boy with orange hair bounced up and down clapping.

"Yay! I can't wait! Oh we're gonna have sooooo much fun, buddy! You'll see!" ZIM groaned. What has he gotten himself into?

**Later**

"I love this picture too! This is one where you were on stage at your first concert! When you fell back into you dancers' arms and they caught you! I almost screamed, you looked so good doing that!" ZIM looked at an highly amused Dib as Keef kept going on and on about the pictures he collects of ZIM. "Here's something I bought online!" Keef pulled and object out of his back pack. It was a athletic T-shirt ZIM used to own but gave away a while back because it ripped. Keef snuggled into the fabric and took in a deep breath. This was really creeping ZIM out.

"Uhhh . . . I remember that ol' thing. I wore it all the time back when I still live in-"

"Alice Springs, Australia! You ripped it on brush when you were out with you brother practicing your aim with your boomerang, that your older sister Tenn gave to you." Keef finished for him excitedly. This was getting weirder and weirder. He quietly thanked Dib for coming home with him so he didn't have to be alone with the obnoxious freak.

"How do you know that?" ZIM asked, flabbergasted.

"I do my research." ZIM was slightly disgusted. ZIM didn't even remember what he was doing when he got the tear. That was just down right freaky.

"I seeee." ZIM looked at Dib. "What do you know about Dillon here?"

"I know that he's your best friend!" Keef exclaimed.

"Do you know anything about _him_ though?" Keef looked at Dib for a long time.

"He likes to be called Dib." Was all Keef said. The black hair boy chuckled at ZIM's defeated pose. This Keef kid was obsessed. ZIM has met obsessed fangirls before but none were as bad as this boy. Or who knows, maybe there is worse. Fans that would jump up at any opportunity to have their way with ZIM. "So, buddy, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"I have to film a commercial on Irk."

"For what product?"

"A new Irken computer tablet." ZIM explained. "It may take awhile." ZIM said. It wouldn't really take that long but he really did not want to hang out with Keef.

"I thought we had plans tomorrow, ZIM?" Dib asked. ZIM face palmed. Great going, Dib.

"Uhh we do-"

"Than that means you will have time to hang out with me?" Keef asked.

"No I-I . . ." He sighed and nodded. Can't he ever win?

"What about that day after that?" Keef asked.

"Hockey game in the afternoon." ZIM said. "Have to catch up on school work during the day."

"What about night?" Keef leaned closer to ZIM putting a hand on ZIM's leg, looking the Irken straight in the eye. Just then Tak walked into ZIM's room. She saw the uninvited hand on her boyfriend's leg and immediately took action.

"You better remove your filthy mitts from by boy's thigh, If you know what's best for ya." Tak narrowed her eyes at Keef. The overly happy boy did as told, not quite excited that ZIM's girlfriend showed up then and there. ZIM let out a relief breath and welcomed Tak in to sit in between Keef and him. Tak inclined the offer gratefully. The purple-eyed Irken kept a wary eye on the new kid. "Who's your too friendly, friend?" Tak asked.

"That's Keef. I'm working with him for the next episode." Tak wrinkled the area where her nose would be as if she smelled something rancid.

"I'm a huge fan of ZIM's! I love him! Oh my gosh I love him so much!" Keef said reaching over Tak to touch ZIM's face. Tak pushed the ginger's hand away. Tak put a possessive arm around ZIM.

"You have some competition, Tak. Keef likes ZIM." Dib grinned. Tak stared at Keef who nodded in agreement.

"It's true. I've had a crush on him since I was eight. He's just so cute!" Keef reach over once more to pinch ZIM's cheeks. This made ZIM uncomfortable. Tak scowled scooting over away from Keef taking ZIM with her.

"Hey, Dib is pretty cute too. Why don't you hit on him?" ZIM asked.

"Because I like you." Keef drawled.

"Sorry to burst your bubble but ZIM and I are very happy together as a couple." Tak said, running a hand down ZIM's back. ZIM shivered. Everyone was touching him today. He wasn't sure if he liked it. Dib looked from Tak to ZIM. He had a feeling that Tak was gonna spontaneously start making out with ZIM to get her point across to Keef and to show ZIM that he still belonged to her. Dib stood up.

"Uhh, hey Keef why don't we go outside for a little bit. ZIM will join us in a bit." Dib said, forcefully pulling Keef from the room.

"Okay! We'll be waiting, buddy!" Keef shouted then left. ZIM shook his head, glancing at Tak.

"You don't have to worry. I'm never going gay. Especially for that freak. Like I said, I only have eyes for you." ZIM said. Tak didn't look convinced.

"Stay away from him."

"I can't be rude, Tak. He knows I'd never go for him."

"Does he really, ZIM? Does he really?" ZIM wasn't sure, to be honest. He didn't know how Keef felt. All the little Irken knew was that he was incredibly uncomfortable around him.

"Don't worry about it, Tak. Besides, what could he possibly do?"

**The Next Day**

"For how long?"

"Two weeks maybe. Then we'll visit again in the winter. Then during your birthday we're going back to Australia so we can celebrate with family. Then we'll go to Mears again in the summer." Red was planning on going back to Mears, Michigan for two weeks just for a mini vacation. Mostly to get away from the city. He hated Los Angeles. The time he spent in the concrete forest he felt more and more out of his element. So did the rest of the Macale siblings. Red, Zee, and Tenn grew up on a huge ranch with their extended family out in the boondocks of Australia. ZIM also grew up in the middle of no where. He couldn't say he liked the city much either. So this vacation to their old home up north-east would probably be good for them.

"So when are we going?" ZIM wondered.

"Mmm, I don't know. Three days sound good? Or would you rather leave tomorrow? I don't care. I can easily book us plane tickets now if we have to." Red said.

". . . Um,"

"What?"

"Can a friend come along?" ZIM asked.

"Eeehhhh, yeah, I mean if you can find a friend that doesn't have anything else planned for two weeks." ZIM thought of Dib. His father was constantly busy but he wasn't. His father was always gone so he never and anything planned with his son. Dib also mentioned never leaving the state. The furtherest he's gone was San Diego and that wasn't even for a vacation.

"Lemme ask Dillon." ZIM said.

"That kid that never talks?"

"He talks. Just not around you. He finds you frightening."

"What? Why?" Red asked.

"Beyond me, mate." ZIM shrugged. "May I go out for a little while? I'll be back in like an hour or so."

"Where are you going?" Red opened his laptop to get back to work, leaning over the kitchen table.

"To Dib's to ask him."

"Hmmm 'Kay. Please be careful. Traffic is bad today. If Dib wants to come over for a little while too he may." ZIM nodded.

"Alright," ZIM walked behind his brother gazing at the computer screen. Instead of finding a document with new discoveries he saw and email sent by the post office. "What's that?" Red rubbed his forehead.

"The post office of Meijour, Irk has over three hundred bags full of fan mail. They want me to pick it up. It's been sitting in their offices for a few years, collecting dust."

"Why didn't they give it to us earlier."

"I told them not to deliver it right away. It's finally gotten big enough that they can't keep it stored there anymore." Red explained. He sighed. "I'll be at Irk for a bit with Purple getting that mail. We'll need to make a few trips to get all three hundred bags."

"When I get back home, I'll help." ZIM said. "My transporter is in my room." Red nodded. ZIM left the house driving to Dib's house. It took the little Irken awhile to get there. When he did he got out of his car and approached Dib's house, opening the door and walking in as if he owned the place. He has gotten both Dib's and his father's permission to do that. He looked to his right as he walked in and saw Mr. Baker in front of a fireplace reading. Not working for once. "Hey! How's it going, Mr. Baker. Where's Dib?"

"Hello, Zeiden. I figured it was you pulling in the driveway. Dib's in his room, studying."

"Ewwww! Studying is gross!" ZIM gagged running down the hall in search of his friend. He opened Dib's door and barreled in jumping on the boys bed scaring him to no end. ZIM tackled the boy off the bed. Dib gasped and flipped ZIM over so he was on top. He glared down at ZIM.

"Gees! You scared me!" Dib got up, helping ZIM up. "What are you doing here?"

"You, me. Mears, Michigan. Three days from now. Two weeks." ZIM said. "It's a date!" Dib cocked a brow.

"What are you talking about?"

"My family are going back to our house we own in Michigan. It's where my brother met his wife. You're coming." Dib tilted his head.

"Uhh? Okay?"

"Oh, your also gonna come to my house right now and help get a few bags of mail from Irk."

"I have school work-"

"You're taking a break."

". . . Fine. Let's go." Dib said. They walked out the door into the kitchen. "I'm going to ZIM's for a little bit, dad." Dib said. The older man waved at him, not looking up from his book. This made ZIM jealous. ZIM had to beg Red to let him go anywhere. All Dib had to do was inform his father where he was going. No questions asked.

ZIM drove his friend back to his home. When he opened the garage door he saw a bunch of huge brown bags just over flowing with mail! He looked to the side and saw Purple and Red leaning against the bags looking exhausted.

"We only got sixty-five bags out of three-hundred." Red sighed. Purple was looking at one letter from a fan girl addressed to Red.

"This girl has a knee fetish, Red. She asked you to send her a picture of your bare knee. She also wrote that she has dreams of kissing your knees . . . That's is fucking hilarious." Purple said. Red punched his partners arm.

"Read later. We need to get the rest of the bags. We have reinforcements now so let's get going again." Red said, getting the transporter and beaming the four guys many miles away to get the bags of mail.

**Later**

"Daaamn, that took forever!" ZIM slouched down on the couch. He had a bag of mail that was addressed to him when he first started singing on Irk. The mail was separated by whom it was to. Surprisingly Purple, Tenn and Zee got a few bags themselves. Of course the majority belonged to Red and ZIM though. ZIM took some mail off the top of the bag and set the stack on his lap. "Wanna help me read all this?" He asked Dib. The boy shrugged and grabbed some letters himself. ZIM opened his first card. It was hand written by what looked to be like a five year old girl. All the periods were dotted with little hearts.

_Dear ZIM,_

_My name is Furl. I'm from the province of Leer-ay South Irk. I am a really big fan. I love your music and wish that I can be a singer too one day. I sang your song, 'It'll be Alright' for my school's talent show. They really liked it-_ ZIM cut off from his reading when Dib nudged him.

"What?" ZIM asked.

"How do you expect me to help you read your mail when I don't understand your specie's characters and language?" Dib asked. ZIM totally forgot about that.

"I need to teach you our language." ZIM mumbled. "Why don't you just go through the mail and separate the boxes from the letters?" Dib nodded and did just that. ZIM kept reading.

_. . . I was so glad they liked it. I was very nervous before I sang but now I'm a bit more confident. It truly will be alright._

_-Furl_

ZIM smiled. How sweet. He put it off to the side and opened another letter. This one wasn't as friendly.

_Dear Asshole_

ZIM frowned. Should he even bother reading it? He shrugged. Why not? He always wanted to know what other people thought of him. These kind of letters were good humblers.

_I hate how you're everywhere! You can't even sing good! Half the time you sound like a squealing sloor beast! Please do me, as well as the rest of the population, a favor and stop singing before all of Irk goes deaf._

_-Anonymous_

ZIM chuckled. Even though it was slamming him, he'd admit that it was pretty funny. He set the letter off to the side. Dib put a medium sized package on ZIM's lap. The Irken looked at it for a moment before opening the box. Inside were packaging peanuts. Lots of them. He dug through the box till his hand hit something in the bottom. It felt squishy and it smelled too. It was kinda shriveled up too. ZIM picked it up, cringing in disgust. It was really slimy whatever it was. When he lifted it up and out he gasped in horror of what he was holding.

"Ugh! Nasty!" ZIM dropped it. Red and Purple looked up from their mail. It was an Irken fruit called a turow. Kind of like a watermelon but only grown on Irken soil.

"What the hell?" Red looked at the rotting, moldy fruit. "Why would someone send that?" ZIM looked at his hands getting extremely queasy. There was juices coating his hands. "Go wash your hands." Red said. "Before you throw-" ZIM bolted out of the living room to the kitchen. Gagging noises emitted from the kitchen and with every gag a splashing sound of vomit hitting the sink would soon follow. Red wrinkled the area where his nose would be. "I guess I gotta go disinfect the sink now." He walked into the kitchen, rubbing ZIM's back as the small Irken wiped his mouth on his sleeve then washed his hands thoroughly. "You okay?" ZIM sighed, spitting into the sink.

"Yeah . . . My God, that was just-" ZIM shook his head. "What is wrong with people? Sending me fruit? I mean . . . seriously?" Red chuckled. The brothers heard the front door open then close. Red peaked out the window and saw Purple carrying the box with the overly ripe fruit to the trash can. Red turned his attention back to ZIM who browsed through the fridge to look for something to eat to get the vile taste out of his mouth. Red smiled. The little guy could pick up animal feces with his bare hands but when it comes to mold and any spoiled food he had a weak stomach. The boy pulled half a slice of lemon out of the refrigerator and bit into it, barely making a face at the tartness.

"We should probably check the rest of the boxes to see if anything else . . . rancid is in there." ZIM nodded, still nibbling on the sour fruit. ZIM sat himself back in the living room and proceeded to open other packages that were sent. He received several drawings and small gifts from fans from all over the universe. Something else came in the mail for him that wasn't really wanted. A used tampon dispenser from a Plookesian female. ZIM gave his thanks that it wasn't the actual tampon. He probably would've needed therapy after that. Later ZIM went back to reading letters. Every now and then hate mail would slip by him. He got quite a few nude pictures of girls and even some guys. This made Red ticked. What made him even more upset was when they would request a nude picture of ZIM in return. Red called the post office and told them to go through the fan mail and make sure nothing inappropriate gets past. They said they would but they couldn't promise that they'd get all of the bad mail.

ZIM groaned and threw down another picture of a naked Vortian girl. Red has been receiving photos and inappropriate letters as well. He ignored them but he didn't want ZIM seeing things like that. Red immediately picked up the picture and threw it into a trash bag.

"I'm so sorry, ZIM. I had no idea so many people were like this." Red said. Purple rubbed his eyes. He barely made a dent in his bag of mail. He looked in the trash bagful of nude photos. "You haven't gotten any pictures like that yet, have you?" Red asked him. Purple nodded.

"Oh I have. I put them back in the envelope. I didn't know what else to do with them."

"You didn't noticed the trash bag full of them?"

"I suppose not." Purple said. "I tend not to notice things."

"Oooh. Dib can you hand me that envelope opener?" ZIM asked. He took off his glasses for a moment to rub the bridge of his nose. He handed the blade to ZIM. The Irken used it to slice the letter. He pulled the paper out and read it.

"I've_ been a fan for awhile now. I always found you attractive. I have a huge crush on you. I was just wondering . . . I always wanted to see your ankles. I've only seen pictures of them but never up close shots of them. Could you send me a picture of them to this number using your Imp or something? I'd appreciate it._"

ZIM shook his head. "What is wrong with these people?"

"What?" Dib asked.

"This girl wanted me to take a picture of my ankles and send it to her phone."

"That's not odd at all." Dib said sarcastically. Red groaned, leaning back.

"I think we've had enough of this mail for one day. It'll take us forever to open and read them all." Red said.

"I think we might end up burning half of them anyway." ZIM said. "I mean, I have no patience to read all of this." After that note, ZIM and Dib left to bring Dib home. Twenty minutes later the home phone started to ring. Red reached over the couch to the stand next to it where one of the phones were located.

"What do want?" Red asked. He didn't check the caller I.D. but then again he didn't really care who was calling.

"_Red Macale, this is Joseph Carson. I work with the Nicktoons board of representatives on the lot._"

"Why do I care?" Red asked. A pause on the other end.

"_Because it concerns your brother._"

"Shit,"

"_Well I feel like he isn't making the studio look good when he's out in public knocking himself senseless._"

"What are you talking about?" Red asked.

"_As a representative, it is my duty to make sure our actors and actresses hold up a certain standard when out in public. I went to one of ZIM's hockey games and the way he acts up when a play doesn't go his way, doesn't only make him look bad. But the entire studio and everyone associated with it. I'm calling because I want him to control himself better-_"

"Hockey game? ZIM doesn't play hockey." Purple's antenna perked up. His eyes went wide. The violet-eyed male bit his lip.

"_Quite the contrary. He plays for the team your friend, Peder Kinley coaches. The Jakals, I believe they're called._" Red looked at Purple. The slightly younger man wasn't meeting his eye which meant he was definitely hiding something. Red narrowed his eyes at him.

"Okay then. I'll talk to Zeiden on how he should represent the studio. Sorry if he caused any embarrassment with his fiery temper when he plays any game." Red hung up the phone, staring at Purple for a long time. "You went behind my back." Red started. "Even after I said no to _both_ of you how many times?" Purple's antenna slicked back. He looked up and pouted at Red, hoping he could pull off the puppy-dog look as well as ZIM.

"He just wanted to have some fun." Purple said. "I taught him everything I know and he's really good. He hasn't sustained any injuries yet and we're nearly half way through the season."

"No, _you're_ nearly half way through. ZIM's season has just ended as of now."

"Red, don't do this-"

"Peder, I'm upset." Red crossed his arms. "I would think you'd know better by now to not bother me when I'm upset." Purple looked down again. "Who else knew about this?"

"Everyone. Tenn, Zee, Tak, Gaz even Leslie." Red's simmering anger turned into boiling anger.

"What the fuck! They all went behind my back just so Zeiden can play a stupid sport!" Red yelled. Purple gasped at his friend's insult to his favorite sport.

"Blasphemy." He said, with horror.

"You're so lucky ZIM didn't get hurt, my friend!" Red stood up and pointed at him. Leslie came down the steps of the house, curious to know why her husband spontaneously burst into rage.

"What's going on?" Red glared at her.

"Well . . . I just found out my little brother has been playing hockey without my consent." Red said. "And I know you wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Leslie looked guilty. Red scowled and flopped back down on the couch. Leslie walked behind his chair to rub his shoulders.

"I just don't get why you wouldn't let him play." Leslie said. "He's good. I went to one of his games. He's a fast little bugger on the ice." The front door opened, signaling that ZIM just came home.

"Zeiden! Get in here!" Red called. A sigh was heard coming from the kitchen, then the sound of shuffling footsteps.

"What?" He asked.

"You joined a hockey team, haven't you?" Red challenged. ZIM was taken back by this.

"What? Of course not! What's hockey? I never even heard of it." ZIM tried to defend himself.

"You lie through your teeth, young man." Red hissed. ZIM looked to Leslie then to Purple.

"The truth is out, Zei-Zei. No point in lying anymore." Purple said.

"I can't believe you guys! Why would you do something like that-"

"Oh shut up, Red!" They all started when they heard Tenn's voice. She just got home from the school.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! Don't act as if you've never done any dangerous extreme sports!" She entered the room, pointing an accusing finger at her older brother. "If I remember correctly, you always had to go behind mom and dad's back to go to those rodeos-"

"Tenn, shut it!" She smirked, and turned to her smeet brother.

"Zeiden, I think we should enlighten you on Red's past."

"Don't!" Red yelled, he stood up and clasped a hand over her mouth.

"No, no! Let her speak, Red." Leslie said, prying his hands off his sister. "I want to hear this." Leslie managed to free Tenn's face from his grasp. Red frowned, looking defeated.

"You see, Zimmy. Red not only went to the rodeos. He participated!" ZIM's jaw dropped. He couldn't imagine his brother doing any anything more dangerous than soccer.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yup!" Tenn chirped. "He was a bull and bronc rider, cow wrangler and a steer wrestler." ZIM was speechless.

"Is that true, Red?" Leslie asked. The man was blushing hard. Probably from anger. That or from embarrassment that he never told his closest friend, his little brother and his own wife.

"Yes." He whispered. "I quit when ma was diagnosed with cancer. Hung up my chaps for good when Zeiden was born. I never wanted him to find out in fears that he'll want to pick up on the sport too."

"You hypocrite!" ZIM screeched. "All these years of you telling me to 'be careful' and 'watch out' and you yourself used to go out and get on thousand pound, pissed off animals with horns longer than your forearm and ride them around as if it were a carousel!" ZIM huffed. "That's so cool!"

"How did you get into something like that?" Purple asked, raising a brow.

"Well, like I've said before, grew up on a wealthy ranch. Had plenty of bulls there. When I was just three, dad took me to my first rodeo . . . Well I've been to them before but this was the first one I remember. Anyway, I saw men get on those bulls and ride them around. Made it look so easy. Next day, me and my cousin Dural went to the area where we kept our cattle. I was on the gate and my intention was to jump on one of the fighting bulls that went past to see if I could stay on for at least eight seconds. Remember I was three, I didn't know any better." Red said.

"Three years old?" Leslie questioned. "Damn, must've had some serious guts at that age, huh?"

"Guess so. I waited for about a minute, my cousin was watching behind the safety of the gate. Finally one bull came right up next to the gate and I jumped on it's back." Red said.

"Then what?" ZIM asked.

"It didn't buck me off, surprisingly. I fell off and it stepped on me. Fractured my wrist." Red chuckled at the memory. "My dad saw it happen. He was hysterical when he helped me up. Was about to punish me but he figured the steer hurt me enough that day."

"Wow . . . You should . . . totally pick up on bull riding again!" ZIM said. Red shook his head.

"No. The whole reason we're on this topic is because you disobeyed me." Red said. "You're ground-"

"Red Elias Macale, don't even start." Leslie said. "Zeiden is getting off this one. You on the other hand. You have a lot of explaining to do! Rodeo? Seriously? And you never told us?" Red cringed.

"Tenn, why couldn't you keep that mouth of yours shut?" Tenn smiled at him.

"Let the truth prevail, Red."

**December 5, 2000**

"He found out about how I've been playing hockey for the past few weeks. He was really upset about that but then I found out that he's been a part of a rodeo for over sixteen years! Can you believe that? And he yells at _me_ for doing dangerous things! Isn't that stupid?"

"Are you for real?" Timmy asked. "I would never have the guts to get on a raging bull! He's got guts!"

"I'm trying to get him to do it again." ZIM said.

"He should! I would go to a rodeo to watch him get bucked off!" Chester said.

"He said he didn't want to because it would influence me to start too."

"Ugh! Forget that! He more than likely wants to do it again! So why not?" Timmy asked.

"Sandy Cheeks goes to Midnight Rodeo in Austin, Texas every other week." Dib said.

"We should tell her to convince him to go with her." A.J. said.

"He told me Sandy already knew and tried that already." ZIM said. "If we all join forces and beg mercilessly maybe he'll give in."

"Let's do it when he comes into the lobby!" Timmy said. "Let's go find Sandy really quick!" Timmy and Chester bounced up to find the squirrel. She should have just gotten done with a shoot and was breaking for lunch. The two boys went to the cafeteria to look for her. Minutes later they came back towing the squirrel. Sandy walked up to ZIM.

"So the truth is out. Found out 'bout yer brother, huh?" Sandy asked. "It's 'bout time he let you know. I was tryin' to convince him to go with me to the rodeo I go to all the time."

"Let's all convince him this time." ZIM said. "Maybe he'll give in if we all gang up on him."

"Where is the lil' critter anyway?" Sandy asked.

"He's in my dressing room." ZIM said.

"Well then. Let's go to him." Sandy quickly walked in the direction of ZIM's room. A short walk later they came up to his door and knocked. ZIM rolled his eyes and opened the door.

"You don't have to knock ya know?" ZIM said. "I only ever lock the door when I demand privacy." He turned to them and winked. "You know, when only Tak and I want some alone time?" Sandy frowned and smacked him upside the head. ZIM chuckled and entered the room all the way. Red was dozing off on the couch. The T.V. was on ESPN watching a football game highlights. His eyes were shut loosely. He was laying belly down, snoring softly. He wasn't asleep but his respiratory system was starting to close up signaling that he was about to pass out at any given moment. ZIM crept up to the couch getting right next to Red's antenna. "Red! We need to talk to you!" The man bolted up with a shout of panic.

"Jesus, Zeiden!" Red groaned and flopped back down on the couch, rubbing his temples. ZIM sat on his stomach. "What do you want?"

"Howdy, pardner!" Sandy greeted. Red waved to her.

"Arvo." He mumbled in return.

"You and I are going to Austin, okay?" Sandy said. "You don't get an option. You're going to the Midnight Rodeo and your going to ride a bull next week."

"Sandra, I haven't ridin' a bull in years." Red muttered.

"That's why we'll practice! C'mon! It'll be fun!"

"No."

"I know you want to! Don't tell me you don't want to!" Sandy said. "You were just talking to me the other day that you wished you could go back to the rodeo. So we're going."

"Please, Red? I won't get involved with the rodeo if that's what you're worried about." ZIM said. "I just wanna see my big brother ride a beast." Red sat up. He looked like he was in deep thought.

"I would love to go back." Red said. "But-"

"No 'but's! Your going!" ZIM snapped. "And you're going to kick ass!" Red looked from ZIM to Sandy to the other boys in the room.

"Leslie will never be okay with it." Red said. ZIM grinned with victory.

"She can't force you to stay."

**Later**

"Are you crazy? Your not doing that!" Red was right. Leslie wouldn't hear of it.

"Les, I've had several years of experience. You can trust me."

"I trust you. I don't, however, trust the bull you'd be riding." Leslie said. "I don't want to see you get pulverized by a cow!"

"I haven't gotten pulverized since I started competing when I was ten. Nor have I when I was in training the years before that."

"The answer is 'no', Red." Leslie said. She went back to the book she was reading. Red cocked a brow scooting closer to her on their bed. He took off his shirt getting ready to sleep.

"How 'bout you reconsider?"

"How 'bout you stop bothering me about it?" Red sighed.

"Well, you can't stop me from going." Red said. "I'm leaving for Austin in a week and staying there for three days."

"No you're not. You're staying right where you are." Leslie said, calmly.

"Yeah, we'll see about that."

"Red Macale, if you go I'll-"

"You'll do nothing."

"Probably, because you'll already be dead from getting trampled."

". . . I'm going." Leslie really wanted to punch Red for being so stupid. He hasn't ridden a bull in over twelve years! He was gonna get himself killed!

"You are staying. Got that? Your staying away from any rodeo and we're all gonna go to Mears for a few weeks tomorrow."

"You can't-"

"You're not going." Leslie said. Red was about to argue again but decided on something else. If she went behind his back then he can go behind her back. He pretended to be defeated for the time being.

"Fine! God damn it, Les, you're worse then my mother used to be." Red rolled over on his bed, facing away from Leslie. The woman in bed with him sighed.

"You're not playing the guilt card on me." Leslie said. She set her book down on the ground beside the bed and turned off the lights. Leslie snuggled up to Red who groaned in protest. "Oh stop your whining and grow up." Leslie draped an arm over him rubbing his bare chest and kissing his shoulder.

"I just don't get why you don't care about your own well being but when it comes to other's you're like a mother bear." He moaned in response. Leslie rolled her eyes, kissing his antenna.

"Good night, sweetie."

**The Next Day**

"Why must we wake up so early?" ZIM slouched in his chair at the airport. Dib was next to him all packed and ready to go. He was excited and wide awake whereas ZIM felt lethargic, looking like a zombie in his seat.

"It's probably best to get on the plane early so that way when we get there we will still have time to get settled it." Dib said. ZIM shrugged, looking down at the dog carrier Tyson was in. The poor Samoyed wanted out so bad but wasn't allowed to be out of the cage. ZIM poked his fingers through the bars so the dog could lick his fingers to reassure him that ZIM was still with him. Red approached the two boys.

"Our plane is here. Get your stuff and load up." He ordered, holding the tickets in one hand. The family walked through a tunnel and out to the plane allowing their luggage to be loaded up in the back of the plane in the storage unit. Tyson was part of that luggage. The group of Irkens and few humans went to the front of the jet and found their seats. Dib was awestruck.

"We're flying first class?" He asked. ZIM nodded and took his seat next to Dib, on big comfy chairs. They had wide screen T.V.'s in front of them and a table in between them.

"We don't do anything half-assed unless it's work." ZIM said, reclining back and closing his eyes. "I'm going to sleep. If you want to watch T.V., please plug in the headphones." ZIM felt someone kick the back of his seat. He scowled but did not open his eyes till the next kick. He groaned and looked behind him. Red and Purple were sitting behind them. They giggled like toddlers as they kicked both ZIM and Dib's seats. ZIM rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long flight.

**The Next Day**

Dib smiled as a sleepy Irken leaned in him. He looked at ZIM. They spent the night in Grand Rapids, two hours south of Mears. Now they were merging off the free way to the small town. Red was driving a rental truck, Purple was following behind in a car.

"Is he asleep?" Red asked looking in the rearview mirror at Dib. The boy nodded. "Well we're minutes away from our home, will you wake him up?" Dib nodded again. Red turned to Leslie who was in the passengers seat and started to talk to her. Dib looked at Tak on the other side of ZIM who was in the middle seat. She was reading contently. He knew ZIM got irritated when awoken and Dib didn't want to be the one he was irritated at.

"Tak?" She glanced at him. "Will you wake him up?" She looked at ZIM.

"Okay." She leaned over and kissed the side of his face. This action made him stir a bit. "Wake up, honey. We're almost there." She whispered in his antenna. ZIM scowled in his sleep, burying his face into Dib's lap on which his head laid on. Tak brought her hand up to ZIM's shoulder and shook him.

"I wanna sleep." He mumbled. Tak encircled his tiny body with her arms and pulled him up. He glared at her with tired eyes.

"Don't look at me that way. You can sleep when we get there." ZIM peered out the window and saw the familiar beach town where he used to live.

"Hey! They built a new restaurant!" ZIM exclaimed suddenly, snapping out of his fatigue. Red looked out the window to see what ZIM was looking at.

"_Frickin' Chicken_ . . . I feel like there are going to be a few people complaining about that name." Red observed.

"At least it's not called,_ Fuckin' Cluckin'_." ZIM snickered. Red turned around and glared at the boy.

"Zeiden! Don't you-" Red cut himself off and looked to his wife, pleadingly. "Leslie, please?" Red asked. The woman reached behind her seat and pinched ZIM's leg hard for swearing, at the same time Tak smacked him hard on the face.

"Ow!"

"Watch your mouth, young man." Leslie warned. "Or next time it'll be a swat to the rear." ZIM just grinned and sat back glancing at Dib. He was looking out the window highly interested in the landscape of the town. Sand was everywhere! And beach grass. The houses were either really big or just small cottages. Dib looked to his left and saw the Great Lake. The waves were smaller than the ones in L.A. If he looked straight ahead he saw a huge desert-like area with tall dunes and endless amounts of sand.

"What's that, ZIM?" Dib asked, pointing to the area.

"That is Silver Lake Sand Dunes state park." ZIM answered. "It's a place where you can ride a vehicle on the dunes. It's really fun, except I broke my ankle once when I was there."

". . . That sounds like fun." Dib said.

"Yeah, it's closed for the winter now though. We won't be able to go these two weeks but we'll come again in the summer if you want."

"Okay." Dib said. "We can go then." ZIM nodded. Minutes later Red pulled in the driveway of their beach home that they abandoned years ago. The family all piled out of the two vehicles. The big house looked the same way it did when they left.

"I bet it's all dusty and dirty on the inside." Leslie said.

"We can hire someone to come down here quick and clean it." Red said, nonchalantly. Leslie folded her arms across her chest.

"Or we could do it ourselves." She said. Red scoffed.

"We don't know how to clean a house."

"Never to late to learn." Leslie said. Red shook his head.

"I ain't cleaning. If you want to do it yourself, have at it. I refuse to pick up a dust rag." Red unlocked the doors.

"You're so lazy." Leslie grumbled. Red shrugged going into the house.

"Call me what you want." He looked around the foyer. Sun was streaming through the large windows that made up an entire wall of the living room. He flicked on some lights even though they weren't necessary because of natural light. The rest of the party went into the home, flopping down on the couches and chairs in the living room. All tired from the lack of sleep of the past two days. "Well, I guess we better start unloading the vehicles." They groaned. "Oh, get over yourselves and c'mon."

"Can't we do it later?" ZIM asked, voice muffled from his face being buried in the couch cushion.

"No, now, get up." Red pushed the little Irken off the davenport. ZIM grunted in protest. It took twenty minutes to get unloaded and settled back into their rooms. They had five rooms. Dib and ZIM would be sharing ZIM's room. Gaz and Tak to Zee's old room, Tenn and Zee would share Tenn's old room. Purple lucked out getting his own room and Leslie and Red had his old room.

"So what do you want to do?" Dib asked, looking about the orange and blue schemed room. ZIM must be a huge Tiger's fan, Dib figured.

"I dun know. We can go polar bear dipping."

"What's that?"

"Swimming."

"But it freezing out. It's December."

"Exactly." ZIM then realized something. "That's odd actually." He got up and looked out his windows. "It hasn't snowed here yet. Probably just a late winter." The door to his room opened revealing Gaz and Tak. They welcomed themselves in, taking a spot on his bed with Dib. ZIM cocked a brow at them sitting on the bed as well. "May I help you?"

"Tak was whining. She wanted to see you." Gaz said. Tak got closer to ZIM.

"We just sat in a truck together for two hours." ZIM pointed out.

"Yes but we couldn't do this," Tak kissed his lips. Dib cringed in disgust and Gaz just rolled her eyes. "Red doesn't like it when we kiss in front of him." Tak leaned over again to kiss him, biting his lower lip and sucking it. A hand went behind his head and pressed him further into the kiss. ZIM moaned. Gaz cleared her throat. ZIM pulled away hesitantly.

"We shouldn't in front of them." ZIM whispered. Tak frowned.

"They should get out." She glared at the two humans.

"Or you two can get a room." Gaz suggested.

"Or since this is my room you may feel free to get lost." ZIM said.

"Or you can all go outside and do something." Leslie interrupted them. "Red called a maid when I wasn't around. She's gonna be here soon and we need you out of the house when she comes."

"But it's cooold. What are we going to do outside?" ZIM asked.

"Play soccer, dodgeball, or . . . baseball, ZIM you like baseball." Leslie said.

"I can't play with these guys. They're not at my skill level and it won't be fun." Leslie frowned at him.

"You're really ornery today, you know that?"

"Nuh uh." ZIM said. "Fine, let's go outside." ZIM walked out of the room with the three others. He called for Tyson to join them. The small posse went down to the beach all bundled up in their jackets. Dib crouched down to feel the sand. Seeing how it was different from the sand on the west coast. Gaz was staring off in the horizon, the feeling of nostalgia flooding her. ZIM and Tak held each other's hand walking around the beach watching the two humans. Tyson was at ZIM's heal the entire time. ZIM remembered that it was this town where he took the dog in. He was a puppy then. ZIM and Tak sat on a small mound of piled sand, peacefully and without a word. Enjoying the other's company. A minute later ZIM felt someone pelt him with a small, round ball. A baseball. "What the-" ZIM picked it up and examined it. He fingered the seams and found his initials written on the weathered ball. He glanced up at Dib.

"Is that yours?" Dib asked. ZIM nodded.

"Must've left it on the beach one day a while back when I was practicing for a season." ZIM said. "I should join an indoor tournament one of these days while we're here. They have them all winter long at Sports Quest. They have a nice indoor facility. Gravel and grass and everything." ZIM looked to Dib. "Maybe you can sign up for a game or two with me?" Dib shook his head.

"I'm not good at sports, ZIM. You know better than to ask me that." ZIM furrowed a brow. He gently tossed the ball back to Dib who caught it clumsily.

"See? You caught it. I think you're well on your way to the MLB." ZIM said. Dib rolled his eyes.

"Yah, riiiight." Dib tossed the ball back. ZIM stood and traced the red stitches once more. He looked down the beach and threw the ball as hard as he could in the distance. Tyson immediately on impulse chased the white ball and retrieved it back for ZIM. The puffy, white dog nudged ZIM to throw it again. When ZIM didn't pick up the ball again Tyson nudged harder and harder until finally he reared up on his hind paws and jumped on ZIM making the small boy fall flat on his back from the weight of the beast.

"Oof! Ugh, Get off! Ty, get off!" ZIM screeched for mercy. Tak and Dib laughed in amusement at ZIM's distressed calls. Gaz was ignoring it all. The dog licked his face continuously, not taking a millisecond to pause to allow his master to breath. "Someone get him off!" ZIM felt someone's hands wrap around his wrists and pull him out from underneath the animal. He was then suspended in the arm. Dangling by whoever was holding him. He turned his head and saw the chest of Purple. The man set him down.

"I saved your life." He said. Tenn was hanging onto his arm, leaning her head on his shoulder. ZIM wiped his face with his sleeves.

"I thought you had to teach." ZIM said to Tenn, not realizing she came along.

"I called for a sub." She said simply.

"Your students like you so far?" Tak asked.

"They keep asking when ZIM is coming back." She said. "But yeah, I guess for the most part they like me."

"Aww. I should get an official job there as a band aid." ZIM said. "That way they can see me more often."

"We're going to the store for some groceries. You guys wanna come too?" Purple asked. The four kids exchanged glances.

"Suuuure." ZIM answered. "We have nothing better to do." Purple motioned for them to follow. They piled into the truck. Dib, Tak and Gaz taking the back seats and Purple at the wheel with Tenn and ZIM sitting in the front. Five minutes later they arrived to their destination. A food market store called Hansen's. As soon as they entered the big store ZIM bolted in the direction of the coffee, claiming they needed more. Purple sighed, following the enthusiastic Irken to the coffee beans. He examined the options when ZIM suddenly gasped. Purple looked at him.

"Sam!" He screamed, excitedly, taking off down the aisle toward a woman. Purple held his breath. He turned around toward the shelf so the woman couldn't see him. ZIM jumped on his old trainer, startling her in the process of doing so.

"Zeiden! Long time no see, honey, how are you?" She asked. She hugged him tightly.

"I'm great! How 'bout you?"

"I'm just as good." Sam looked up and saw Purple looking down and away. As if trying to hide shame. "Peder?" He snapped his head in the direction of his ex.

"Samantha." Purple said, weakly. "How are ya?" Sam looked at him sympathetically.

"I'm fine. You?"

"Perfect." He said. Tenn walked down the aisle where they were.

"Hey, Sam! Nice to see you!" Tenn exclaimed. Sam smiled at her. "We're staying here for a few weeks. Maybe we could hang out sometimes?" Sam nodded.

"That'd be great." She said, prying ZIM off her waist. "Maybe while your here I can pick up training with you for the time being."

"Yeeeessss! Thank you! No one else will help me!" ZIM was happy. Finally he could play again with someone who'd actually challenge him. Sam smirked, patting his head.

"May I talk with your brother alone?" She asked. ZIM gave her a curt nod.

"Lets go, ZIM." Tenn eyed Sam and Purple warily as she led ZIM out of the area. Sam stared at Purple, who'd refuse to meet her eye. The woman sighed.

"Hun, I'm sorry. I like you a lot and I did not want to have to leave you. But I care for you and I felt it was necessary if you don't fall in love with a human." Purple gazed up at her. He cleared his throat.

"Tenn and I . . ." He started. "She's my girlfriend. I'm not too upset anymore, it's just . . . awkward." Sam was surprised by his reaction. She felt a twinge of jealously and sadness deep down.

"Oh . . . I see." She said. "How long?"

"About a week after you left." He admitted. Sam shook her head.

"Well then, I'm happy for you." She said, quietly.

"Thanks." He said. "Well I better carry on or something." Sam didn't say anything. She couldn't believe it. He moved on so quickly. Too quickly.

**Later**

"Mark is staying too?" ZIM cried. "We don't have any rooms left for him. He can't stay."

"Well that's too bad because he's flying over right now. He rooming with Purple." Zee said.

"Zannah, why'd you invite him?" ZIM whined.

"He was all alone in L.A. I didn't want to just leave him." She said. "He'll be here tomorrow." Zee rubbed her eyes. "Please, please, please, _pleeeaaase_ be nice. I know it's hard for you but at least try."

"No promises." Zee scowled. "Fine! Just make sure he stays away from me." The little Irken stomped to his room, furious that he couldn't get away from that stupid Vortian. Tak was on his bed, using his laptop with Dib and Gaz watching whatever she was doing on the screen contently.

"Why are you so crabby?" Tak asked, not looking up from the laptop. ZIM joined them on the bed, huffing as he sat.

"My sister is being a bitch. She invited that God damn Vortian I can't stand to stay the week with us. I'm going to fucking kill him-" Tak slammed a hand over his mouth.

"Watch your mouth, Zeiden! Dib and Gaz don't appreciate the language!" Tak took her hand off his mouth. "Gees, when you get upset about something you can be a real potty mouth." Tak saw ZIM shaking from anger. He looked like he was about to punch the next person who makes him the even slightest irritated. Tak slid the computer over to Dib and Gaz. "You may take over on the game." The humans happily started to play. Tak put a hand on ZIM's shaking shoulder noticing how tense he was. "You need to relax. These past few weeks you've been constantly edgy and irritable." ZIM groaned, flopping belly down on his bed.

"Just so much has been going on." ZIM mumbled. "Sooooo muuuuch." Tak cooed sympathetically. She sat on his thighs right below his bottom and brought her hands up to his back an started treating him with a deep tissue massage. He groaned under the touch, loving the feeling of relaxation that came to him. Tak grinned at the cute noises emitting from him and pressed deeper.

"You have like a quadrillion knots!" Tak exclaimed. "My poor, stressed out, smeet."

"You guys are making me sick." Gaz grumbled. The couple ignores them. Tak hit a particularly sensitive spot making ZIM gasp and suddenly melt.

"Uhhh, Tak harder." ZIM moaned. "Harder . . . Right there! Ugh! It feels so goooood." ZIM raised his antenna when Tak stopped and heard Dib and Gaz chuckle. He raised his head and saw Red with a disgusted yet amused look on his face.

"All I heard was ZIM moaning, 'Harder' and 'Right there'. I was assuming you two were doing something else. Thank God I didn't walk into anything else." ZIM blushed. The weight of Tak still on his legs. Red looked to Dib and Gaz. "Can you watch them and make sure they don't get too carried away?"

"Sure, I'll smack them if they do any funny stuff." Gaz said. Red nodded.

"Good girl. Corporal punishment is always the answer." He said. The man left. ZIM turned his head as far as he could to look at Tak.

"Did I really say those things?" He asked. Tak giggled but did not answer. She continued to work on his back.

"Why don't you take this bothersome shirt off?" She asked.

"Why don't you take it off for me?" Tak smiled, slowly lifting up the fabric up and over his head. ZIM remained laying on his stomach. ZIM felt a smack to the back of his head.

"Reeeed! ZIM's stripping!" Gaz yelled.

"Corporal punishment!" Red called from downstairs, voice muffled. Gaz gave ZIM another smack. "Ya get him?"

"Head shot!" She reported. The faint sound of laughter came from the living rooms down the steps. ZIM rubbed his head.

"You want us to leave the room?" ZIM asked. Gaz and Dib nodded.

"No offense or anything but seeing you two go all lovey-dovey in front of us is kind of gross. I mean, really? How can you not be gross out when you see some girl's tongue go inside your friend's mouth?" Dib asked.

"Oh, you mean like this?" Tak asked, then grabbed ZIM's face and opened his mouth. She opened her mouth up wide too, making sure Dib could see her tongue going into ZIM's mouth. Dib cringed and shielded his eyes. Tak pulled away, smiling. "Most people would find that hot."

"I for one, found it hot." ZIM stated, raising a hand. "And I'd like for you to do that again."

"Alright, but not here. These whiners will just keep complaining." Tak took ZIM's hand and led him out of his room and into her and Gaz's room to be alone.

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><p><strong>So, as you can tell. I've been a bit busy lately with all my stories. Their Pride will be updated soon as well as A New Adventure (If you guys are wondering about those stories.) Hope you liked this chapter!<strong>

**If you already left a review for a prior chapters and can't post another one and you want to, just log out, sign in your name as a guest and type your review.**

**Yes, yes. Red is a bull rider. You might be thinking to yourself right now, "That's so stupid. Why would she write that in?" Well, lets look at the facts here. He _was _raised on a ranch. His father used to ride bulls. He still has an _untold_ story about his childhood! **(Hint, hint. Perhaps there will be a prequel.) **You may claim to know Red as of now, but let me tell you, He's one of the most mysterious characters because of his well hidden secrets. In the next chapter, You'll be learning something about Purple and his past.  
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**Question of the Chapter: What was your favorite moment of this chapter?  
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**Fact of the chapter: It took me several hours to get the concert right! All my editing takes hours and hours. (No life)  
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**One last thing! I just got an Instagram! So uhh . . . yeah, either go to or use your Apple devices using the app and follow me at mikkianna Cuz why the heck not? That way you guys can see my life outside of writing! Who knows! Maybe I'll follow you back!  
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**Farewell for now, Friends. See ya next chapter!  
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	17. Jackaroo

**I'm telling you this now before I forget. I know ZIM was cancelled in 2002 but just for entertainment's sake, I'm having it cancel in 2006, when it officially went off air. That way ZIM can meet Jimmy, Danny, and Jenny. (Why are all Nicktoons main character's names alike?) But I'm gonna make the Invader ZIM show go on hiatus during the year of 2002-2003 (maybe) So that way all the episodes would fill in the big time gaps. And for another reason. You'll have to read that reason in my other comment section below.  
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**Enjoy the second chapter of the two missing chapters!**

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><p><strong>December 9, 2000<strong>

Red forced himself awake. It was one AM and his flight left at three. And the airport was an hour and a half away. He'd better get up now. He slipped out of his bed trying hard no to disturb Leslie. He set a note on her night stand telling her where he was going then he silently snuck into ZIM and Dib's room. After waking the two boys up he went to get Purple from his room that he temporarily shared with Mark. The Vortian wasn't going with them however. Once the four were all together they made their ways to the truck and left the home to go to the airport. They were spending the next four days in Texas.

**Later**

Leslie awakened feeling like something was wrong. Red was already out of bed. That was unusual for him. He always slept in till at least nine or ten even eleven when he was in a really lazy mood. She shrugged it off switching her position so she was laying on her other side. That's when she noticed the note with a neat, cursive handwriting. The woman cocked a brow, picking up the piece of paper and simply reading,

_Please don't kill me when I get back._

That's all it said. That's all it had to say. Leslie felt anger boiling up inside her. He left. He left even after she told him not to. It bothered her to no end when he ignored her.

"Damn it, Red!"

**That Day**

"I'm so glad you could make it, pardner!" Sandy said, slapping Red on the back, startling him. He looked up from his phone that had five missed calls from Leslie. He had just arrived in Austin's Midnight Rodeo arena. He was walking with Sandy around the dirt floor of the arena. The stands surrounded the entire area where he and many others would be riding, racing, and performing. "Aww, wife misses ya already? The rodeo is televised so if she wants to see ya she can turn on the tube."

"Yeah, I wrote down the show times and what days I'm riding, for her." Red sighed. "She's going to tear off my antenna when I get back." Sandy shook her head.

"Don't worry about her for now. Right now, worry about your brother who just decided to ride a pig." Red looked over in the direction of the animal pens and cages. They were just beyond the gates of where they bulls and riders entered. Sure enough, ZIM was on a pig. The poor thing was squealing in fright.

"Zeiden! Off the hog!" Red yelled. The two quickly trotted over to the pen with the pig. Now ZIM was wrestling it.

"Hooo wheee! Pull that pig to the ground ZIM! Tie 'em up!" Sandy cheered. Red gave her a look. ZIM finally pinned the small pig the ground, claiming victory. "Red, you need to sign that boy up for the junior rodeo!"

"No! That's why I never wanted for ZIM to find out that I was a PBR. He'd want to join." Red said.

"Oh, c'mon, Red!" ZIM groaned.

"This one isn't even arguable." Red said, tipping his tan felt, Akubra hat back. As a competitor he needed to promote the show by wearing the cowboy get up. Sandy was decked out in her cowgirl attire. ZIM joined the dressing up fun with Red by wearing tight blue jeans, snakeskin cowboy boots, button up, plaid, shirt with rolled sleeves up to the elbow, and a big belt buckle with a hat on the head. The least Dib and Purple did to dress up was wearing a pair of boots. "You're not joining the rodeo." ZIM huffed.

"Maybe not today. But one day . . ." ZIM said, hopefully. Sandy motioned for them to follow her.

"Tomorrow we're doing a practice. Then the next day is the first day of the three day shows. On Friday you'll be riding two different bulls. Lemme show ya 'em." Sandy led the way to the animal pens in a huge barn by the arena. They entered the barn and the squirrel brought them to two pens side-by-side. She pointed to a big black bull. "This one here is Freight Train. He's a bad-tempered bastard. You're riding him first. The one next to him," She moved her finger to a brown and white bull. "Is Death Wish. He lives by his name. You'll be riding him twice on Friday." Sandy said. "And if you want, after you ride three times you may join the round up team to lead the bulls back to their cages after the riders get bucked off." Red nodded.

"Sure thing."

"Then let me show you the horse." Sandy said. They walked further into the barn to the horse section. "Right here is Misty." She tilted her head to a black Arabian horse. "You may use her for the round up crew. She's my horse. Good girl. Fearless."

"Do I get a horse?" ZIM asked.

"ZIM, quiet or you're not coming with me next time."

"There probably won't be a next time, Red. Leslie is gonna kill you before then." ZIM whined. Red put a hand on ZIM's head to silence the young Irken.

"Well, we best get back to our hotel. Purple and Dib are waiting for us."

"Alright, pardner! Rest up! We're starting bright and early in the morn!" Sandy chirped. Red nodded turning to leave with ZIM. The little guy was all dusty from beating up the pig. Red's Imp rung. He sighed and looked to see who was calling. It was Leslie again.

"Should I ignore it?" Red asked. ZIM shrugged.

"Don't want to piss her off anymore." ZIM said. Red rubbed the back of his head and hesitantly answered the call.

"Hey, babe." He tried to sweet talk her. Maybe she won't be as angry. "I bet you're looking lovely today-"

"Can it, Red!" He winced. No such luck. "I can't believe you left! I said you couldn't!"

"And I said I could." He said, calmly. "Leslie, I want to pick up in the sport again. Now that Zeiden knows there is no point in not doing it."

"You haven't ridden a bull in years!"

"I will tomorrow."

"Don't you dare climb on top of one of those beasts!" Leslie screamed.

"And what if I do?" Red asked.

"I will think of something! Get your ass back up here right now!"

"Fine." Red muttered.

"Thank you-"

"Right after the rodeo is done."

"Red Macale, I will whip your ass in front of everyone-" Red hung up on her. He was dead. So very dead. He secretly wished a bull took his life before his wife did.

**The Next Day**

Red adjusted his tan chaps so they weren't crooked. He stared at the white and brown bull he was about to practice with.

"Howdy! Wow, Red! You make those chaps look gooood." Sandy winked at him. He smiled.

"Thanks. I thought they made my butt look big." Red said, showing her his rear, teasing her. He knew she liked him.

"I like men with a decent sized butt. Gives me something to hold on to." Sandy said.

". . . Okay, now it's just gettin' weird." Red said.

"Only if you make it weird." Sandy said. "Why don't you go ahead and get on your bull." Red nodded and went to the holding pen where Death Wish was panting angrily. Red mounted the animal and held on to the rope with his left hand and put his right hand on the brim of his hat so he doesn't touch the bull. "Hold on, lil' critter! Eight seconds!" She called.

Red took a deep breath. He was nervous. First run in a long time. The gate opened wide and the bull immediately burst out of there and bucked roughly. Red grunted as his pelvis smashed into the bulls back several times. Everything was blurry. He was spinning and jumping along with the massive beast. The animal took a sharp right flinging Red off to the side on the left. The man's hand slipped out from the rope and he went crashing to the ground. He landed on his back with a thud. He quickly got up and ran to the gates and jumped up and over them so the bull couldn't get him. While he was doing that, some barn hands roped the bull down and led it back to the exit hatch.

"Four point twenty-seven seconds!" Sandy said.

"Not bad for the first time in quite awhile, I'd say." Red said, sitting on the edge of the gates.

"But there is room to improve." Sandy said. "You looked good though." Red smiled.

"Thanks."

"How'd you ever get your ma convinced to join the rodeo at such a young age?" Sandy asked.

"I had to go behind her back for awhile. Then when I finally told her she obviously wasn't too happy about it." Red said.

"What'd she do?"

"Grounded me, gave me extra chores, sent me to a behavioral correction facility for two days, forbidden me from riding another bull again, all that and more." Red said. "My dad was different. He thought it was neat I got into the rodeo. He used to ride bulls himself when he was in his thirties through eighties. He settled down when I was born."

"Dang! How old are your parents?"

"My pa is one-hundred-twenty-six. My ma would be the same age." Red sighed. "She's probably looking down on me right now saying, 'What I tell that boy about riding bulls?' Ahh yeah, ma, I never really obeyed you. Never really obeyed anyone. Believe it or not, I was quite the troublemaker growing up." Sandy raised a brow.

"Really? I don't believe it."

"Seriously, I was. Whether it was at school, on the ranch or even in public I'd do something illegal or just bad and I'd get in trouble all the time." Red said.

"What would you do?"

"Talk back to the teachers, talk non-stop, sleep during class, text on my Imp, I was the instigator of most fights, make fun of people, swear. I once was walking home with a buddy of mine and I flipped off a teacher who was driving home . . . Yeah, he was not happy." Sandy chuckled. "He stopped his car on the side of the road and grabbed me by the antenna. He forced me into his car and drove me home so he could tell my parents what I did."

"Whoa, why did'ya give him the bird in the first place?" Red shrugged.

"I don't even know. It was just one of those unwarranted things that I often did." Red said. "So every time I got in trouble at school, this was back in the day where corporal punishment wasn't prohibited, I was dragged to either the front of the class or to the principals office and got my hand smacked or my ass spanked." Red smiled at a memory. "I once purposely got in trouble just to be touched by the hottest teacher I've ever seen." He reminisced. "She was very delicate with her swats. I think she liked me." Sandy laughed. He jumped down from the gate. "How about another round?"

"Sure, but this time, stay on for eight seconds."

**Later **

"Easy does it now. Careful. Watch your step." Sandy assisted Red to his hotel room. He took out his room key card and gave it to her so she could open the door then she helped him in the suite where the three other guys were. When Red fell off his bull the fourth time he landed hard on his right leg and hip. It was sore and he was limping. He also got a dull black eye from punching himself in the face as he was being bucked around.

"What happened to you?" Purple asked.

"Just fell hard." Red said. Sandy helped him to his bed where he laid down and tried to get comfy.

"Are you alright to ride tomorrow?" Sandy asked. Red groaned, pulling down his tight jean pants so his black spandex shorts underneath was revealed. He looked at his leg and saw a huge bruise forming on this knee, shin and thigh. Sandy cringed at it. It was all purple and blue.

"Oh, I'll be fine. Just take some pain relievers and I'll be fine." Red said.

"Well . . . Okay. But if you condition gets any worse I'm afraid I'm not going to let you ride tomorrow. I'll withdraw you from the roster." Red shook his head.

"No need to do that." Red said. "I came here all the way to Texas from Michigan to ride and that's what I'm going to do."

"Alright then. Rest up. Be at the rodeo at three. Show time starts at five." He nodded. Sandy smiled and left the room. Red sighed.

"Zimmy? Can you get me an ice pack?" ZIM looked up from the table where he was teaching Dib how to play poker. ZIM got up from the table and grabbed a pack from the freezer and threw the pack to Red on the bed. The man placed it on his leg. "Hooo! Today was taxing!" Red exclaimed.

"Do you want us to leave so you can sleep?"

"Naw, just don't be loud . . . On second thought, yeah leave." ZIM glanced at Dib and the two left. Purple remained in the room. He wasn't doing anything but reading anyway. ZIM's phone rung.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"_Where are you?_" A panicked voice asked. "_Leslie said you were in Texas._"

"Why, you miss me already, Tak?" ZIM asked, smugly.

"_Well I was kind of hoping we could spend some time together._" She said. "_Why'd you leave? I never said you could!_" ZIM sighed.

"Why are you so controlling?"

"_Because you're mine. I can't trust those cowgirl sluts down there!_"

"I'm not here for the girls, Tak. I'm here for the rodeo." ZIM said. "We'll be back in three days. Can you wait that long?"

"_Zeiden! I want you back now!_"

"Having separation anxiety?"

"_When your tiny ass comes back I'm gonna wreck you._"

"Love you too, sweetie." ZIM hung up his phone. "Tak misses me."

"She seems like she can't be away from you for longer than a few hours." Dib said. ZIM nodded.

"She's just . . . I dun know. She's attached." ZIM walked down the corridor of the hallway with his friend. "What you wanna do?"

"We can-" ZIM's Imp rung again. He groaned.

"Boy, aren't you popular today?" Dib mumbled.

"Yes?" ZIM answered the phone.

"_Zimmy! How's my little star? Hey, is it possible for you to write a song like, right now? We need a new one._"

"Why, Jalo?"

"_You have some competition. A new singer from West Luthia._" The man said.

"You mean that stupid, little, Irken country in the east that everyone knows is full of hobos and thugs?" ZIM asked. "If so, I don't think I have much competition."

"_Don't let stereotypes fool you, child. This boy is good. Not attractive by any means, but he's still good. I'll transport a copy of his demo soon so you can hear him._"

"So if he ain't cute like me I don't really have to worry. Girls and guys alike don't like ugly hobo thugs." ZIM said. He could hear Jalokia sigh on the other end of the line.

"_Look at Shane MacGowan or Michael Jackson, they're both hideous humans yet they have millions of fans! All I'm saying is, don't let you guard down. I want you here by next week so you can meet him. His name is Larry Roe. He's thirteen years old and has quite the attitude. So make yourself look good and be on your best behavior._"

"Larry? Haha! That's a stupid name." ZIM chuckled. A pause.

"_Zeiden, that's my middle name._" Jalokia finally said. ZIM bit his lip.

"But it sounds good on you, Jalo. Alright I'll be there next week with a new song."

"_Thank you._" Jalokia said. ZIM hung up his phone. He turned to Dib.

"Wanna write some lyrics with me?"

**The Next Day**

Red was back in his cowboy get up in front of a huge crowd of rowdy Texans anticipating a great show. Red's schedule was posted on his tack box. He looked it over. There was fifteen riders that night. Each rider was riding either twice or three times. He was gonna ride Freight Train after the first three men rode their bulls. Then he'd ride Death Wish after all fifteen men went through with their runs. After that was the team roping which he decided not to participate in. He hasn't had much roping practice in a while. Then a few more bull riders would go through. Then it was the girls only horse barrel racing and jumping contests, Sandy would be doing that. After that he'd ride Death Wish once more. In between his runs he'd rope and lead the bulls back to the holding pens with Sandy's horse, Misty.

"Howdy, pardner! How ya doin'?" Sandy asked, putting a hand on Red's shoulder.

"Haven't done this since I was nineteen . . . I'm terrified." Red mumbled. He looked at the squirrel. She was wearing a shiny, sequenced cowgirl outfit.

"You don't have to be. You got your eight seconds down yesterday. You have three chances tonight and three more chances tomorrow night to do it again." Sandy encouraged. "I just wanted to come by and say I'm so glad I finally found someone in L.A. who had the same interests as me. Someone who came from a farmland. Someone who isn't afraid to get down and dirty." Red smirked.

"Some people just don't appreciate the country like we do . . . Although, my country and your country is kind of different. I mean, back on the ranch we weren't called cowboys, we were called Jackaroos." Sandy giggled.

"That's cute! You Australians and your adorable terms. Hey! That should be your rodeo nickname! Everyone has a rodeo nickname! We can call you, The Red Jackaroo!" Red raised a hairless brow.

"You have a nickname then?"

"As matter of fact, I do. American Pecan!" She seemed real proud of the name.

"American Pecan? That's a ssstttt . . . stellar name." Red caught himself from saying, 'stupid'.

"Why thanks, R. Jack." She said. Red rolled his eyes. She just abbreviated his new nickname which was a completely new nickname all together. At least he wasn't called Hotshot like his little brother was dubbed with by his weird friends. "Well, we gotta get to the arena. They're about to play the anthem." The two walked with one another to the tunnel entrance to the arena. Once they did they saw the bull riders and horse riders all lined up waiting for the anthem to start. Red stood in the line fascinated by the fact that he was very small and petite compared to his opponents. Sandy wasn't joking when she said, 'Everything's bigger in Texas' He had no idea that included the humans.

"Now if you would, please stand, gentlemen remove your hats in the singing of our national anthem." An announcer's voice boomed from the speakers. Red removed his hat to show respect to the country and to the people there as well. He placed it over his heart while the other hand made a fist behind his back. He listened to the words being sung by a young girl from South Carolina. As the anthem went on his eyes drifted to the audience. It seemed like every seat was filled. Red new a lot more people were watching than just the ones currently there. The show was being broadcasted too. Red's eyes shifted over to a camera guy who was squatting right before him. Getting an angle shot of Red and the other competitors for the broadcasting. He wondered if Leslie was looking at him right now. The hymn came to a halt. The crowd cheered for the girl and exited. What Red wasn't expecting was to find ZIM taking her place in the center of the arena with a microphone. "Now to show respect for out Aussie competitor, Red Macale, Zeiden Macale will be singing the Australian national anthem." Red was shocked. He had no idea that was happening. Sandy leaned over to him.

"I suggested they should do that. I knew that it would mean something to you if they did." Red smiled at her thoughtfulness. ZIM winked at Red and rose the mic to his mouth.

"_Australians all let us rejoice, For we are young and free; we've golden soil and wealth for toil, our home is girt by sea;_" As Red soaked in the meaningful words the American audience seemed to stand awkwardly but enjoying the song nonetheless. "_In joyful strains then let us sing, 'Advance Australia Fair'!_" ZIM finished powerfully. The mass of people applauded for the Irken. ZIM smiled giving them a slight wave then nodding his head to Red. He walked off to the area where Dib and Purple were waiting by the gates of the bulls. Red walked to the back room where the contestants had to wait when they were not competing. After his first bull run he'd start roping the bulls.

"Ya best saddle up pardner, tighten those chaps of yours because Freight Train's flankstrap is tied real snug tonight. He's grouchier than ever!" Sandy exclaimed. Red groaned at the news. That bull is gonna kill him.

Red watched the first rider get on his bull. A rookie by the looks of the young man's petrified face. The rookies usually had to wear a helmet with a face cage too. The gate opened and the bull he was riding bucked widely. The man almost immediately got bucked off. Two point forty seconds. The youngster ran to the gates and jumped up and over to get out of the bull's way.

The next competitor was up. A veteran, age forty. He was getting ready to ride. When the gate was released, his own bull bucked and twisted this way and that. Red watched with raised antenna as the man got the full eight seconds till he purposely fell off the bull and scrambled to safety. Red shook. He was up now. He made his way to the pen where they already loaded Freight Train in. He climbed up the side of the fence and mounted the huge animal. He put his leather gloved hand under the strap holding tight. He dug his heals in the side of the bull hoping it would help keep him on. Red closed his eyes, breathing in through the minuscule pores on his face where his nose would be and out through his mouth, calming his nerves. A barn hand counted down quietly so Red could hear. Everything became quiet to Red except for the man's counting.

"Five, four, three, two, one." Red's eyes shot open as the gate swung out and hell was released into the arena. Freight Train burst out of his cage and showed no mercy for the much smaller Irken on it's back. It bucked, reared on it's hind legs, spun, turned sharply, kicked, thrashed as if it was attempting to escape from death itself. Red's right hand stayed on his hat to avoid touching the bull. Red had no sense of time. When he heard the buzzer he knew when it'd be safe to get off. For now, he had to just hold on. Red's head snapped back a particularly wild movement from the bull giving him whiplash. Momentarily dazed Red quickly regained composure and finished his ride. The buzzer sounded. Red slipped his hand from underneath the strap and allowed himself to be bucked off. He landed on his forearms and knees then rolled to his side to see the bull charging him. His eyes got wide. Where were the rodeo clowns when he needed them?

Red got up and ran for the fence, the bull hot on his heals. Temper flared, the bull wanted nothing more to do but to kill Red at the moment. Red glanced over his shoulder and saw that the clowns where lagging behind, chasing the bull that was chasing him! And there was no roper at the moment so it was just him and the bull. Red finally made it to the fence. The audience was screaming and encouraging him to be faster. Red jumped on the metal fence, when he was half way up he felt the bull's horns slip between his legs and literally throw him up and over the fence. Red screamed as he was launched into the crowd. He landed with a thud on his face. He laid there for a moment, groaning with soreness. Two large spectating men wearing cowboy hats and boots helped him to his feet. Red shook his head and looked around. The audience was staring at him intensely.

"I'm okay!" Red announced. The audience cheered at the news. Red couldn't help but let out his own chuckle of amusement and at the close one. Leslie was gonna kill him for something that close to permanent damage. Red pushed that from his mind for now. He'd deal with that when or if he got back home. He casually sauntered back to the back room with the riders who were watching the show from there. They clapped when he entered.

"Git'er done, Jackaroo! Yeehaw!" One overly happy rider exclaimed. "Quite the show you had going on there, ya little rascal!" Red smirked.

"Aye, mate. Ya liked it?" Red sat next to him.

"Ya bet yer chaps I did, shortie!" Red smiled. It seemed like he was off to a good start.

**The Next Night**

After tonight they'd be going home. Red won a trophy the night prior, maybe he'd win another this night. He stroked Misty's long face. He was about to make his last ride of the night. He'd just have to wait for two riders before him then he could go. Sandy graced him with her presence.

"Hey, Red. Last run of the night. Happy? Relieved? Sad?"

"It's bittersweet." Red said. "On one hand I'm going home after it on the other, I probably won't be able to do it again. Knowing my wife, she'd probably lock me in a closet or tie me up somewhere so I couldn't do this again."

"Eh, don't worry 'bout it. I'll take the blame if it comes to that." Sandy said. "Now get yourself ready. You're on soon. Last round, make it a good one!" Red nodded. He gone to the on deck area, mentally preparing himself like he always did. He heard that Death Wish was extremely irritable tonight and will definitely put up one hell of a fight. Red smoothed the glove over his one hand. He adjusted his chaps so they weren't uncomfortable on him. The rider before him was bucked off, shy of the eight seconds by just one second. Red got on his bull. He already had a great night. He felt really confident with the last run of the night for him. He'd defiantly be getting all eight seconds in. The gate yanked open and Death Wish was off. Red was shocked by how much fury the bull was bucking with tonight. A lot more twists and turns than he would have liked. The animal took a hard left swinging Red out to the right. Red was loosing grip quickly and he was already sliding off. When Red was still falling off the right side the bull whipped it's head to the right. His horn collided with Red's face. The man gasped at the pain and let go. Falling hard to the ground flat on his back.

Red slowly opened his eyes just in time to see the bull's front hooves land on him. One on his chest, the other on his hip. Red cried out in agony as the thirteen hundred pound monster crushed him. He could hear the crowd scream with fright. The bull used it's horns to brutally slam into the Irken's body and fling him across the dirt as if he was some sort of rag doll. He tried to crawl away but couldn't find the strength. Red felt something sting his eyes. It was his blood that was pooling from his freshly made scar on his face from the horn. Red felt himself being tossed into the air again. He dropped to the ground then was stepped on again. This time on his shoulder. Battered and exhausted, Red couldn't do anything to save himself. It was up to someone else. He heard a familiar voice scream at the animal.

Red's eyes widened when he saw his little brother bravely jump over the fence. ZIM was rushing straight at the bull to give it a new target. The animal started chasing ZIM instead. The small Irken led the beast away from his brother and to the rodeo clowns, ZIM then jumped over the fence so he was on the safe side. When the bull was contained and put away, ZIM jumped down again and rushed to Red. He pushed medics and other rodeo hands out of the way to see him. ZIM nearly cried when he saw how bad the damage he was. Red was on his back, tears streaming down his face, eyes closed in pain, teeth gritted. He had a cut across his forehead. A long tear in his shirt, blood spilling out of the tear and staining the rest of his clothes. ZIM put a hand on Red's shoulder. He yelped in pain. That was the shoulder that was stepped on. ZIM pulled away. He let a few tears slip down his cheeks. His normally strong brother was defeated and hurt. It pained ZIM to see him this way. Red opened his eyes to gaze at ZIM. Red coughed. When he did blood trickled out of his mouth.

"I'll be alright, mate." He whispered. "This happened to me before." He then leaned his head back and fell asleep. ZIM felt himself being hoisted into the air.

"Let me go!" ZIM lashed at whoever was holding him. He struck his captor on the neck he assumed. He was turned around so he could see. It was Purple. He had a concerned look. Dib was behind him, shaking. ZIM couldn't help it anymore. The poor Irken sobbed. Now he knew how Red felt whenever he got hurt. It hurt him just as much as ZIM's injury.

**The Next Day**

It was truly an act of God. No broken bones. Just major sprains and a severe concussion. Red had stitches across his head. His sprains were wrapped up to immobilize him. His hip was dislocated and had to be popped back into place. He was sleeping on the plane going home. They booked a private jet so Red may be in peace on their flight. ZIM couldn't stop staring. His big brother's black eye always drew his attention. Red's shirt was off so he could see everywhere the bull stepped or hit him. Bruises all over his chest and abdomen. On his shoulder was a big bruise of where he was stepped on. Then another bruise poked out from his belt line. That bruise was mostly hidden by his pants. The one on his chest made ZIM especially uncomfortable. It was the biggest one. He was surprised the bull's weight didn't crush his chest cavity in.

"You alright, Zei-Zei?" ZIM moved his eyes from the bruises to the big red eyes.

"I think the question is, are _you _alright?" Red chuckled, painfully.

"I've had better days." He said. "See now why I don't want you joining the rodeo?" ZIM shook his head.

"After that incident, I don't think I want to go to another rodeo." ZIM wasn't sure of he meant that or not. He had a lot of fun at the rodeos. It just sucked when your brother gets mauled by a bull.

"What do you think Leslie will say when we get back?" Red asked.

"Probably something in between the lines of, 'I told you so'." ZIM said. Red smiled. He just has to love his little brother's never failing sense of humor.

**December 14, 2000**

Purple held tightly onto Red as he led the sore Irken to the beach home. He hoped Leslie would go easy on him. His concussion made him confused and disoriented and it only got worse and worse with every passing hour. It was so bad that he started to hallucinate. While on the plane riding home he woke up screaming from a night terror. It took Purple five minutes to calm his friend down. The doctor said he may have permanent brain damage but they couldn't be sure. They also said that he was extremely lucky there was no bleeding on the brain. ZIM went on ahead to open the front door. The violet-eyed man grunted having Red's weight leaning heavily on him.

"You okay, bro?" Purple asked. Red didn't hear. He was gazing off into space. Purple practically dragged him into the house and rested him on the couch in the living room.

"Pur," Red started.

"Yeah?"

"I think . . . I see a rodeo clown outside the window." Red squinted to the outside. Purple looked in that direction. Nothing was there. He was hallucinating the things he's seen right before the accident. It was in his memory. That was good, that meant he didn't have any severe amnesia.

"There is nothing there, dude. Try to rest."

"I can't. Not with that thing staring at me." Red glared at the imaginary clown.

"It's okay, Red. There really isn't anything there."

"Yes, there is." Purple was concerned. His friend was totally out of it. Leslie came down the steps slowly. She looked upset. The angry and sad kind of upset. She beelined it toward the couch where Red laid. "The clown got into the house." He hissed, glaring at Leslie. She looked like she wanted to strangle Red and was trying hard to refrain. Maybe if he wasn't so broken, she would have.

"What were you thinking when you left?" She asked, threateningly and quietly. "I told you something like this was going to happen." Red stared up at her, never blinking. "You're an idiot. You know that?"

"Who areyou?" Red asked with a disgusted look on his face. Leslie raised her hands up.

"Great! You knocked yourself senseless. Stupid dumbass." She got in his face, growling. "Consider yourself lucky that it was the bull that hurt you and not me." Red reached out and touched her hair in awe.

"Bull? . . ." He said. "Leslie?" She nodded. "I missed you."

"Now you remember me?"

"Yeah, you're my wife who still loves me even though I gave you a heart attack." Red said. Leslie grabbed the front of his shirt.

"Damn straight!" Leslie smacked him across the cheek. Not as hard as she wanted to. "What were you thinking? You coulda gotten yourself killed!" Red smirked even though the fury of his wife was upon him.

"I love you, Les." She paused for a moment then sighed.

"I love you too, babe."

**December 15, 2000**

"Thank you! I love it!" Tak exclaimed. She observed her gift from her boyfriend. It was a pair of white fashion cowgirl boots he got while in Texas. She's been wanting a pair for awhile.

"Yeah . . . Happy birthday, Tak." She beamed, kissing his cheek.

"I'm gonna be wearing these everywhere now." She slipped them on her feet. They fit perfectly.

"Good at least that way I know you like them."

"I _love _them."

"Not more than me I hope." ZIM said.

"I love you most of all." She kissed him again.

"You guys got to stop! It's so gross when you two do that!" Gaz complained. The purple-haired girl slumped down in her chair, playing her handheld gaming device.

"Gazelle, put that away now." Leslie said, coming into the dining room with a pan of food. "Zimmy, can you get your brother or at least see if he is able to stomach anything. He's been throwing up all night last night, he hasn't ate anything since then." ZIM nodded and went up the stairs to Red's room. He opened the door and saw Red, shirtless, laying on his back in the middle of his bed. Sweating hard and whining. ZIM slowly made his way to the edge of the bed.

"Red?" The sick Irken cracked an eye open, tilting his head to the side to see ZIM. "Are you hungry?"

"No, but I do want to leave this room. Leslie pretty much banned me from doing anything else but sleeping."

"She's just making sure you don't do anything else to hurt yourself." Red groaned as he got out of his bed. Every single muscle in his body ached. The two brothers walked down the steps to the dining room. ZIM pulled out a chair for Red. The man sat down already tired from the walk there. Everyone watched as Red leaned back and seemed to fall asleep sitting like that.

"Red." Leslie snapped. His head raised up slowly to look at her.

"Huh?"

"Are you alright?" Red nodded.

"Tired." Everyone was silent. Red was looking all over the place. When Leslie brought him to the hospital the day before the doctors checked him out and diagnosed him with temporary dementia. If it ever got worse she was supposed to bring him in or call them. Irken dementia tends to be more serious than human dementia. A lot of patients diagnosed with dementia ended up in some asylum for either a few months or even for the rest of their lives.

The man tilted his head down and slowly started to drift into slumber.

"Red." Leslie snapped him out of it.

He whispered. "I'm not hungry." He looked at Leslie.

"Do you want to rest on the couch?" She asked. He nodded.

"I have a headache." He said, getting up and leaving.

"Your brother is a little . . . out of it." ZIM rolled his eyes at the obvious remark made by Zee's stupid boyfriend. Dinner continued with pleasant discussions. Only once being disrupted by Red running to the hall bathroom right by the dinning area to throw up. Leslie excused herself to comfort him as he wretched nothing but bitter spit into the sink.

**Later**

Four children walked down the street. Watching soft snowflakes fall from the heavens. ZIM and Tak held hands. Enjoying the stroll. Dib was absolutely baffled by the white substance, never seeing it before. Gaz was walking with them quietly, staring at the ground.

"That's the field where you smacked your head on a tree stump from a snowboarding accident, remember?" Tak asked pointing at the large field. ZIM shook his head.

"No actually. I don't remember that."

"Oh yeah. You couldn't remember anything after that accident." Tak said.

"Your family seems to be prone to accidents, ZIM." Dib said.

"Heh, only me it seems with the exception of Red this one time." ZIM said. They walked for a few minutes when ZIM's phone rung. "Yes?"

"_Your meeting with that new kid has been rescheduled._" Jalokia said.

"So when is it?"

"Now."

"Now? Can't it wait till tomorrow?" ZIM was really hoping to spend the day boarding and doing other winter activities. He didn't want to go to Irk to meet some ugly kid.

"_Now, ZIM. Please? I need you to make a great first impression to make him intimidated._" ZIM sighed.

"The things I do for you, Jalo." He muttered, taping the end call button. "Guys I have to go to Irk. You may come if you want but I probably won't be gone that long anyway."

"Ehh, you go on ahead, Zei. We're gonna head back home." Tak said. ZIM nodded. He pulled out his transporter and zapped himself to Irk and into Jalokia's office building. There the desk receptionist was waiting for him.

"Right this way, Master Macale." Instead of leading him to Jalokia's office like he thought she brought him to a conference room just one level above the main floor. He entered the conference room and found Mevlo, Jalokia, some kid, and two other adults.

"Ah, Zeiden! Come in and let me introduce you to Larry Roe." ZIM looked at the kid that he assumed was Larry. Jalokia was right when he said he wasn't attractive. He was lanky. He had no muscle. His eyes were a gross rusty gold color and very small and round. He also had a bad overbite. One antenna was slightly bigger than the other. It wasn't too bad but it was noticeable. The kid stood up to his full height. He had to stand at at least five" ten'. That was two inches taller than Red and Purple. Extremely tall for the boy's age.

"Zeiden Macale. I knew you were short, but you're a lot shorter in person!" Larry scoffed. He put a hand on ZIM's shoulder and pushed. ZIM tumbled back a bit from the gentle shove.

"Hey, man, no need to be rude." ZIM said.

"I'm not being rude. I'm just stating the obvious." The boy pushed him again, amused at how easy it was for ZIM to be put off balance. "He's so puny." ZIM looked to Mevlo and Jalokia who looked incredibly irritated. ZIM sighed. The taller boy placed his hand on ZIM's shoulder again to push him. ZIM grabbed the boys wrist and twisted it behind his back painfully.

"I think shoving people around is rude, my friend." ZIM let go. The boy was shocked.

"Well then." Jalokia said, cutting the boys off from any possible trouble. "If you two are done messing around, we'd like to get our meeting started." ZIM shrugged and sat in between Jalokia and Mevlo. Larry sat on the other side of the table with his producer and agent. ZIM had a feeling this kid was going to be a pain in his butt.

**December 16, 2000**

Leslie woke up to aching pain in her stomach. As soon as she opened her eyes something hit her face. "Ow! What the hell?" She turned on her lamp by the side of the bed. "Red, what is wrong with you?" She looked over his body. He was sweating profusely. Irkens never sweat unless sick which he was. He had a fever. She studied his features. He was cringing and panting hard. "Honey? Wake up." Leslie shook him. Red's eyes shot open at the touch. He let out a shout of fright.

"Nooo! Noooooooo!" Red screamed. He curled up in a fetal position, shaking hard and crying. "Help me!" He lashed out again, sitting up. Leslie grabbed him by his wrists and pushed him back down to restrain him. "Let me goooo!" Leslie had no idea what was going on with him. Finally Purple came into their room to assist.

"Is he having a sleep terror again?"

"Is that what you call this?" Leslie asked, panicking. "Help me snap him out of it!"

"We can't. We just have to wait it out. Just keep a hold of him till he calms down."

"He's a bit strong, could you possibly help me?" Leslie growled. Purple went to the bed side.

"Speak to him. Be gentle, if you're rough with him it'll make it worse."

"Red, baby, you're alright. It's okay, Hun." Leslie used her thumbs to rub his wrists where she was holding him. Red's cries turned into sobs. He was still breathing heavily. Red opened his eyes slowly and saw Leslie and Purple. His lower lip trembled. Leslie pressed her palm to his cheek, caressing the sweat-soaked skin there.

"Ugh . . . Did I just do that thing I do?" Purple nodded. "I'm sooorrry." Red whined. Leslie let him go allowing him to sit up. She rubbed his sweaty back and kissed his damp temple. Purple yawned.

"Be on your guard, Les. He may do that again later tonight." Purple warned her. Leslie bowed her head. Red was pouting. He held his head in pain.

"I'm sorry." He whispered again. "I didn't mean to . . ."

"It's fine, baby. You scared me though."

"I've been doing that to you a lot lately, haven't I?"

"Oh, you have no idea."

**That Morning**

Tak hugged her parents tightly. They just showed up from England for the holidays.

"Hi, honey. How are you?" Her mother asked.

"I'm great! Zeiden got me boots for my birthday!"

"Aww, that was sweet of him." She said, glancing at ZIM. "Come here, my boy." ZIM walked to her. She caught him in a hug. "You two behaving? No funny stuff?" ZIM shook his head.

"We've been good."

"For the most part." Tak added, winking at ZIM. Mrs. Griffon ignored that.

"Where is Red. How is he doing?"

"He's on the couch . . . sleeping again." ZIM said.

"Aw, poor dear. Got beaten by that bull pretty badly." She said. Mr. Griffon grunted. He no longer had a round belly. He had birthed the smeet a week earlier. The adopted parents already took him in.

"Damn bull should be shot in between the eyes." They entered the living room together. Like ZIM said, he was indeed sleeping on the couch. He had a bandage over his stitches after being informed that they looked disgusting. Mrs. Griffon knelt by the couch edge and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Red?" Red groaned in reply. "Sweetie, it's Sibyl."

"God-ma Sibyl?" Red asked, not opening his eyes.

"Yes, honey." She rested a hand on his cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"Not good. My head hurts, my shoulder, chest, and hip hurts. I have to go to physical therapy later today to get my hip readjusted."

"Actually we should be going now. The chiropractor scheduled us in ten minutes." Leslie said. "Lets get going. Why don't you go get ready . . . Put on some pants."

"_Nooo, _I was gonna go in my boxers." Red said, sarcastically.

"Don't sass me, Red." Leslie warned. Red sat up and climbed the stairs to his room. Minutes later he came down dressed properly. He left the house with his wife. On the way to the chiropractor's office he slept, trying to get rid of his headache that he's had for almost a week straight now. It didn't take long to get there. Leslie pulled into the parking lot and leaned over the center counsel to wake her resting husband. "Listen Red, if you even dare make a sexual remark about how the chiropractor adjusts you today, I don't care how hurt you are, I'll whip your ass in front of everyone there."

"I can't help myself. I barely knew her and she pretty much dry humped me last time. I just _had _to say something." The two entered the office, the chiropractor already ready and expecting them.

"Hello, Red, how are you feeling today?" She asked.

"Like shit." He mumbled. She led the both of them to a back room. Leslie sat in a chair and Red was instructed to sit on the bed. The last time Red has been here was with Purple. It hurt when the doctor adjusted him.

"Alright, just like the last few times, I'm going to relocated your shoulder, spine, and hip. You were pretty tense the first few times. Maybe we'll get a good crack in today." Red allowed her to touch him. "Now I need for you to fold your arms across your chest and we'll start with your spine." Red did as told. The doctor got real close to him, placing one of her arms behind his back, the other the other rested on his crossed arms. She laid him back slowly at the same time she laid her own body on his. "Now inhale," Red did. "And exhale . . ." As Red exhaled, with one swift move she pressed her body down hard on his and cracked his spine several times. This took him off guard. He gasped, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I know, hun, I know it hurts." The doctor soothed him, helping him sit up.

"Don't be such a wimp, Red." Leslie said.

"I'm not, that really hurt." Red whimpered.

"Now relax, if you're tense for this it'll hurt more." She popped his shoulder down. He groaned. "Now if you'll lie down once more we can situate your hip." Red laid on his back once more. She placed one hand on his hip the other held on to his leg. After telling him to relax she relocated his hip bone causing a loud 'popping' noise to come from him. She rested his leg back down on the table. He sat up, glad it was over. The doctor looked from Red to Leslie. "He seems like a wild card."

"You have no idea."

"And you have to deal with his antics everyday?"

"Yup."

"Hah, you're doing a great job at not loosing your mind." Leslie smiled at the doctor. Red frowned, crossing his arms. "You should get home and rest now. Avoid laying in your side with your bad hip." She warned. Red nodded getting up to leave. Leslie followed him out.

"We're not going home just yet." She announced, shutting her car door.

"Why?" Leslie leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"I have to get some groceries. You may stay in the car and sleep if you want." Red sighed.

"Fine." Red looked out his window, rubbing the bandaged area on his face. At the same time his phone rung in his pocket. He answered it. "Yes?"

"_Howdy, pardner. How ya feeling?_" Sandy's voice sounded.

"Getting better. Not hundred percent just yet." Red reported.

"_Aww, man, I'm sorry this happened to you, Red. You had great runs before that last one._"

"Yeah, I did didn't I?" He chuckled. "When do you think I'll be able to ride again?" Leslie shot Red a glare. A long pause from the other end of the line.

"_. . . It may be of better interest to you if you take a while off. Even if you do get better you should wait at least a few months to recuperate._" Sandy said.

"You're not serious are you, Red? You gotta be kidding!" Leslie huffed.

"We'll be back in L.A. by Hanukkah." Red said, ignoring his wife.

"_Alright, we'll see you then._" Sandy said, hanging up. Red turned to his wife.

"I _forbid _you from getting on another bull! I swear to God, if you do I'm going to beat your ass!" Red rolled his eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me! Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"Stow it, Les!" Red snapped. "You do not control me-"

"I do have a say in what you do, though! By Irken laws of marriage! Remember? If an Irken couple is equal then they both have fifty percent of say of what the other does! I say you may not ride anymore!"

"And I say I may!" Red countered. "The last word goes to the individual of the couple of whom wants to take the certain action." Leslie scowled deeply. Her hands gripped on the steering wheel tightly.

"We should get our relationship re-evaluated." Leslie muttered. "I'd make sure I get the last word."

"Whatever." Red mumbled, irritated that she was still trying to make him quit his favorite hobby. No, not a hobby, a passion. He wouldn't let her constantly concerned attitude get in his way.

**December 18, 2000**

"It's good to see you all in one piece." Jhonen said. "Even though I think it would be rather interesting to see you come back with a few limbs missing."

"That loosely translates into, 'You're crazy for getting on a thousand pound beast and we're happy you're alright'." Steve Russell said. "Are you alright to act yet?" Red nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Red said. They'd just arrived back in Los Angeles and ZIM and Dib had to get right back to filming. Red watched as his brother practice the action in the script with Dib and that weird gay kid. Dib was watching his eyes narrowed at ZIM and Keef as they spoke their lines of the script. Keef giggled then wrapped his arms around ZIM, hugging him tightly. ZIM tried to pry himself away from the boy as Dib laughed. Red shook his head.

"Keep us updated on your medical condition." Russell said. "We need to know these things." Red nodded as they left. Red turned his attention back to ZIM and his friends. Purple joined him moments later.

"That kid just keeps getting weirder and weirder." He stated.

"If Keef tries anything else on him I'm sure Tak will have his head." Red said. "You know how possessive she is of him." Purple nodded.

"Let go!" ZIM finally broke free.

"Oh, ZIM! You're so funny!" Keef exclaimed capturing him in another hug. Red and Purple chuckled.

"Think we should help him?" Purple asked.

"Nah, he'll deal with it himself."

"Yes well, we should probably interfere _before _ZIM socks the kid in the face."

"Tyson is here, he might sic the dog on him." Red said.

"That would be worse. That dog is vicious if he hears his master in distress."

"Hmmm . . . Yeah we should go break them up." Red said. "Hey, ZIM!"

"What?" ZIM yelled, still preoccupied with Keef. "Hey! Why don't you go hug Dib for a little bit?"

"Okay!" The boy cheered and attacked Dib. ZIM sighed with relief.

"What do you need?" ZIM asked.

"Just wanted to save you from that weird kid." Red said. "You're welcome."

"Yeah, thanks." ZIM mumbled. "Can we leave now. Dib's dad is picking him up in a few minutes and I don't want him to leave me alone with that faggot."

"Zeiden," Red warned. "Watch it. Don't judge him and people like him. You can be against what he believes but you can't hate him."

"I can hate whoever I want . . . I don't _hate _anyone." ZIM said.

"Yeah, you always had a problem with hating people. It's like impossible for you." Purple pointed out.

"So you wanna leave?" Red asked. ZIM nodded. "Are you sure?" He nodded again. "Positive?"

"Yes! Red! I wanna go!"

"Okaaaay, I feel obligated to warn you though that Mark is-"

"At our house again." ZIM finished. "Yeah, when isn't he at our home?"

"Just don't talk to him and you'll be fine."

"I think I'd rather stay here and get molested by Keef." ZIM mumbled. He was bopped on top of his head by Purple.

"Where is your respect for him?"

"Nonexistent." ZIM said. "If I do ignore Mark, however, I can go home and get molested by Tak, which doesn't sound so bad." Another bop to the head.

"Don't talk about that stuff. I don't wanna know what you and Tak wish to do." Purple said.

"Alright! Can we just go home now?" ZIM begged. While they were talking Dib fled and Keef was waiting patiently for ZIM to stop talking.

"Yeah, go say goodbye and we'll go." Red told ZIM. His little brother glanced at Keef muttered a farewell and bolted toward the truck, or as he probably saw it, refuge.

**Later**

Why did they leave him alone with him? Zee said she'd be down in a minute. It only takes a minute for Mark to kill him.

"What are you looking at, dumb ass?" Mark asked. ZIM was watching the Vortian warily. If his eyes left him for a moment the man could easily kill him when he wasn't looking. ZIM shook his head. "Well stop or I'll fucking bash your head over your mother's gravestone." ZIM's fists tightened, trembling with anger. "What's the matter? Touchy subject?"

"Don't talk about her."

"Why can't I talk about her? You never even met her. You know why?" ZIM didn't answer.

"Because you killed her when you were born. She couldn't bare having such an ugly smeet. And your daddy left, not because he had a duty, but because he couldn't stand the thought of having you as a son." The words hurt. If Red was there he'd make sure Mark would never see the light of day ever again. A tear drop rolled down ZIM's cheek.

"They're Zee's parents too. Have you no compassion for her?" ZIM asked.

"I _like_ Zee. I wouldn't say things like that to her. But to you, I have no problem with telling you hurtful things about your parents. Your daddy don't claim you, that makes you a bastard. Your mama died during child birth, that makes you a _murderer_." He hissed the last word. ZIM's eyes widened. The word, 'murderer' echoed through his head. He had a stage in his life time where he did actually feel that he was the cause of his mother's death. But that simply wasn't true. She had cancer. The birth just took her life in all. ZIM took in a deep breath and stood up. He stalked toward Mark. The Vortian raised a brow. "What are you do-" He was cut off by a fist colliding with his jaw. "Augh! You stupid little-" Another solid hit was delivered to his cheek. Mark stood up towering over ZIM. He was about to lay a good one on the child but saw Zee rushing down the stairs. ZIM was about to give another blow but was hoisted into the air and restrained.

"Zeiden Izac Macale! What the fuck are you doing?" Zee screeched. Streams of tears washed down ZIM's face.

"It's him! It's all him, Zannah!" ZIM cried, trying to reason with her. It was no use, however. He was always the bad guy when it came to a confrontation between him and Mark. Zee pulled him into the kitchen and gave him seven tremendously strong swats to his backside. The whole time, he begged for forgiveness. She turned him around so they were face to face.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She yelled. "I told you to leave him alone! Punching him is not leaving him alone!"

"You didn't hear what he said . . ." ZIM sobbed.

"What ZIM? What could he have possibly of said that gave you the right to punch him."

"He said I killed mom." ZIM shook. He was embarrassed, sore, and angry. Zee's spankings were a lot more stronger than Red's for some reason. Her anger toward him must've gave her super Irken strength.

"Oh, you are so full of shit." Zee practically dropped him. "I swear to God, Zeiden! If you bother him one more time then I don't want to have anything to do with you!"

"What is going on?" Red questioned, coming into the kitchen.

"I'm done with him, Red!" Zee pushed ZIM towards him. Red lifted the crying boy up and rested him on his hip as ZIM's face buried into his neck. "I don't want him in my life anymore. He doesn't respect me or what I say and he doesn't respect Mark! He just punched him twice!" Red was speechless as Zee continued to rant. "He's _your _problem, make sure he doesn't bother me anymore!"

"Zannah . . . He's your brother." Red said, calmly while rubbing ZIM's back.

"I don't care who he is-"

"Well you should! Family over friends, Zannah!" Red snapped back. "Look at him! He doesn't go around punching people for no reason and you know it!" Zee just glared at her brothers. "You have a choice. You can either find out why Zeiden hit him or you can leave because you don't care what he has to say." Zee gritted her teeth, looking frustrated, mad and a little guilty.

"C'mon, Mark!" She called to him in the living room. Red sighed when the front door slammed shut. She left.

"Zeiden . . . Why did you hit him?" Red asked, soothingly.

"He said I killed our mom. He called me a bastard."

"Are you sure he didn't mean something else by what he said?" ZIM looked at Red.

"I didn't expect you to believe me, Red." ZIM muttered.

"Zei, it's not that I don't believe you. It's just that . . . sometimes you don't tell the full truth or you exaggerate your stories." ZIM looked like he was about to burst in fresh sheets of tears. "Listen ZIM, Zee is just frustrated right now. She's been having a rough week at the hospital. One of her patients didn't get a strong enough dosage and now the hospital is getting sued because he woke up during surgery. Then there's the fact that Mark just lost his job and is getting stationed somewhere else over seas next year. She just needs time to relax a little bit. Okay?"

"She doesn't want me as a brother anymore."

"That's not true. She loves you so much. It just saddens her that you can't get along with someone she likes."

"If I died right now she'd probably dance over my grave."

"Zeiden, if that is seriously how you'd think your sister would react to a sudden untimely demise, especially yours, then you're sorely mistaken." Red said, sternly. He kissed his little brother's antenna in a soothing way. "Get washed up and we can watch the Canucks game."

"Purple hates the Canucks. They're one of his biggest rivals." ZIM said. Red smirked.

"I know. It'll be so funny when we root for them and he gets all defensive."

**December 20, 2000**

ZIM wanted to punch him. Harder than he punched Mark. No! ZIM wanted to totally demolish Larry! The kid was so annoying and rude! Jalokia encouraged that he and Larry do a duet so the kid could get his career to kick off. The worst part was, they wrote a rap for ZIM in the middle of the song. ZIM could rap alright but he hated doing it. He'd rather sing. As ZIM rapped his part, Larry's expression looked a bit . . . stuck up.

"_You walked your route, did the same thing. Nothing has changed, nothing will ever. It's your life. But soon your same old turned grey and surprises were rare. You thought you'd stay the same until today._" ZIM's rapping was replaced with the boy's singing. ZIM didn't think he was all that good but never told him.

"_I'm breaking out of this rut! Seeking new things. Forgetting my past. What I used to do and starting new._" The song droned on. ZIM's voice ringing out bolder and cockier that Larry's timid voice.

"Uhhh, okay, okay, stop." Larry's producer cut them off. "ZIM this isn't _your _song. You're the featured singer but you're not the important part of the song, so sing quieter. Larry, you're the star so show ZIM who's boss by singing a lot bolder. Put him in his place." Larry's producer told them. ZIM rolled his eyes. "From the top." ZIM waited till he heard the music in his headphones. Larry sang his verse first. ZIM would occasionally join in to sing a small part. This time softer. When ZIM's rap came up they were stopped again. "You know what? I don't like it." The producer said.

"Why, whatever could be the problem, Mr. Ovar?" ZIM asked, sarcastically.

"ZIM, you're too loud. You're voice is too bold. You need to tone it down. This is Larry's song, stop trying to steal it." Mr. Ovar said.

"I wasn't trying to steal it. He's not singing loud enough."

"You keep drowning him out with your voice."

"No I don't! I'm singing mezzo-piano!"

"Well now you're yelling fortissimo! Quiet now!" Mr. Ovar said. ZIM got up from his stool. "Where are you going? Sit down, we're not done recording."

"Shove it! I don't need this! If your precious little upstart needs a boost to get him started, oh I give him a boost, up his ass! Zeiden Macale does not work for controlling morons!" ZIM yelled. "Jalokia only suggested that I help him because I have billions of fans and maybe some of my fans would transfer to him. Well that's not happening. I didn't get any help from celebrities, I turned out fine. So neither will he." There was silence that rested upon the room.

"Wow, what a drama queen." Larry piped up. ZIM whirled around to glare at the boy. ZIM then gave him an obscene Irken hand gesture then left the room and building. As he stalked down the busy Irken street to Jalokia Records he was stopped by several fans all gushing over him. ZIM was in no mood to chat but didn't want to appear cranky so he faked smiles and happiness just for their sakes, then when they left he'd return to his pissed off state. He casually walked past security and into the tall skyscraper. He went to the lift and went several stories up till he came to Jalokia's office floor. ZIM knocked on the office door. Jalokia opened it confused.

"Zeiden, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be at a recording session."

"Mr. Ovar is a fucking jerk. Larry is full of himself even though he sucks! Why did you put me on the spot to help him gain fame?" ZIM demanded to know. Jalokia looked a tad upset.

"First of all, Mr. Ovar is my cousin . . . yeah, I'll admit he can be a jerk. Second, eastern Irk standards are a lot lower than they are here. That's why Larry isn't as good as you want him to be. Third, it always makes people look good when they help others out so suck it up, shortie. You're recording a song with him and that's final." Jalokia said, pushing ZIM out of the office.

"I'm not going back there! They'll just continue to call me a snob! I'm not a snob!"

"Show them that you're the bigger person . . . figuratively, by not being bothered by what they call you."

"I'm not going back there."

"Zeiden, you signed a contract with them. One song, that's all. Just one song." Jalokia stressed. "You've sang over fifty, one little song that more than likely won't even be a smash won't hurt."

"It'll be an unintentional smash when people find out that I'm featured in it." ZIM said. Jalokia sighed.

"Go, ZIM. I'll call Ovar later and tell him that you'll be back tomorrow to finish the recording."

"But-"

"No 'but's! What I say goes!" ZIM frowned crossing his arms and walking away. He beamed himself back to earth where Tak was waiting for him in the garage.

"You're back early." She said.

"Yeah, well . . . didn't go as well as I wanted it to." ZIM sighed walking into the house. He sat himself by the kitchen table. Tak went up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders, rubbing them deeply. He tilted his head all the way back so he was looking up at her. She smiled down on him and kissed the area where his nose would be.

"Is that Larry kid getting on your nerves? Do I need to kill him?"

"Not kill. I'll settle for hurting him badly."

"Oh Sweetie, you've been so stressed out lately."

"Have not."

"Have too. I can tell. You're irritable and tired. That tells me you're stressed." ZIM didn't answer. Gaz came walking into the kitchen.

"ZIM, I need a new outfit."

"Why?"

"I'm going to a birthday party and I need a new one. Take me shopping."

"Gaz, no. I have hockey soon."

"Yeah soon, not now. Come on."

"I wanna sleep before the game. Can you just chill? We can go another day."

"The party is tonight, stupid." Gaz said.

"Sucks for you then." ZIM muttered, closing his eyes allowing Tak to stroke his antennas. He let out a content sigh. When he heard that Gaz never left he cracked open an eye, she was waiting. ZIM groaned. "Where's your mom? Why can't she take you?"

"She locked herself in her room . . . with Red." Gaz shuddered. ZIM's face cringed with disgust.

"Well, Tenn is home. She gets winter break off with her students. You can ask her." Gaz shook her head.

"She's sucking face with Purple." ZIM thought of more options. Zee was gone with the devil. The only option left was ZIM.

"Fine. Get in the car. I'm not supposed to leave without Red's permission though." ZIM said.

"Then tell him." Gaz said, going outside to his car. Tak looked at ZIM then shrugged.

"Go wait in the car." ZIM told her as he walked up the steps toward his brother's room, making sure to be loud enough so they can hear him. ZIM knocked on the door that was closed tightly. There was a sound of a thud then laughter. Moments later Red opened the door slightly. ZIM looked unamused back up at him. Red blushed. He had a fleece throw covering his lower half.

"What do you need?"

"We're going shopping." ZIM said, adverting his eyes. "And you guys gotta stop doing what you're doing now when we're home. It can scar people." Red rolled his eyes.

"And you're a mood killer. You apparently have a hockey game later so be back in two hours." ZIM nodded leaving the scene. Red closed the door but opened it immediately after he closed it. He poked his head out of the door to look at ZIM who was walking down the hall to the stairs. "We're not being loud are we?" ZIM shook his head. "Oh good . . . by the way, we're only playing . . . Uh, a board game."

"_Riiiiight_." ZIM drawled, chuckling. He rushed down the steps and out the door to his car. He noticed Tak in the drivers seat and Gaz in the passengers. He got in the back. "What are you doing?"

"You said you wanna sleep. So go ahead." ZIM smiled and laid in the backseat, taking up all three seats. It didn't take long for him to drift into a peaceful sleep. It felt like he only blinked, but when he opened his eyes Tak was hovering over him waking him up.

"You're done shopping already?" ZIM asked, sitting up and getting out if the car.

"It's been two hours, ZIM."

"I was asleep the entire time?"

"Yeah . . . Did you know you talk in your sleep?" ZIM ignored the comment. He already knew all about his bizarre sleeping habits. ZIM shuffled his way onto the house and flopped down on the couch. In a seat next to the couch Purple was going through paper work for the hockey game.

"You almost ready to go?" He asked, not looking at ZIM.

"Yeah."

"Red's going."

"He is?" ZIM asked.

"Yeah, he decided to lighten up and tag along. Still hates that you play hockey now."

"He'll get over it."

"He'd better. I love having a little bro that I can coach how to play hockey." Purple claimed. "Well, we better get going now. Go get your stuff and meet me outside by my car." ZIM groaned and slowly got up. He did as he was told and a little later they were walking into the locker rooms of the ice arena. "Okay gents, listen up! Remember when we played the Sharks?" The boys collectively nodded. "And remember how big they are compared to our team." Nodding again. "Remember how badly we pummeled their sorry butts into the ice?" The boys laughed. The final score of that game was 13 to 4. "Well they're back and they're angry. They will not fall too easily to us today so be on your toes." The boys continued to get their gear on. Purple pulled ZIM off to the side to talk to him in private.

"What's up?" ZIM asked. Purple looked at him regretfully.

"You're not starting center today." ZIM looked confused.

"Why? What's wrong with how I've been playing?"

"Nothing is wrong, it's just . . . well for one thing you're brother is here and the last thing he wants to see today is seeing your blood stain the ice. That'd just add more stress to him on top of his concussion. Another thing is that these Sharks play nasty. The first time we played them they weren't too bad but I went to their game two nights ago just to observe . . . they've gotten good and very rough. All of the boys are double your size and triple your weight. It's not just Red's fear of you getting hurt, it's mine too. Red would be angry at me and you wouldn't be able to play."

"Coach Kinley," ZIM changed his tone. "Here, I am not your brother. Here I am one of your pupils. You can't pull me out because you're concerned of me." Purple bit his lip, knowing ZIM was right. But it didn't matter to him where they were, ZIM was still technically the little brother he never had.

"Fine, as your coach, I'm _telling _you, you may not start as center."

"But-"

"Hold your tongue or you won't be playing this game at all." Purple hissed.

"Peder, that's not fair! You don't treat the other boys like this!"

"The other boys are bigger, stronger, and older than you."

"They're not older-"

"Shush! . . . Okay they're not older but bigger and stronger, most definitely." Purple hated pushing the whole height thing towards ZIM but he wanted to make a point. ZIM was a twelve year old, almost thirteen year old, in a four year old's body. ZIM was shameless for the most part except when you brought up his size issue. That made him self conscious. "Listen you can close in the third period."

"_Third _period!" ZIM exclaimed. "That's only twenty minutes of play time for me!"

"Take it or leave it, Zeiden. We're not arguing about this anymore." Purple said, sternly. ZIM looked hurt. Purple looked away before ZIM busted out the puppy-dog eyes. "Go finish getting ready." ZIM scowled and stomped away to his locker, throwing things around, making the his team mates uncomfortable around him. "Loose the attitude!" Purple yelled to him. ZIM shot him a glare, ignoring his demand. Purple sighed at his uncooperativeness the mumbled, "You're such a brat sometimes." ZIM heard this and grabbed his hockey stick leaving the locker room to their team's bench. Everyone else looked from where ZIM left to Purple.

"Umm . . . Is he alright?" One boy asked. Purple just waved him off.

"Finish and be on the ice in three." Purple went out to the bench too. He saw ZIM tying his laces on his skates, far down the bench. "Where's your helmet?"

"What's the point of having on if I ain't playing."

"I told you you're playing third period. Why must you play every second of the game? Have someone else take a shot at it."

"Why must you change me out with someone else last second?" ZIM countered.

"I told you why, now please stop making such a big deal of it."

"The other center hasn't even played the position yet. What if he stinks?"

"That's a chance I'm taking." Purple said. "Stop moping. We both know you're a good player. Every good player deserves a break."

"I just had two weeks off!" ZIM pointed out. Boys started to pour out of the locker room and watched the argument being held. "Pur, please!"

"No, Zeiden!"

"Come on!"

"Keep whining, I dare ya."

"Pur, it's not fair to pull me out last second!"

"Last warning."

"Well if you'd just-"

"You're done."

"What?"'

"You're not playing anymore. Go to the locker room and wait there till the game is done." ZIM studied Purple's features. He wasn't joking.

"Peder-"

"Go, stop wasting my time." Purple ordered. ZIM pouted.

"I'm sorry. I'll play the third period. Don't expel me from the game." ZIM begged.

"It's too late. Go." ZIM bowed his head, and started to unlace his skates. As ZIM was about to pull them off Red came to the player's bench and sat next to them. "He's not playing anymore, Red." Purple said.

"Why? I came for him." Red asked.

"He wouldn't listen." Red glared at ZIM.

"What else is new?" He muttered. ZIM frowned and walked to the locker rooms to change back into his regular clothes. He threw his stick on the bench and practically ripped off his jersey. He then took hold of the shoulder pads and threw those off as well. His antenna perked when he heard a voice say his name.

"ZIM?" He turned to see Tak just entering the room.

"What are you doing in here? This is a _boys _locker room."

"I heard your brothers talking. You ain't playing today?" ZIM looked down and shook his head. Tak approached him, cupping his chin and tilted his head up to look at her. ZIM gazed up at her. He chuckled softly.

"You need to stop wearing high heels when you're around me." ZIM said. Tak laughed.

"Honey, I'm not wearing high heels." ZIM sighed.

"That's okay, tall woman are sexy." Tak smirked. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a kiss. Her lips pressing against his. He stumbled backwards with Tak to sit on the bench. He pulled away and started to kiss Tak's neck.

"I'm sorry you can't play. On the bright side, we can have some alone time." Tak said. ZIM just moaned in reply. He ran his hands up and down her sides as her own wandering hands held his hips. ZIM broke off from her neck and went for her lips again. At the same time he snuck his hands under her shirt. He played with her hot flesh underneath. ZIM got more daring. Running one hand up her stomach to right below her bra. "You thinking 'bout going higher?" ZIM pulled back to stare at her.

"I'm not sure if I should." Tak rolled her eyes.

"Just do it."

". . . I won't get slapped?" Tak shook her head. ZIM looked down at Tak's chest and slowly moved his hand over her bra. Tak smiled and leaned down to kissed him again on the lips, shoving her tongue in his mouth. Her own hand rested on his thigh right by his most private area. She dragged her hand in between his thighs and rubbed him there making him moan with pleasure.

"What are you two doing?" ZIM jumped at the sound, pushing Tak onto the tile floor in the process. Red had come into the locker room to talk to ZIM about his attitude and when he did go into the locker room he sees him with his hands up his girlfriends shirt and her hands wandering around his nether regions. "Can I not trust you two to behave when alone anymore?" Red asked, crossing his arms. ZIM flushed, standing.

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to straighten you out but it seems like you're too busy with something else." Red looked to Tak, who grinned sheepishly at him and promptly left the room. Red turned his attention back to ZIM. "Don't ever talk back to Peder like that. He deserves a lot more respect than that." ZIM huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "He's not giving you special treatment just because you're his lil' bro. He's treating you as an equal like a good coach should."

"I know."

"Than why are you acting up?" ZIM shrugged, looking the other way. "You've been really . . . ornery lately."

"No I haven't."

"Yes you have . . . I'm thinking it may be puberty." ZIM didn't say anything. It very well could be puberty. He was coming of age. Irkens, just like humans, hit puberty by the age of young teens. Unlike humans, on the other hand, Irkens hit puberty twice. The second time is when they hit their hundreds.

"If it _is_ puberty I better grow at least two feet. Or else I'll be real mad."

". . . You may never grow, ZIM, you know that. If you do then it'll probably take place in your second puberty cycle." Red said. He thought for a moment till he realized that he totally just changed the subject. "Er, anyway, Purple told me to tell you that you don't have to stay in the locker room all game. You can sit in the stands with me if you'd like." ZIM scowled.

"He'll regret kicking me out of the game." ZIM mumbled.

**...**

Purple rubbed his temples, groaning as another goal was made against them. It wasn't because ZIM wasn't in the game, per se . . . But it sure would help if he was in the game. ZIM was the top shooter in the team. Most the goals ever made in the game were shot by him. The horn blew signaling the second period being over. The boys on the ice all skated to their bench and sat down, completely whomped. Purple glanced at the score. Seven to nothing. Purple sighed.

"Mind telling me why we don't have a single point on the board?" He asked.

"Well . . . Jason isn't here and ZIM isn't playing for some reason. They're like the best players." One boy piped up.

"Guys, we _can't _have our team rely on two people. We're called a _team_ for a reason."

"Yes but we're always gonna have someone on this team who isn't as good as the next guy." Some boy threw in.

"That's true, but hockey is a team effort sport. You need goalies to block the pucks coming at him as the defensemen assists him as he passes to a winger to make a shot." Purple said, catching a glimpse of ZIM in the stands, looking bored and irritated. "You know what? I'll be right back." He hurried over to the boy. When ZIM noticed Purple approaching him he smirked.

"Well, seems like I was right."

"Shut it, ZIM. Get your stuff on quick. The team needs you."

"It appears so." ZIM said, smartly in a cocky sort of way.

**Later**

"I knew something like this would happen." Purple pressed his palm to his face.

"You made the right choice to put me in the game though. I tied the score then won in the shoot out." ZIM gloated.

"Be quiet and hold still." Purple instructed, examining ZIM's elbow. He pressed the bones and joints in the area. "It's just sprained. Put some ice on it and it should be fine by no later than tomorrow." Purple scowled at ZIM. He still had a stupid smug look on his face. "Ya know, without your team you'd never be able to win any game."

"Oh I know. They're there to back me up whenever I make one of my ever so rare errors." ZIM said. Purple frowned. ZIM was never a good team player. Which was surprising since he loved baseball and hockey. Two sports that require a lot of teamwork. He should seriously consider a sport like track or gymnastics where you're trying to best your best while competing.

"Do I need to teach you a lesson about teamwork?"

"Pfft, no." ZIM scoffed. "I'm going to bed. I have a recording session tomorrow." Purple rolled his eyes. The boy would never learn.

**The Next Day**

"_Your eyes are foggy. Looking at the ground, never meeting anyone's eye._" ZIM listened to Larry sing in disgust. He was attempting to sing his first love song even though he had no girlfriend or any connections to any female for that matter. Mr. Ovar, who was sitting next to ZIM just outside the recording room in the sound booth, interrupted Larry by speaking over the intercom.

"Great Larry!" Ovar said. "Soon you'll be better than ZIM here!" ZIM glared at the man but he was oblivious. "Why don't you take a break. You and ZIM should go out in the city. As you do, mingle with a few people. Make it look like you and ZIM are good friends. That should gain you some popularity." ZIM scowled. How dare they use him!

"Okay!" The boy said. ZIM stood up from his stool and walked out of the building with Larry. ZIM shoved his hands in his pockets as he stepped out onto the the busy streets of Meijour. ZIM didn't really feel like meeting fans. He was still going through all the mail he received from them. He figured it would take an entire year to get through all of it. ZIM's eyes widened as he felt Larry's arm wrapped around his shoulders as if they were good buddies.

"Let me go. I never said you could touch me." ZIM mumbled. Larry immediately took his arm off him.

"Hey! Zeiden Macale! Zeiden!" Someone cried. A few Irkens approached him wanting to talk to him. The crowd attracted more and more people towards them. Including some reporters. Larry seemed to like the attention even though it wasn't geared toward him.

"Macale, who is this with you? Is he your new friend?"

"Who's that boy with you?"

"Got any new songs coming out?"

"How's the show on earth going?" ZIM ignored all the questions, just wanting to get out of the crowd and get a cup of dark roast at the local coffee house. ZIM tried to push out of the crowd, being grabbed at by fans as he did so. He was used to that but today it seemed to annoy him more than it should have. He felt the collar of his dress shirt being grabbed and being pulled back. ZIM looked and saw Larry holding his collar. ZIM swatted his hand away.

"I'm ZIM's best friend!" Larry exclaimed.

"What's your name?" A reporter asked.

"Larry Roe!" ZIM rolled his eyes as photographers snapped picture of him and Larry together.

"How long have you two been friends?"

"Years and years." Larry exaggerated.

"Actually, I've only known him for a few weeks. He's not even my friend." ZIM said. The people of the crowd looked from Larry to ZIM. Larry nudged ZIM in the ribs. "Don't elbow me." ZIM hissed.

"Don't make me look bad." Larry grunted back.

"Don't tell me what to do."

"So you guys aren't friends?" Someone asked.

"Of course we are!" Larry chirped.

"No." ZIM said bluntly. The audience was growing even more confused. ZIM felt another poke to his rib cage. That seemed to set him off. ZIM grabbed the taller boy's wrist tightly. "I said to stop that!" ZIM snapped. "Do it one more time and I'll pop ya in the face!" It seemed to go quiet. Larry looked at them with bewilderment.

"Uh . . . He's kidding! Haha! We do that sort of stuff all time! It's just a thing we do! See?" Larry dared to elbow ZIM again. ZIM took a sharp intake of breath. He slowly turned his head to Larry. The boy looked desperate. ZIM clenched his fist and pulled back his hand. With one fiery movement, ZIM shot his fist forward and collided it with the boy's face. All the same time photographers took pictures of the whole incident. Larry stumbled back holding the abused area in shock. "Alright that's it!" Larry shouted. He struck out at ZIM but he was too fast for the tall, lanky boy. ZIM ducked. The smaller boy kicked him in the shin. Larry yelled out in pain then finally tackled ZIM to the ground, punching him several times in the face. The crowd gasped but made no attempt to break it up.

"Get off me!" ZIM cried. "Get him off!" ZIM tried his hardest to struggle his way out from being pinned. ZIM managed to get a few more punches in as the fight commenced.

"What the hell!" ZIM recognized the voice, it was Jalokia. The man pushed through the crowd and pulled Larry off ZIM. The small Irken laid on the ground holding his sore bruised face. ZIM growled and shot up and attacked Larry once more. ZIM felt himself being hoisted into the air and slung over Jalokia's shoulder. ZIM blushed madly. He was still in front of a lot of people and he was about to be hauled off like a toddler.

"Put me down, Jalo!"

"Silence, Zeiden." Jalokia snapped. ZIM pounded a fist into Jalokia's back to get him to put him down. ZIM hid his face so no one could take pictures of this embarrassing scene. "Larry, I suggest you go back to Ovar." Jalokia headed back into his building.

"Jalokia! Please!" ZIM kicked his legs out, twisting in the process. It was no use. Jalokia was a six foot tall beast. No way ZIM could win the struggle. The small Irken just waited it out. Soon Jalokia would have to put him down. They went up several levels until they came to Jalokia's office floor. There the man practically threw ZIM down on one of the leather seats. Jalokia took his seat behind his desk and flopped down, sighing deeply.

". . . I know you don't like him, ZIM, but instigating a fight? What were you thinking? Do you know how many reporters were out there just watching you? They saw the whole thing! They're going to let all of Irk know about it!"

"I was mad!"

"Then control your anger! I can't believe what you did! I expect actions like that from smeets not from you!" ZIM didn't have anything to say. "I'm calling your brother to notify of what you did. He'll deal with you properly. I'll deal with the reporters and press. Thanks a lot for giving me even more work." ZIM still said nothing. Jalokia stared hard at ZIM. Blood was trickling out of the pores on his face by his nearly invisible nose. A black eye started to form. His lip was busted open as well. ZIM didn't look good. "Go home and get cleaned up. You got blood everywhere." ZIM stood silently and left the planet returning home in L.A. When ZIM went into his home he tried his best to avoid being seen by his siblings. He didn't have much luck, though.

"Hey, ZIM, come here for a second." ZIM was already up three stairs when Purple's voice sounded from the home office room. ZIM slowly climbed back down and trudged to the office, trying his best to get rid of the blood on his face by wiping it with his hands. He probably just smeared it more than anything making it look worse than it was. ZIM arrived to the room. He kept his head down so his brother didn't see him. "I need your opinion on something." Purple wasn't even looking at him. He was staring at his laptop screen in concentration. ZIM inched closer to him behind his desk and peaked at whatever he was looking up.

"Yes?" ZIM gazed at the monitor. The young boy raised an eyebrow at what it was Purple was doing. He was on a adoption website for puppies and dogs. "Ya lookin' for a new best friend?"

"Sorta . . . Well as you know, it's winter."

"Yes. I'm quite aware."

"And winter is always fun for me because of all the sports that come with it."

"Hockey . . . That's it." ZIM said. Purple shook his head.

"Hockey is one of them. Do you know of the sport of skijoring?"

"Never heard."

". . . Okay never mind about that. How about mushing?" ZIM gave Purple a confused look. "Did I ever tell you what my first job was as a tween?"

"Was it a busboy?"

"No, I was a freighter."

". . . Huh?" Purple sighed.

"I was born in Montréal. I still live there to this day. But I didn't always live in Quebec."

"Where else did you live?"

"Well for quite awhile my family moved to the Yukon Territory because that's where our extended family lives. It's also the place where my ancestors settled when they moved away from Irk nearly thirty generations ago."

"So does that mean you come from a family of Eskimos?" ZIM asked. Purple finally looked at ZIM and gasped.

"What happened to your face?" He exclaimed. ZIM's eyes shifted.

"Don't avoid the question! I'll tell you that later." Purple titled his head a bit.

"Yes, some people would consider my people Eskimos as people would consider you aboriginals. But we're not called Eskimos, we're called Yup'ik people." Purple explained. "But that's beside the point. See when we lived in the Yukon, the winter season always got so bad. We wouldn't be able to find the roads so it was unsafe for semi trucks to stock our small town with food because of the dangerous icy roads. So they had people called freighters go out and get the supply we needed using dog sled teams."

". . . You were a dog sled musher?" Purple nodded. "That's coooool."

"Heh, thanks. Anyway, the treks I'd go on were usually only twenty to fifty mile streaks. I'd always complete my runs in record times with my dogs."

"So what is this about?"

"Well, soon a few officials for a dog sled racing association approached me and asked me to enter." Purple said. "My first year I raced a trail that was two hundred miles long. From Whitehorse to Juneau, Alaska. I had to cross frozen lakes and streams, go either around or over mountains. It was . . . fun, I guess."

"And?"

"After about ten years of that I retired from that. I've completed over one hundred trails, getting first place seventeen times out of those hundred. Failed a few trails about ten times, including the Iditarod."

"And?"

"A few officials called me this year and previous years to convince me to start up again. I'm coming out of retirement next year winter and I'm racing the Iditarod." ZIM went speechless. The Iditarod was an unforgiving trail. It took people's lives every year. "I needed a sled team and I'm not sure if I should get five huskies and five malamutes. Or all Samoyeds like Tyson."

". . . Well, if it helps you may borrow Tyson so you don't have to adopt ten dogs."

"Thanks but I need dogs with experience."

"Tyson doesn't need experience. He's a natural sled dog." ZIM said. "I'm not sure how I know that, but there's no point in not giving him a try." Purple thought about it.

"Well okay then. What about my last nine dogs? What kind should I get?"

"Uhhhhh, get five huskies and four malamutes." Purple nodded.

"I have a list here of already trained sled dogs. All under the age of five. They're perfect for the job." Purple chirped. "The best part is, it's local. They have the dogs here in L.A. so we can stop by and get them whenever we want." Purple said. "Wanna come with me to get them?" ZIM nodded.

"Yes! ZIM loves doggies!" ZIM said.

"Good, then come with me now before anyone else decides to get them before us." Purple closed his laptop and hurried out the house. "Now, mind telling me what happened to your face?" ZIM paused. Maybe Purple would buy it if he told him ZIM beat himself up.

"Uh . . . I can be a real bitch to myself sometimes."

**Later**

ZIM couldn't help but laugh at the malamute currently leaning against him. He was in the yard of a dog adoption center. He was waiting there till Purple picked more dogs out and placed them in the yard as well. It was a fenced in yard with lots of room. ZIM petted the dogs soft fur. This dog was female with red and white fur. Her name was Abbi. The door to the center opened and Purple released another dog into the yard.

"This one doesn't have a name, Zimmy! Figure out a name for him while I get more pooches." ZIM looked at the new comer. It was a typical black and white husky. "Narrah, a traditional aboriginal name." ZIM said. "That's your name, you better like it." The new dog sniffed the ground. ZIM waited. Soon the entire yard had the total of nine dogs in it. None of the dogs seemed to mind the other. They were all well behaved and smart. ZIM wondered how Tyson would cope with all the new doggies. Or how about Red? Purple never told Red that he was getting dogs. For all Red knew, Purple hated dogs. ZIM thought he hated dogs too. It was Purple, after all, who didn't want ZIM to take Tyson in. Maybe it was a misunderstanding. He liked dogs but he didn't want one at the time.

"Eeeaahh!" ZIM jumped up. A dog just nipped his rear end out of curiosity. "Max, no!" ZIM pushed the dog away to prevent him from doing it again. It has only been ten minutes and he already knew the dogs' names. He felt as if Maximilian was gonna be the trouble making dog.

"ZIM, start hauling them to the truck. Put them in their carriers."

"Pur, I can't lift them onto the bed. The truck's _tire _is almost taller than me!"

"Fine, then at least put them in the cages." ZIM nodded and did as told. Loading each dog into a cage, two-by-two, as Purple filled out the adoption forms, and paid for the dogs. Purple came out to the truck and started to load up the dogs in the back. "Forty-eight hundred for all of them. They better be worth it."

"Well, on the bright side, you don't have to train them yourself." ZIM pointed out. Purple nodded in agreement. The two Irkens drove home, anticipating what the third brother would say to the nine new family members.

**... **

"You've got to be kidding me." Red mumbled, looking over the nine dogs. They were rather quiet. Malamutes and huskies did not bark much. When they arrived Tyson sniffed them, hackles raised. The Samoyed seemed to accept the fact that they were there and carried on with his day. "Where do you plan on putting all of them?" Red was surprisingly thoughtful of Purple's expensive investment in the dogs. Supportive even. The only complication Red had was there was no place to put the dogs. They already had crocs outside, a domesticated dog, and eight people living in the home, not including Tak and her parents that were currently staying with them.

"I dunno. All I know is that I need them for next January."

"Why?"

"I'm racing the Iditarod and needed a team."

"Didn't you try to race that trail before? You got hypothermia half way through and had to quit." Red reminded.

"Yes, but that was when I was sixteen. I'm older and have more endurance now." Purple said. Red held his hands up.

"Well, I ain't stoppin' ya. You can keep them in the garage for now." Red said. Purple smirked. That was some easy convincing. Even if Red said 'no' he could do nothing about it. Purple part owned the house. He had a right to allow whomever to live in it as much as Red did. Or maybe Red found Purple's hobby of mushing interesting as Purple found Red's hobby of bull riding interesting. Or maybe Red liked dogs. Who cares. The dogs were staying and that was that.

**December 22, 2000**

Red furrowed his brow in annoyance as he read the latest articles of _Meijour Press's _website homepage. Front page had a picture of ZIM socking some kid in the jaw. The article wrote about how ZIM and the boy, named Larry, got into a public tussle after Larry elbowed ZIM when ZIM told him not to two times before. That would probably explain why ZIM came home with a black eye, bruised cheeks, and a busted lip. Red rolled his eyes. It was so easy to set ZIM off.

"Zeiden Macale! Get your ass down here!" Red called for his brother who was more than likely sleeping the afternoon away. He heard a thud come from upstairs followed by the sound of footsteps descending the stairs. ZIM stumbled into Red's office looking incredibly tired. "Come here." Red used his finger to beckon him closer. ZIM trudged to Red's side. The man leaned back in his seat and pulled ZIM in his lap. ZIM rested his head on his older brother's shoulder. "Did ya see the press lately?"

"I know, I look pretty good in that picture don't I?"

"Heh, yeah with your furious face and fist colliding with some guy's face. Very cute." ZIM chuckled. "Yeah, go ahead, laugh now. You're getting sued for one million monies." ZIM's snickers cut off as soon as Red said that.

"Then I'm taking him to civil court. I specifically told him to not touch me three times! He invaded my space. I had a right to set him straight." ZIM said. He buried his face in the nook of Red's neck.

"Zeiden, you need to control your temper."

"You should talk. I get my temperamental issues from you."

"Actually we both get it from mom." Red said. "But that's not the point. The point is, now your fans are probably scared of you and people now think lowly of you."

"No, they'll think, 'We better not mess with him. He means business'. And I'll be all like, 'Damn, straight'." ZIM said. He felt the tip of his antenna being pinched. ZIM yelped in pain, swatting Red's hand away. "Ow! That hurt!"

"Don't swear."

"I can say whatever I want." ZIM mumbled.

"What did you just say?" Red asked, he heard ZIM, he was just challenging the younger.

"Nothing." ZIM squeaked.

"That's what I thought." Red said, satisfied with the answer. "Should I hire a lawyer?"

"Yeah, sure. I don't care." ZIM said. Red hugged the boy close.

"Why are you so tired?"

"Pulled an all nighter catching up on homework. I'm starting to regret it now." ZIM mumbled. Red kissed the top of his head.

"You can't sleep the day away or you'll never find sleep tonight. Why don't you go out and feed the animals then the two of us can go to Irk and get this mess all sorted out, huh?" ZIM shrugged.

"Okay."

"Good boy. Now go do as I said." Red placed ZIM on the ground and watched him run into the door frame on his way out. He laughed. ZIM must've been really exhausted. Red shook his head and went back to work.

**December 24, 2000**

"Where's ZIM?"

"Where do you you think? He's on the dance floor with his girlfriend." Chester and Timmy crossed their arms. Dib and A.J. rolled their eyes at their immaturity.

"Guys don't give him crap. He loves Tak wants to spend time with her." Dib said.

"He's _always _with her. He can hang with us for awhile." Timmy said. The boys were at a studio Christmas party. Everyone who worked for the studio was invited. The party was held in mostly the cafeteria and many lounges. ZIM and Tak were on the dance floor. Their foreheads pressed against each other's. Several toons and humans were around them dancing as well, making comments on how cute the two were.

"I had no idea Spongebob had a girlfriend." Chester said.

"Sure! He's been dating her for two months now!" Timmy exclaimed.

"And who would've thunk Eliza Thornberry was dating that Otto Rocket kid for a year?" The boys all shrugged. If they're was a studio couple in there currently, they'd be on the dance floor dancing to the slow song playing right now. The four boys cringed as Tak and ZIM shared a kiss, the studio had strict public displays of affection rules. No kissing, no touching. They almost added the rule no hugging on the list. The studio wanted to keep up a good appearance. ZIM and Tak's kissed deepened but was interrupted by Denzel Crocker from Timmy's show. The man was there with his wife. The boys laughed at ZIM's irritation to being disrupted from the kiss. As soon as Crocker was out of sight ZIM and Tak kissed again, this time more passionately. As if they were trying to prove a point that they could kiss wherever, whenever they wanted in front of whoever they pleased. Irkens were a stubborn species. Everyone in the studio found that out the hard way. They had a great respect for the Macale family. On Irk they held a high status. ZIM was the wealthiest kid on Irk. The Macale's were dubbed the most talented family on Irk being able to play many sports and still have time to work in the entertainment field. Red and Purple were put in head of one of Irk's top biology research facilities just for being famous. Heck, they'd better be respected on earth just as much as they were on Irk! Their fame and fortune made them very intimidating to most toons and humans at the studio, but ZIM was really down to earth making him a good ice breaker.

This time it was ZIM's sister-in-law that broke Tak and him up. Timmy and Chester laughed as the two got yelled at for P.D.A.

"When will they learn?" Timmy asked.

"Dude, it's so funny. You can totally tell ZIM is whipped by Tak. He like does anything she says." Chester said.

"Guys, stop talking about them and start trying to find girlfriends yourself." Dib said. "That Trixie girl is over there with her friends. Why don't you mingle with them?" Timmy's gaze traveled to where Dib spoke of. Sure enough, Trixie was there with her friends. All looking 'pretty'. Timmy feigned barfing.

"We'll leave the girls to ZIM. We don't like girls yet, he does . . . Like a lot."

"He likes Tak, man. That's it." A.J. said.

"Are you kidding me? He's a frickin' playa. He talks and flirts with all the girls. If we tell him to mingle with Trix right now he would." Timmy said. "Watch, hey ZIM!" The Irken startled out of his kiss and snapped his head in the direction of who yelled at him. "Mingle with Trixie and her friends!" ZIM looked to the corner of the room to whoever Timmy was talking about. ZIM shrugged and grabbed Tak's hand leading her over to the group.

ZIM wondered why Timmy wanted to mingle with her. It was a bit odd. "Hey, Trixie." ZIM said, leaning up against the wall. Trixie looked away from her friends to ZIM. She smiled when she saw him.

"Hi, Zeiden. Gee, I didn't think you knew my name."

"Well, I wouldn't be a very good friend if I didn't." ZIM said, smirking. Trixie and her friend Veronica giggled to one another.

"You look really pretty Tak." One of the guys of the group said. ZIM recognized him as Tad. His counterpart, Chad, was with them. Tak smiled brightly.

"Thank you, Hun." Tak said.

"So, did you come to hang out with us instead of those four other boys?" Veronica asked. "I thought you were good friends with them."

"Oh I am. They're just too shy to approach you I guess." ZIM said.

"Pfft, shyness won't get them anywhere." Veronica said. She noticed Tak and ZIM holding hands. "Wait! Are you two together?" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, have been for three years." Tak said.

"I didn't know that! Tak I'm so jealous of you!" She gasped, dramatically. Veronica was kind of a spaz.

"Um . . . Thanks?"

"I wanna Irken boyfriend!" Veronica claimed. "They're all rich and cute! How old is your bother?"

"Both my brother's aren't available . . . and way too old for you. I have a friend though. I who's extremely desperate right now. He'd go out with any species." ZIM said.

"Hook me up!" Veronica cried. Trixie shook her head.

"Why are you so weird?" She mumbled.

"In fact he's here right now. His father is a director and movie producer on Irk. He himself is an actor." ZIM said. "Skoodge!" The pudgy alien was just walking past the entrance doors of the cafeteria. He stopped and looked at ZIM.

"Oh thank goodness! I thought you didn't come!" Skoodge exclaimed, running to ZIM. Skoodge was suddenly pushed to the girl ZIM was just talking to.

"Why don't you two get to know each other!" ZIM said. Trixie and Tak and the two boys laughed at the befuddled Skoodge and Veronica.

"I guess I can settle for him. Even though he's a bit short . . . and fat."

"Well so am I . . . the short part, not the other . . . part." ZIM said. Skoodge scowled.

"I'm sliming down!" Skoodge defended himself. Veronica ignored him and took his hand leading him to the dance floor. Skoodge glared at ZIM as he was forced to dance with a girl he didn't even know.

"Wow, ZIM, looks like you're a real match maker." Trixie said. ZIM shrugged. "Can you get either Timmy, one of your brothers, or Twister Rodriguez to dance with me?"

"What is up with my brothers?"

"Honey, everyone thinks your brothers are sexy. Can you blame us? I mean, look at them!" Trixie said. "They got the bods, the face, the eyes. Everything!" ZIM gave her a look.

"Hold on, I'll get Timmy." ZIM gazed at Tak. She had an amused smile on her face. "Then I'll be back for you." He winked at her. ZIM pushed through the mass of people and toons looking for his friends. He was short and so were his friends making it rather difficult to find them again. He finally spotted them by the snack bar bothering Squidward. "Hey, Squid! They bother you I give you permission to smack them." ZIM said, jokingly. The squid shook his head.

"I don't want to be labeled as a child abuser." The tall man said. "But tempting." ZIM turned to Chester and Timmy who were giggling.

"Timmy, Trixie wants to dance with you." Timmy's eyes lit up.

"Really?" He asked, excitedly. He noticed Chester's stare toward him. "Er . . . umm. No, like I said. I don't like girls yet."

"Huh. Fine, I'll ask my brother . . . because I have no clue who this kid named Twister is." ZIM scanned the crowd for one of his brothers. He spotted Purple sitting with Tenn in the lounge just outside the cafeteria. ZIM quickly sauntered over to him. "Heeeeyyy, Pe-Dur!" ZIM said.

"God, what do you want now?" He asked.

"I have a friend who'd just love to dance with you. You know Trixie Tang from Timmy's show?"

". . . Noooo."

"Then come meet her."

"I'm with your sister, Z. Can't it wait?" ZIM gave him a deep frown. Purple sighed. "Okay. Take me to her." ZIM grinned. Victorious once more. He led him a short way to the girl he was talking about. When Trixie saw Purple she looked like she was about squeal. Purple smiled warmly at her.

"Trixie, this one is Peder."

"_This one_?" Purple questioned ZIM's word choice. He felt a dainty hand hold his. He saw that it belonged to said Trixie girl. She came up almost to his shoulder in height which meant she was probably ZIM's age or older. But Purple was rather short for his age so maybe Trixie was taller than the average human at her age. He didn't know. All he knew is that he was dancing with her and she was ecstatic about it. He looked to ZIM who was talking to two boys who looked like Chester and A.J. but . . . a little different.

"Tak and I are leaving you for a minute. We want to . . . have some us time." ZIM informed the boy. He and Tak went to the lounge where only a few colleagues were. He took a spot on the couch and pulled Tak onto his lap. She giggled and turned so she was facing him. Tak put her hands on his shoulders and pinned him to the back of the couch and leaned in kissing him, lovingly. ZIM smiled through the kiss and wrapped his arms around her neck, pressing her further into him. One of Tak's hands traveled down his chest to his lower abdomen making him chuckle at the feeling. Tak pulled away.

"You still ticklish there?" She questioned. ZIM didn't answer knowing that if he did Tak would torture him. She got an evil look on her face and placed her hands on his waist and poked him making him squeal at the shock of his sides being poked.

"Tak, don't!" ZIM laughed as Tak's hands roamed his sensitive body. He had tears dripping from his eyes already. Tak obviously didn't want to stop her play time with him so she ignored his pleas. "Please! I'll do anything! Stooooop! Oh Yahweh, I'm going to throw up!" Tak joyfully hummed as she continued to torment her little boyfriend. ZIM was now too weak to fight back. Tak smiled brightly and stopped. Grabbing the front of his shirt she pulled him in for yet another passionate kiss, not caring who saw it. Her hands were still scavenging his body but this time they weren't tickling him, but rather just feeling him. Their kiss was disrupted by a voice over the intercom.

"Attention all Nicktoons employees. Please clear the dance floor for the Christmas games for kids! Then we'll move on to the adult Christmas games." It was Spongebob's voice. ZIM and Tak, not wanting to participate but still curious, went back into the cafeteria and saw the center of the café was deserted. Everyone else was making a big circle around the middle area so they could all see the games. Spongebob beckoned for the child actors to enter the middle and join in on the fun. Dib, Timmy, Chester, and A.J. jumped in. The actors and actresses who showed up from _Hey Arnold _went in. Some kids from the _Wild Thornberrys _and _Rocket Power _also hoped in. Spongebob looked at the group of kids. "You know what? I think . . . we have . . . waaaaayyyy too many _humans_ here!" Spongebob drawled. "Is there a Zeiden Macale in the house? I think this group could use a few _aliens_!" All eyes seemed to go on ZIM at that moment. He groaned.

"Why do you like picking on me?" ZIM called to the sea sponge toon.

"Aww, c'mon ZIM! We're buddies! That's what we do!"

"I'll hold off on the games, thank you." ZIM sure wasn't expecting to get booed after her said that. He wasn't gonna give into pressure no matter how much they complained. Tak nudged him.

"You should go."

"No."

"Zimmy, come on!" Tak pushed him to the center circle. When he refused to budge Tak decided to approach with a different method. Knowing she was a lot stronger than him, she picked him up and practically hurled him to the center. ZIM screeched as he flew through the air and landed on the ground ungracefully with a loud _thud_! He was surprised how far Tak actually managed to throw him. The audience in the circle laughed with jubilee. He landed directly in front of Eliza Thornberry. She helped him up. ZIM looked behind his shoulder and scowled at Tak.

"You ain't getting a goodnight kiss!" He yelled at her. She just gave him a cheeky smile in return. "Alright let's get this over with."

"Gee ZIM, where's your Christmas spirit?" Spongebob asked, still speaking into the microphone for everyone to hear. He held to mic to ZIM's face.

"I'm Jewish." ZIM said, bluntly causing the crowd to erupt with laughter. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw part of the cast of _Rugrats _faces light up, being Jewish as well.

"Well okay then! This first game is _Santa Says. _Similar to Simon Says, but only you don't sit out when you mess up. You have to sing a Christmas song in front of everyone!" ZIM rolled his eyes. Spongebob saw it and bopped him on the head. The people watching chuckled not exactly knowing why Spongebob did that. "Alright kids. Stand in a line and I'm Santa."

"This is boring!" Timmy shouted.

"Dude we didn't start yet!" Chester smacked his friend hard. Spongebob gave them a look before continuing.

"Alright, Santa says, stand on your left leg." The kids obeyed. "Santa says, stretch your right arm across your body." Again, they obeyed. "Santa says, spin on your one leg." The kids all looked at each other but nonetheless attempted the hard task. "Santa says, stop everything you're doing." The kids relaxed. "Santa says touch your nose." ZIM frowned and touched his antenna whereas everyone else touched the middle of their faces. "ZIM! You have to sing us a song!"

"That's no fair! I don't have a nose like you people!"

"Santa says, touch your _ears._"

"Quit it! I don't have ears!" ZIM pleaded. Spongebob turned to the remaining children.

"What should he sing for us?"

"Silver bells!" Someone cried.

"Frosty the Snowman!" Another pitched.

"Winter Wonderland!" Someone else suggested.

"I like Winter Wonderland. ZIM, sing us that song."

"Whatever. I think this was just an excuse to get me to entertain you guys with some music." ZIM mumbled. "I don't think I know that song."

"What song then?"

"Oh Holy Night is what you're getting. Deal with it." ZIM said.

"Wow! We just so happen to have a CD with that track on it! Let me get the tech committee to put it on for you!" Spongebob said, darting off to get the music ready. ZIM looked at the people. He saw Red with perked antenna, chilling in the back.

"You wanna sing back up vocals?" ZIM asked him. Red just smiled and shook his head, ZIM smirked when it was him being booed this time. Red did not give in however. Spongebob beckoned for ZIM to come to him. The toon handed him a headset and instructed ZIM to listen to the song once then listen to it again while adding lyrics to the parts then perform it after that as Spongebob went off and continued the game as he prepared. ZIM knew it. He knew the game was a cheap way to get him to sing. ZIM listened to the song singing silently along with it to get the rhythm of it. He's sang the song plenty times before. This should be easy for him. After six minutes ZIM was done and waiting for his 'punishment' for not obeying what Santa said.

"You done?" Spongebob asked. ZIM nodded. "Great! Everyone, give it up for our very own, Zeiden Macale!" ZIM walked to center floor where Spongebob handed off the mic to him. Get nodded to the sound booth and they played to music. He waited for his cue then entered singing,

"_Oh holy night! The stars are brightly shiiiining. It's the night of the dear Savior's biiirth!_" ZIM let the short instrumental break pass. "_Long lay the world in sin and error piiiining. Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth._" ZIM sang sweetly. The audience seemed breath taken by his gentleness. "_A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices. For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!_" The music picked up and ZIM started to sing boldly and forté as he went into the chorus. "_Faaaaaall on your kneeeeees! Oh heeeaaar the angel voices! Oh niiiiight divine! Oh night when Christ was boooorn! Oh night divine! Oh night divine!_" ZIM felt himself get goosebumps. He's done that to himself before. That was a good thing. If he was impressed with himself that means others had to be too. The audience clapped for him as he nailed the high notes spot on. There was an instrumental break and ZIM was about to sing again but another voice joined in with him in a nice harmonic duet. Calmly singing together.

"_Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming. With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand._" It was Red's voice. He had gotten his own microphone from the sound booth. ZIM saw his brother push his way out of the crowd to join ZIM just like he had done years ago when ZIM first met Jalokia. Fellow co workers cheered for the duet as they carried on. "_So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming! Here come the wise men from Orient land. The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger. In all our trials born to be our friend._" They sang the chorus together, restraining from singing too boldly. They had to leave the big finish for the last time they sang the chorus. They finally came to the last verse.

"_Truly He taught us to love one another_." ZIM sang the first line. He let Red sing the next.

"_His law is love and His gospel is peace._" Red sung. They sung the rest together.

"_Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother. And in His name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, Let all within us praise His holy name!_" The music built and climaxed once more as the two brothers sang the chorus again loud and passionately even getting the audience to join in as if they were their choir.

"_Faaaall on your kneeees! Oh heeeeaaar the angel vooooiiices! Oh niiiiiiiight diviiiiiiine! Oh niiiight when Christ was boooorn! Oh niiiiiiiight diviiiiiiine!_" The music died down and chilled so it was only playing softer notes for the calm finish. ZIM sang the very last part."_Oh niiight diiiviiiiiine._" As everyone else stopped singing ZIM held out the last note strongly until the music officially stopped. A wild standing ovation came from the viewers. ZIM and Red nodded to them modestly as if their singing voices were like anyone else's when in reality everyone thought they sang like angels. Red high fives ZIM then quickly left the center floor.

"That was excellent, Zeiden! Gave me chills!"

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad." ZIM said making the crowd laugh at his modesty. Sometimes he could be too modest. The only thing he lacks modesty of is sports. "How 'bout we continue with these games now?"

**Later**

After about an entire half an hour of various and equally embarrassing games, the kids games came to a halt thus starting the adult games. Tak wanted to get their picture taken while under the mistletoe that everyone seemed to be avoiding for obvious reasons. For one thing it was right in front of _everyone_. ZIM sighed but gave his consent to Tak so she took his hand and dragged him underneath the plant. This caught the party goers' attention. It kind of went silent as the two young Irkens pressed their lips together. A collective 'awww' swept throughout the party room. It started off as a sweet innocent kiss but soon turned into something that young kids should never see.

Tak's hands slid down ZIM's back and cupped his butt, squeezing it in the process, making ZIM moan and smile. ZIM's own hand found their way around her waist.

"Woooo! Git'r done!" Someone shouted loudly for all to hear. The room burst with laughter. Tak and ZIM did not break their kiss once. They were enjoying themselves too much. Finally ZIM was forcefully pulled away from Tak and scolded by some dude he didn't even know. Telling both of them to watch their wandering hands. When the man left ZIM and Tak kissed again, earning chuckles from their nosy audience members. After a few more moments, ZIM broke apart then asked someone to take a picture of them together. Some stranger was happy to assist and took it for them. After that ZIM and Tak went outside to cool off.

"It was a nice night tonight." Tak said.

"It was."

". . . They have shots of eggnog in the lounge. Wanna hit it?"

"Yes!" By now the younger stars were being picked up by their parents and going home, but for the adults, the party had just begun. The couple went in to the lounge and took a bottle of eggnog off the table along with two cups. Timmy's father was there drinking down a whole bottle by himself while his friends cheered him on. Timmy mentioned to ZIM that his father enjoyed the drink more than he should.

The Irkens took several shots, enjoying themselves as they got sillier and sillier after every intake of the alcoholic substance.

"I hear the adult parties usually get out of hand." Tak said.

"Hopefully Red doesn't try to send me home early." ZIM took another shot. "God this stuff is nasty. They got any regular liquor?"

"I'll look for some for you, Hun." Tak said, going back to the bar in the lounge. She found a bottle of Scotch and gin and took both knowing those were ZIM's favorites. She went back to the sofa and handed ZIM the Scotch first.

"Thanks! You're such a peach!" ZIM said uncorking the bottle and taking a swig of it. Tak was so amazed at how he could easily down such strong drinks. She could barely drink the eggnog shots. ZIM looked at Tak and winked. She smirked and leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Hey, you wanna share some of that? The eggnog is nasty." ZIM and Tak looked up at the new voice. It belonged to Debbie Thornberry.

"Aren't you too young to drink?"

"I'm nineteen. It's close enough . . . aren't _you _too young?"

"Our law is different. But that don't matter. Here." ZIM handed Debbie the bottle of gin. She thanked him and sat next to them on the same couch.

"Ugh . . . So you're like a big deal on your home planet, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, well, I'm just another celebrity."

"I heard you were the most popular in your galaxy. The runner up is your brother." Debbie said as if it weren't a big deal. "Which is cool and all. You gotta great voice. How many albums did you release?"

"I have seven out already. Total, over three trillion were sold across just the Irken galaxy alone. That doesn't include the universe."

"That's a whole lot of albums." Debbie said. "What about you?" She looked at Tak. "You do anything?"

"No . . . ZIM suggested that we sing a duet at one point but I can't sing. I could probably act though."

"Or model, you have a nice body." ZIM said. Tak smiled, playfully poking him.

"Yeah, whatever. Well you guys need to actually join the party instead of sitting out here. Unless you two want to be alone." Debbie said. "I'm gonna go find my boyfriend." ZIM and Tak watched as she left.

"Yeah, we can just stay here." Tak said, kissing ZIM.

"I'm actually curious to see how the party is going. It's about this time when the adults get a little raunchy and the studio can do nothing about it." ZIM said. Tak smirked.

"Very well." She stood, pulling him up as well. The couple sauntered back into the cafeteria. Their jaws nearly dropped at the site before them. Every adult in the building was either drunk or getting drunk. All were acting silly in their states. "Huh . . . Let's go look for your brothers. They're funny drunks." Tak suggested. ZIM nodded as they started their search for the two older Irkens. Eventually they found Red and Purple with all sorts of ladies swarming around them wanting to dance and kiss them. The pair was already drunk and laughing uncontrollably. Leslie wasn't tipsy at all being the designated driver. Every Irken present seemed to be getting buzzed however. Leslie noticed ZIM.

"Honey, it's getting late. How about you go home?" ZIM shook his head.

"I'm gonna party hard tonight." ZIM smirked. "I'm already half drunk!" Leslie rolled her eyes.

"God, not another drunk Irken."

* * *

><p><strong>Well, obviously this chapter was written before Christmas and was supposed to be the Christmas special. But your authoress is incredibly stupid and forgot to post it. (And to prove my point even further on how stupid I am, I just wiped off some powdered sugar off my cheek from dinner that I had an hour ago...)<br>**

**Go to Youtube and look up, 'Oh Holy Night' by Billy Gilman. After watching it, picture that little boy as ZIM. That's how I imagined ZIM singing it as I wrote it.**

**Fun Fact! (Actually more of a surprise) Kazehana23 and I have been working on another fic. This fic I going to be one of the movies ZIM will soon star in later in this story. It's called 'The Fall' and it'll be a unique read so keep your eyes open for it. It'll be up later this year. I don't have an exact date for you, however. But, Hey! In the mean time why don't you go to her profile and check out the link to her deviantart! She's an incredible artist!**

**Question time!**

** If I do follow through with this story I just mentioned, would you read it? I don't want to give it away on what it is just yet. But I will say this, If I do write it, It'll give you guys a good idea of how Irken movies are in this fic. ZIM is starring in it. What more could you ask for!?  
><strong>


	18. Bar Mitzvah

**So I'm back up to speed on the story. Once again I apologize for the confusion in the chapters! I'm an idiot! And hopefully nothing like that will happen ever again.  
><strong>

**Also . . .**

**Keep this in mind as you read this chapter. Logic is stupid. It's always stupid.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>December 28, 2000<strong>

"Dude! Do that again!" ZIM cringed at the harsh demand.

"No, mate. I'm getting dizzy."

"Come on! Please? A.J. didn't even get to see it!" Timmy begged.

"Yes I did."

"Do it again!" ZIM groaned but decided to amuse his friend once again. ZIM ran straight for a wall and did his famous wall backflip. Timmy made a sound of awe. "Again!"

"No, man, I'm done." ZIM said. He picked up his bat again. "Now throw the ball." ZIM and his friends were hanging out in the lot of the studio just outside of the Fairly Odd Parents soundstage. Chester demanded that ZIM and him play baseball for awhile. He told ZIM that he was trying out for the spring baseball team and he wanted to start to conditioning right away. ZIM gladly helped out, telling him that he was joining the a team too.

ZIM squatted in his batting stance as Chester pitched the ball for him. The white ball with red seams sailed right into ZIM's hot zone. The little Irken swung at it and popped up a foul ball directly above him. The boys watched as the ball peaked then started to fall again. ZIM got ready to swing as it dropped in front of him. When the ball came back down he hit it once more. This time it was a line driver over the parking lot fence about half fifty yards away.

"Ever hit a home run, Hotshot?" Chester asked. ZIM nodded.

"My record one year for home runs was five."

"_Five_ home runs?" Chester asked not believing it.

"I once had the opportunity to hit a grand slam. I was batting with two outs already on the board. Had two strikes on me and one ball. Bases were loaded . . . long story short, I popped the ball up and the catcher caught it." ZIM said. "Last inning and everything. I was so devastated."

"Well, you fudged it up for yourself and your team. You suck." Timmy said. The boy shouted out with pain when he felt a ball pelt his leg. He was surprised that it wasn't ZIM who threw it but rather Dib.

"Good shot!" ZIM exclaimed.

"Dillon, you jerk! You have a big head!"

"My head's not big!" Dib put his hands on his head to cover it up. "At least I'm not a fairy boy!" Timmy cut off from his laughter to glare at Dib. "Okay . . . How about a truce?"

"Only after I get to nail you with the ball." Timmy said.

"No! I will not let you purposely hit me with a baseball!" ZIM watched the two argue for a little longer.

"Guys, shut up and give me the ball." Timmy frowned and lobbed the ball to ZIM. He caught it easily and tossed it to Chester who pitched for him again. ZIM did his near perfect swing once more and hit the ball spot on. Soaring through the air with the speed of sound. It was heading straight towards . . . his brother's new truck. And Red was standing right next to it with Mr. Baker and a few others. ZIM dropped the bat as the ball effortlessly crashed through the windshield glass of the new red Chevy Avalanche. ZIM grabbed his antenna yanking them in angst as Red jumped nearly ten feet from being startled at the noise. "Oh God no! He's gonna kill meeeeeee!" ZIM screamed running off into the horizon. Red snapped his head back in the direction of where the ball came from and only caught a glimpse of ZIM running behind the soundstage yelling as his friends laughed insanely. Red growled and stalked toward the building. ZIM wasn't very creative when he opt to panic and was being chased. He probably hid behind the dumpster.

Red was spot on with his prediction of ZIM's hiding place. ZIM was trying to squeeze in between the wall and behind the dumpster. His hips were too wide to fit through the tight space. Red grabbed ZIM's ankle and lift him up, having him dangle by one leg.

"Ack! Oh Red, don't hurt me! I didn't try to! I can't control where the balls go all the time! I'm really sorry! I'll pay for a new window and everything! Just please don't get mad!"

"Zeiden, it's fine I have insurance. Either way, I just got my paycheck from Irk's Bio Tech Lab today. Half a million dollars. It'll be fine." ZIM looked at Red. "Just stop misaiming. You nearly hit me." Red set the little boy down.

"Dang! And that was just for this month?"

"This _week_." ZIM was nearly knocked off his feet.

"Geez, didn't know the supervisor of the lab got paid that much." ZIM said.

"I'm not just the supervisor anymore. I'm the CEO as well."

"What happened to the other CEO?"

"Retired. He was nearly a thousand years old. He could've retire by the age of five hundred though. Had enough money." Red stated. ZIM cocked a brow. "Don't act so shocked. You make more than thirty million a year by selling just one song!" ZIM put his hands up in front of him.

"Tis true." Red grabbed ZIM's hand and led him back to his friends. His friends were waiting anxiously to see what the two brothers would do. They were half expecting Red to be dragging ZIM back by the antenna, yelling at him and scolding. Instead Red and ZIM were just . . . talking. That's no fun.

"What? No fight?" Timmy asked. Red turned his gaze to the boy. Timmy shrunk back as the narrowed, crimson eyes seemed to pierce his body.

"Be home in a few hours. Heads up; Keef is looking for you." Red whispered, pointing his thumb in the direction of the particular orange-haired boy. Keef spotted ZIM and made a beeline toward him.

"Gah!" ZIM tried to hide behind Red. That was no use. Keef already saw him. It was as if the strange boy was on a mission to get him now.

"Hey, ZIM! Wanna hear some juicy gossip? Oh my god! It's crazy!" Keef exclaimed. ZIM peaked from behind Red's leg.

"Oh! . . . Keef . . . I did not see you there." ZIM said, monotonously.

"Wanna hear it or what?" Keef asked, gently pushing the older Irken aside to get to the younger one. ZIM sighed.

"Sure, why not?" Keef got real close to ZIM and whispered in his antenna.

"Gretchen just told me that she has a crush on Dib now. That means more of you for me!" Keef squealed, jumping up and down, clapping as he did so. ZIM looked disgusted. "Dib and Gretchen! Wouldn't they make, like, a really cute couple?" Dib heard this and looked their way, confused.

"Excuse me?" He butted in. "What was that comment about Gretchen and me?"

"Oh I can see it now! Your wedding day on the beach-"

"Shut up, Keef." Timmy grumbled. Keef took note of the baseball bat in Timmy's hand.

"Oh you're playing baseball? Can I play? ZIM _loves_ baseball, don't cha, Zimmy? Big fan of the Tigers! He hates the Cardinals and the Yankees. I used to like the Yankees till I found out he didn't like them. Now my favorite team is the Tigers! Let's play ball!" Keef snatched the bat out of Timmy's hand and did a little practice swing. It looked like a toddler trying to hit a ball off a tee that was put up too high for him.

"You need to work on that swinging method, mate." ZIM instructed.

"Oh my! You're right! Will you teach me?" Keef looked at ZIM with big, glossy eyes. He had a finger pressed to his chin trying to make his face look cute. It wasn't that ZIM was giving in to Keef's face, but rather because he can't stand to see people swing so . . . stupid-like. ZIM took the bat from his and told him to observe. ZIM bent his knees, placing his feet the proper distance apart. He placed his arms in the right area and held the bat that the very end of the grip. ZIM took a step and did a powerful practice swing. As ZIM did Keef wandered around, watching ZIM's every move. The whole time his friends were laughing in the background.

"You get it?" ZIM asked. Keef scratched his head.

"May I overlap you so I can get a feel of what you're doing." ZIM gave Keef an unamused face. Keef was being dead serious.

"No, Keef. No you may not." ZIM dropped the bat. He walked away from the boy. As he backed up he ran right into someone. He turned to see Tak. He let out a relieved puff of air. Keef wouldn't make a move on him when Tak was around, would he?

"Tak, my darling, love, precious person of mine! I love you, baby!" ZIM wrapped his arms around her to get his point across to Keef.

"We're leaving, ZIM." Tak said. She sounded upset.

"Why?" He asked, curious as to why she was pulling him away from his friends.

"Don't ask questions. Come on." She grabbed him behind the neck and pinched.

"Ow! Okay! Okay, please let go! I'm walking!" ZIM said. He glanced back to his friends. They looked confused but waved their goodbyes. They got to ZIM's car and she motioned for him to get in on the passenger's side. Apparently she was driving them home. They rode for a bit in silence. ZIM was waiting for her to say something but she wouldn't. "What gives, Takayla? Why aren't you talking?" He asked. She didn't say anything. Her lips were pressed tightly together. He saw a lone tear escape from behind her sunglasses. She immediately wiped it away in an attempt for ZIM not to see it. "What's wrong?"

"We'll talk when we get home." Tak's voice crack. It came out in a harsh tone. ZIM frowned and looked at the ground. When they finally got home Tak led ZIM to her bedroom. She proceeded to slam her door shut and lock it. She turned back to him. Tears were pouring out of her eyes. Out of no where a sharp slap smacked him across the face. ZIM groaned, holding his cheek and looked back at Tak.

"What . . . was that for?" ZIM asked, calmly.

"You two timing jackass!" Tak screamed. "What happened to committing yourself to me? What happened to, 'I'm yours'? What happened to, 'I only have eyes for you'?" ZIM was flabbergasted.

"What are you talking about?" Another slap to the face.

"You're a fucking man whore! Kissing Gretchen twice! Letting other girls at Jessica's party take advantage of you! I know what you guys did at the party! You were telling your secrets to them! You were letting them do things to you! They told me you _liked_ it!" ZIM's eyes were wide. His heart was pounding.

"Tak, no! None of that happened . . . Well, yes, Gretchen and I kissed . . . And yeah I told some of my secrets but I didn't _like_ it! I swear!"

"You're such a liar! A stupid slut!" Tak's words punctured his body. His jaw dropped as she ranted more and more. She never talks to him like that unless she's been having a horrible day. Apparently that was today.

"Takayla, I love _you_!" ZIM insisted. "No one else!" Once again, another tremendously painful slap was delivered to his cheek. "I'm sorry! I know kissing Gretchen was wrong, I didn't like it! We weren't dating behind your back or anything! The incident at the party wasn't even a big deal. In fact, I stood up for our relationship!"

"Forget it, ZIM. If you can't stay faithful to me then I'm going to go find someone else-"

"No!" ZIM yelled, trembling. "No! Please! Don't do this! Neither of us want that! We both know it! Please!" Tak wiped tears away from her eyes.

"How can I trust you, Zeiden?"

"It was a pity kiss! Just a pity kiss! It meant nothing! I felt bad for her and she asked politely and I couldn't turn her down! I give and receive kisses from fans all the time! Why is this different?"

"Because she wasn't a fan, Zeiden!" Tak shouted. ZIM was tearing up now. ". . . I know neither of us want to split . . . I love you still, it's just . . ." Tak trailed off.

"I'm so sorry." ZIM muttered. "If I would've known it would bother you this much I would have never of done it. I swear. I mean seriously . . . Why on Irk would I pick _Gretchen_ over you? You're beautiful." Tak looked at ZIM in the eyes. ZIM leaned in to kiss her but she stopped him.

"I'm not in the mood, Zeiden." ZIM nodded, understandingly. "I'm sorry I hit you but . . . I was just so scared that I was gonna loose you to one of them." ZIM shook his head.

"I would never." Tak sat down on her bed, letting out a shuddery sigh. "What can I do for you to make it up?"

"Take me on that frickin' vacation you promised me." Tak muttered. ZIM smiled, resting a hand in her shoulder.

"Of course, babe. Did you choose where you wanted to go?"

"Cape Town." Tak said, quietly. ZIM sat next to her.

"We'll leave in a week." He said, simply. ZIM waited a bit longer. He then kissed her quickly on the cheek then left.

**Later**

Purple let out a content sigh, laying back in the warm water. He felt like he was gonna drift into sleep while taking his bath. He leaned his head back against the edge of the luxury spa tub, closing his eyes. He had a few masses of bubbles surrounding him and the jets were pounding his back. They'd go off in a minute or two. He didn't hear the door to his bathroom open or the footsteps that followed.

"You look hot." Purple gasped sitting up and looking at the newcomer, clearly embarrassed being seeing in the nude. When he realized the intruder has already seen him naked before, he groaned and went back to his previous position. The first time she seen him nude, he was drunk and decided to wash his clothes by putting it in the kitchen's dish washer. Hey, whatever worked, right?

"What are you doing in here, Tenn?" The female Irken walked over to the tub and rubbed her boyfriend's shoulders. He moaned at the feeling of a deep tissue massage. He felt her hands trail down over his shoulders and caress his chest and stomach.

"Your dogs are really sweet."

"They are, aren't they?" Purple smiled, closing his eyes again. Tenn ran her hands up and down his wet body. She placed her face next to his and kissed his cheek several times.

"Tak finally decided she wanted to go on her trip. Cape Town, South Africa."

"Ooo, fun." Purple smirked. "The best part is, we're tagging along." Tenn chuckled.

"I know. I got to get a substitute for my class the whole week we're gone." Purple turned his head and caught Tenn's lips. They held the kiss for awhile longer savoring the other. "You enjoying your bath?"

"It was relaxing before you came in, now it's exciting." Purple motioned downwards. In that instance, Tenn noticed just how close she was to Purple's restricted area. She dragged her hands back up his body out of the water and placed them on his shoulders again.

"Ya know, Red and ZIM are both male models. You have a nice body. Maybe you should consider it." Tenn suggested.

"Red and I are like identical twins . . . except for the eye color thing. They don't need two models that look alike."

"Aww, but I think it's really cute. A lot of people think that you guys are really biological brothers."

"They still think we're related after I tell them we're not." Purple muttered. "I think it's because we refer to each other as brothers."

"Well who knows . . . maybe one day you two will be brothers . . . in law." Tenn mumbles the last part. Purple perked his antenna up.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, babe. You just chill for now. I'm gonna go to bed."

"Wait!"

"What?" Tenn glanced at Purple. He leaned forward a bit, grinning a bit.

"Wanna get my back?"

**December 31, 2000**

Dib was getting concerned. ZIM was nearly drunk off his ass. How would he get home from the studio? ZIM's brothers' were getting a bit tipsy. Heck, all the adults there were getting funny. Even Tak, who wasn't a big drinker, was slightly buzzed. The younger children who attended the New Years Eve party were put in a different room. Apparently ZIM was considered an adult because he was old enough to drink and smoke. Dib thought that was stupid. ZIM was still only twelve. Dib couldn't imagine himself being able to drink in two years. Irkens were weird. Their laws were weird.

"You wanna go spying on ZIM again? I just heard from someone that he fell over after claiming that he was hit in the head with a hockey puck." Timmy said. Dib cocked a brow.

"Now that's just odd." Dib said. "I think we should just leave him alone. Let him enjoy his party. We can enjoy our own." Dib said.

"Pfft, fine. Maybe you and Gretchen can dance!" Timmy nudged him. Dib scowled at Timmy.

"I don't like her." Dib hissed.

"Suuurrreee you don't." Timmy drawled. He beckoned for Chester and A.J. to come to them. "Guys, do you guys think Dib has got the hots for Gretch?"

"Totally, dude! It's so obvious!" Chester said.

"You guys are full of hot air!" Dib crossed his arms.

"We know Gretchen has a dying crush on you. Ask her to dance." A.J. said.

"Guys . . ." Dib's eyes shifted left and right. "I like Zita."

"Then ask her to dance." Timmy said. "Or we'll have ZIM ask for you. He's shameless!" Dib scowled. He really didn't want to be there right now.

"Are you forgetting that ZIM is two sheets to the wind right now?" Dib asked.

"That's okay! Let's go get him, Fairyboy!" Chester and Timmy left the kids' party room and went into the cafeteria where the adult party was held. The two boys spotted ZIM in the corner, pressed up against the wall by Tak who looked like she was about to rip off his pants at any given moment. The boys snuck up behind her and tapped on her shoulder.

"What do you guys want?" Tak asked, breaking her kiss to look at them.

"We need ZIM." Timmy said. ZIM looked lazily at them.

"For what?" He slurred. "Can't you see, _hic_, I'm busy?"

"It's a matter of life and death." Chester said.

"Bull shit. I'm staying here." ZIM started to kiss his girlfriend again.

"Fine! Chester grab his left arm." Timmy instructed. Chester took ZIM's arm and held him tight as Timmy got the other arm.

"Hey!" ZIM yelped. "Lemme go!" Tak watched as her boyfriend was dragged away out of the café. "Seriously guys! You can't keep pulling me away, _hic_, from her!" Timmy and Chester let go of him when they got into the other room. ZIM swayed back in forth in his drunken state.

"Ask Zita if she'd like to dance with Dib." Chester said. ZIM narrowed his gaze at his friend's. Dib looked embarrassed. ZIM started to grumble under his breath and stumbled in the direction of Zita and her friends.

"Hey, girl." ZIM said smoothly, leaning against the wall facing Zita. She and her friends beamed.

"Hi, Zimmy! What brings you to the lame kids party? . . . Are you drunk?" ZIM nodded, tiredly.

"Dib wantsss tah dance wit ya." He slurred. "So dance wit him . . . Am I floating?" ZIM's eyes opened wide, looking down at his feet. He let out a long groan and collapsed to the floor. He looked up at the ceiling. The girls loomed over him in wonder. "I can't move . . . dance wit Dib." ZIM closed his eyes. Zita looked at her friends.

"ZIM, are you okay?"

"Dance with Dillon!" ZIM yelled. Zita furrowed a brow and scanned the area for Dib. She found him trying to hide behind his own set of friends. She walked over there as her friends helped ZIM up and brought him back to the other room.

Dib saw Zita approach and cursed under his breath. Why did his friends have to be so stupid! He didn't know how to dance!

"Hey, Dib." Zita said. She simply grabbed his hand and led him out to the dance floor. Dib's heart racing. "So you wanted to dance? That's nice." Dib gave her a nervous smile. She placed her hands on his shoulders. He put his own hands on her waist. Dib wouldn't meet her eye. Looking frantically around. How did ZIM get her to dance with him? The Irken was always so good with the ladies. Of course he's been having girls come on to him since he was six. Which was weird. But he was super famous so it wasn't too shocking. "You look cute today, Dib." Dib flushed bright red.

"Thanks." He wasn't wearing anything too impressive. A pair of jeans and a jacket over his favorite dress shirt. "You look pretty." Zita smiled at him. They danced in awkward silence for longer. Dib still didn't want to look Zita in the eye. He gazed at the other people in the area. He saw Gretchen off to the side of the room. She was glaring at Zita. Dib felt like a jerk suddenly. Maybe he should dance with Gretchen next. The music stopped abruptly and a voice came over the intercom.

"E_veryone, if you would now please all make your way to the cafeteria so we can start the count down to the new year in the next minute, that would be appreciated._" Everyone listened to the announcement and migrated to the other room. Dib cocked a brow. Zita was holding his hand. The two walked to the cafeteria. Dib found his friends standing next to ZIM and Tak and joined them with Zita. ZIM was leaning heavily against Tak. She was gently slapping ZIM's cheek, telling him to wake up and that he needed to give her a new years kiss. The countdown started. Quite a few people were counting with the T.V. announcer. Others, like ZIM who was passed out, sat in silence getting ready to kiss their boyfriends or girlfriends.

_Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one._

Most people said, instantaneously. Everyone cheered when they hit zero. Dib looked around nervously. Tak was frowning deeply. ZIM was now completely on the ground, unconscious. Dib stood there awkwardly and glanced at Zita. She was beaming proudly. Dib scratched the back of his head and leaned over giving her a quick peck on the cheek. Zita turned to look at him. He blushed madly.

"Sorry. I thought it'd be appropriate." He told her. Zita just grinned again.

"It was," She said, then went back to making a ruckus. Dib looked at his feet. That was his first kiss he's ever given to a girl.

**January 3, 2001**

ZIM listened as his older brother made reservations for the hotel in Perth. The hotel was called Rendezvous Studio hotel in central Perth. That's where his bar mitzvah was going to be held. Everyone he knew was invited to the special day where he turned thirteen. Practically everyone at the studio, his family, and many more. Red was getting irritated because it was crunch time. ZIM's birthday was in twenty-eight days and Red needed to book plane tickets for the friends, get the reservations all set, he needed to prepare a speech. So much to do. It wasn't helping that ZIM was leaving on a week long vacation tomorrow to South Africa.

"Listen, it needs to be booked in twenty-eight days! . . . For the weekend . . . That's three days, sir . . . No! I called you guys before to make the reservations and you told me you'd hold the rooms on those days! . . . But you didn't! . . . My little brother's bar mitzvah. . . . Yes, I already told you we'll need the banquet hall! . . . No, that's all . . . Yeah, g'day." Red hung up the phone and started to scribble something down furiously in his notebook. After some time he picked up the phone again and called somewhere else. "Yes, American Airlines? . . . You have the jet? . . . Yes, it needs to be private . . . twentyyy- uh, hold on." Red looked to ZIM. "How many people did you say were going?"

"About thirty."

"I can't have an approximate answer, ZIM. I need exact." Red said.

"Why does it matter? It's a private flight anyway." Red rolled his eyes and spoke into the phone again.

". . . Yes, yes, that'd be wonderful . . . Yes, round trip . . . What's the total? . . . And that's a first class jet, right? . . . Great. Okay then, thank you. Call me if different and we can figure something out." Red hung up again. He groaned loudly, resting his forehead on the desk in his office. "Over four-hundred thousand for the tickets plus to rent the jet for three days that's an extra five grands . . . We should just buy our own jet. That'd be easier." Red reclined back in his office chair. ZIM crawled over to him and popped a squat on his lap.

"Thank you for planning it all." ZIM said.

"No problem, mate." Red ran his hands over ZIM's antenna. "You said you wanted your theme colors to be silver and black right?" ZIM nodded. "Good, 'cuz that's what I told the banquet hall decorators." ZIM leaned into Red. He was breathing heavily. "I can't believe it . . . Soon you're going to be a man."

"Yup, and there's nothing you can do about it." ZIM said. Red wrapped his arms around ZIM's small body.

"You'll still be my little smeet though." Red said. "God, if I cry when I'm giving my speech I'm gonna get angry at you."

"What? Why?"

"Because you grew up too fast!" Red squeezed ZIM.

"Oof! Red, you're crushing me . . ." ZIM squeaked.

"Why do you do this to me, ZIM?" Red buried his face into ZIM's shoulder. "Why couldn't you just stay five years old? Now you're driving, have a girlfriend, drinking, smoking, hanging out with friends all the time. We never have our brotherly outings anymore!" ZIM sighed. Red had such bad attachment issues. He couldn't stand being apart from his siblings for too long. "And now you're leaving me for a week to go to Africa!"

"Yes, I know! And I need to finish packing!" ZIM tried to pull away from Red.

"You need help." Red said. "Let me help you." The man stood and walked with ZIM to his room to help pack his belongings for the trip. ZIM thought the day where his brother was freaking out about him spending the night at his friend's house was bad. This was way worse! "You need your medications." Red said. "Do you have your clothes packed?"

"Yes."

"You're gonna stick with Purple and Tenn, right? You may not wander from them, understand?"

"Yes."

"And do not under any circumstances go out in town by yourself! Got that?"

"Yes."

"Good . . . God, why'd she have to pick Cape Town? Is she not aware of the history of that place?"

"I'm sure she is. She's English after all. A lot of English settlers migrated there centuries ago."

"I still think South Africa is a bit sketchy. Did you know that it was the nineteenth most dangerous city in the world?" Red asked. ZIM just shrugged. "Are you sure you wanna leave me for a week?" ZIM nodded.

"Think of it this way, when Tak, Purple, Tenn and I are gone, you and Leslie can be alone."

"What about Gaz? Or Zee?" Red asked.

"They shouldn't be too hard to get rid of. Zee can go out with that jackass and Gaz can hangout with her friends."

". . . I hate you for making me worry."

"No you don't." ZIM said, smartly. "It'll be fine, Red. I'll call you so you can be updated."

"Fine . . . Every three hours, I expect a call."

"Yeah right. Every day you'll get one call."

"Okay! Then I'll call _you_ every three hours." ZIM chuckled. Red was so uptight.

"Whatever, brathah, just let it be known that I may not answer my phone if that is the case." Red pouted. ZIM just gave him a smug look.

"Oh, I hate you!"

"No . . . You still don't."

**January 5, 2001**

"This hotel is gorgeous." Tak muttered, slipping further into the warm water of the hot tub in their hotel room. "Totally worth five-hundred a night, huh?" ZIM nodded.

"Yeah . . . Later we're going to a spa. Sound good?" Tak grunted a 'yes' in reply. "Gooood." ZIM drawled. Tak scooted over to ZIM. They were sharing a room and Tenn and Purple had the room next to theirs. He was surprised Purple and Tenn actually didn't separate them. The rooms only had one bed each. They didn't seem to care. So Tak and ZIM slept with each other the previous night when they first showed up late at night. Now it was morning and both Irkens relaxed in the jacuzzi together. Tak pulled ZIM's body closer to hers, kissing his wet head and shoulders.

"This is nice."

"Yeah, but we should probably get going so we can start off our day."

"Our busy day of relaxing and doing nothing? I love the sound of that." Tak said. She stood up and dried herself off with a towel. She wrapped ZIM up in her towel too. Sharing and embrace under the white, fluffy, towel. The two kissed once more and exited the bathroom to the bedroom to get dressed. ZIM stripped there in front of Tak, not caring if she saw him or not. She was a tad more bashful and took her clothes back into the bathroom to change. Once ZIM was fully clothes he waited for Tak. When she opened the door again she revealed herself to be wearing incredibly short, shorts. An orange tube top that hugged her breasts and showed a eye catching amount of cleavage and flip flops on her three toed feet.

"You look skanky." ZIM stated. Tak glared at him. "What? I think it's hot!"

"Well look at you. Don't tell me you're not trying to dress like a man hoe." ZIM's attire consisted of long, brown plaid shorts that went below his knee. He wore them loosely around his hips showing off his red boxers. A pair of tan Vans on his petite feet. His shirt showed a bit too much of his chest. It was a white short sleeve designer shirt that was unbuttoned down to the area between his chest and stomach.

"So? We're both skanks then. What are ya gonna do?" ZIM smiled. Tak giggled.

"You're such an idiot. Red would never approve of your outfit choice."

"Red isn't here, my dear." ZIM said. "Do you find my sexy chest _alluring_?" Tak took a step closer to him.

"Maybe I do." She walked her fingers up his torso to his shoulders. "Do you find my legs _captivating_?" She pulled up her leg, bending it at the knee and resting it on ZIM's hip. ZIM ran his hand over her smooth legs from where her shorts cut off to the underside of her knee.

"Maybe I do." He hissed. ZIM bent forward and caught her lips. "Purple and Tenn shouldn't have trusted us to a room alone together." Tak only nodded in agreement, kissing him again.

"Alright babe. Lets get going." Tak said, taking his hand and leading him out of the room. The two went next door and knocked on it. Shuffling was heard on the opposite side if the door. The door opened slowly. Purple rubbed his eyes.

"Hey you two." Purple mumbled. He turned away from them for a second to sneeze. "I'm not one-hundred percent today. You're gonna have to go out today alone. Just stick with each other and don't get lost. Call me or Tenn if you need anything."

"What wrong with you?"

"Influenza. I'll be fine by tomorrow."

"Where's Tenn?"

"She's getting me some medicine for my throat." Purple said. "You two go out and have fun. Check in with us every few hours." ZIM nodded.

"Okay, Pur. We'll come in later." ZIM said. Tak and ZIM walked together to the lift and brought themselves down to the main floor and out into the South African heat. "So what first? I was thinking we could start off with exploring hidden waters then go surfing, go whine tasting, then head to the spa and unwind there. Then whatever happens after that . . . Well, we'll have to figure it out when that time comes."

"Sounds like you have it all planned out, but ya know, we don't have to cram everything in one day. We have a whole week." Tak said. ZIM winked at her.

"Honey, there is so much to do while we're here. There's no possible way we can do it all in one week without cramming." He said. Tak held his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Well okay then. Hidden waters it is." She said. ZIM smiled dorkily, standing still then realized something.

"Waaaaiiiiittt . . . I have no idea how to get there." ZIM said. Tak's grin washed away almost immediately.

"Ugh, you're such a moron." Tak muttered. "Call for a taxi or something. There is no way I'm walking everywhere today."

"Whoa, when did you turn into a princess?" ZIM felt a slap to the back of his head.

"Just get us some form of transportation, Hun."

"Fine." ZIM walked to the side of the street. Tak pulled up her over sized purse onto her shoulder. The purse contained swimwear for both of them. They'd be doing a lot of water recreation today. ZIM finally got a taxi and him and Tak entered the back. ZIM instructed the driver to take them to a place called, Oudekraal. It was a ten minutes drive from where they currently were so it was quite convenient.

When the driver pulled up to a lodge he told them that they were at the right stop and that they'd have to go on a certain path and walk to the actual water front. The walk would take only three minutes. So as Tak and ZIM walked the path they talked about how the day was going to pan out. They had everything planned. And if they didn't finish today, they always had tomorrow. When they got to the clearing and gazed upon the beauty of the hidden water, they were breath taken. It was a gorgeous sight. Rocks were scattered about in the water. There was a cliff where you could jump off of and land into deep crystal clear water. Bright green vegetation lined the area. Hot white sand measured along the perimeter of the water.

"I don't suppose they have a bathhouse to change?" Tak wondered.

"Ah, who cares. We could always swim naked." ZIM said. Tak glanced at ZIM to see if he was joking. She couldn't tell.

"No. I brought our swim suits so we're using them." Tak said.

"What one of mine did you take along?" ZIM asked. Tak gave him an evil smirk. "Oh God, is it a speedo?" Tak only chuckled. "Taaaak-"

"Oh shut it, you. A lot of boys would love to have a flawless body like yours to show off." Tak threw him a hot pink speedo. ZIM looked at it.

"You've got to be kidding."

"Baby, would I kid about you wearing something as revealing as that in front of me?" Tak asked.

"Ehh . . . No, guess you're right." ZIM threw the skin tight piece if clothing down and pulled off his shirt and pants to put the article on. Tak casted a wary eye on him as she got herself dressed in her white and pink string bikini. Something her parents had no idea that she even owned. As far as they were concerned, she still wore a one piece. When both were dressed they waded out into the chilling water together, happy that they were lucky enough to be alone with no adults to yell at them telling them to behave.

Best. Vacation. Ever.

**Later**

They've already completed three things on their list for that day. The hidden waters, they bought a few bottles of whine, went surfing, or Tak at least tried to, and now they were enjoying themselves in a high class spa.

Both ZIM and Tak had only towels covering their lower bodies as they laid, belly down, side by side. They were looking at each other talking.

"You should get the sports massage. I think it'll be good for you, sweetie. You're always on your feet doing something." Tak said. "But of course we paid to be here for two and a half hours so you can get multiple massages. Just to start, get a sports." ZIM nodded.

"And what will you be having?" ZIM asked.

"I dunno, aromatherapy sounds nice." Tak said. Two females came into the room and looked at the couple. A Swedish woman and a native African by the sounds of it.

"What will it be today?" The Sweidsh woman asked ZIM. He looked at her in amazement. Those woman's hands were bigger than his head.

"Uh . . . Sports, milady." ZIM requested.

"Front and back?"

"Yes please," ZIM muttered. "Just don't crush me." The blond woman laughed and positioned her hands then pressed him to his small back.

"You're a tiny, little man. Your girl here towers over you. I saw you two walk in together." ZIM just grunted, closing his eyes as she pressed her hands into his back. Kneading his muscles. After awhile the kneading stopped. ZIM raised a brow but did not open his eyes. He felt the lady put something . . . Slithery on his back. Then another one . . . and another.

"Oh my God!" ZIM screeched, jumping off his table, loosing his towel that was hiding his private area. "Are those snakes?" ZIM asked, shaken up.

"Yes, that's what you asked for." The Swedish lady said.

"No! God, I hate snakes! I asked for _sports_!" ZIM said. "How'd you get sports and snakes mixed up?"

"Honey, calm yourself. You have a weird accent, she probably just misunderstood." Tak said. ZIM shuddered.

"Ugh! I feel icky." ZIM rubbed his arms.

"Babe," ZIM looked at Tak. "Wrap yourself up please." ZIM glanced down, a small blush crossed his cheeks. He snatched the towel that he abandoned off the table and wrapped it back around his small waist.

"Shall we finish the massage?" The big Swede asked. ZIM crawled back unto the table.

"Might as well . . . This time, may you _not_ put snakes on my back?"

**That Night**

"It was so relaxing, didn't you think? The rose pedal bath, the massages, the acupuncture-"

"I don't like needles, Tak. I don't know why you signed me up for the acupuncture treatment."

"You're just a big smeet." Tak chuckled, pushing ZIM a bit. They walked back into the hotel again and went up to their level, taking a quick stop at Purple and Tenn's room to offer them a bottle of wine, which they took gratefully. ZIM opened their room door and allowed Tak to enter first.

"So what now, madam? Shall we indulge ourselves with wine?" ZIM asked in a bad French accent.

"That sounds splendid, my good man." Tak replied, with a much better mockery of the French accent. "Do you remember how to speak French?" ZIM shook his head. He hasn't taken a French lesson from Purple in years.

"No, but while we're here, we should learn Afrikaaner, like the Dutch settlers! That sounds like fun, yeah?"

"Uh . . . not really. How about we proceed to speak in English then, mon amour?"

"I suppose . . . My love." ZIM said. Tak smirked and kissed him again. "Ya know, we're like the sappiest couple ever existed."

"I doubt it."

"I wouldn't." ZIM said. He sat on the couch in the room.

"What? You wanna act like an old married couple?" Tak asked. ZIM looked at her, smiling warmly.

"I think old married couples are so cute." ZIM admitted. Tak laughed.

"Yeah. They are aren't they?" Tak sat next to him. "Well, if that's what you want, I can start nagging at you." ZIM chuckled, leaning back in the cushion. "Sit up, don't slouch. You're gonna get a hunch if you keep that up."

"Stop telling me what to do, woman!" ZIM playfully, snapped back.

"Don't raise your voice at me!" Tak said. ZIM tilted his head forward and pretended to fall asleep. Tak swatted his antenna. He chuckled and leaned his head on her shoulder. "Ahhh . . . We are cute." ZIM nodded in agreement. "I'm hungry."

"Yeah me too. We skipped lunch didn't we? Yeah. Order something to eat." Tak told ZIM.

"Everyone here speaks Afrikaner or at least have a strong accent that I won't be able to understand."

"You're the one to talk. Your accent is so thick, I can barely understand you."

"How? Our accents our accents are practically the same!" ZIM pointed out. Tak reached into ZIM's pocket for his Imp.

"Get us some food." She stood. "I'm going to take a shower." ZIM sighed.

"And I'll be at the concierge's desk, I guess."

**January 8, 2001**

ZIM groaned and shifted in his sleep. He was hot. Someone was pressed up against his back. He could feel sweat dripping off his forehead. He craned his head to see Tak cuddling his small body against her slightly bigger one. ZIM let out a long breath. He was getting ill. He pulled away from his girlfriend and got out of bed to cool off. Tak stirred in her sleep when the warmth she was holding moved away.

"What's wrong, ZIM?" Tak sat up. ZIM was sitting on the edge of the bed, breathing heavily. "Hun?" Tak crawled up behind him and placed her hands on his bare shoulders, feeling the slick sweat coating his body. She placed her hand on his forehead. "Babe, you're burning up." ZIM nodded.

"I . . . just don't feel . . . the as good as I should." Tak moved out of the way so ZIM could lay back.

"What's wrong? Is it your blood pressure? Blood sugar? Epilepsy? Please don't have a seizure here. Red is a thousand miles away and I don't have the heart to jab you with a vaccine."

"No . . . It's not that . . . I just feel very . . . light headed." ZIM stared up at the ceiling. His mouth was slightly agape. Drool dripped out of the corner of his mouth. Tak looked down at him with concern.

"ZIM?" Tak patted his cheeks. He was unresponsive. "Zimmy? . . . Zeiden, come on. Answer me." Tak tried hitting his cheeks a bit harder. "Zeiden, seriously!" She shook him by his shoulders. Tak bit her lip and darted from the room to the room next door. She pounded on the door. Moments later Purple opened the door.

". . . _Whhhyyyy_ did you wake me up at three A.M.?" Purple demanded to know.

"ZIM is having a seizure. He's unresponsive."

"Is it violent?" Purple asked.

"No. He's spaced out, not shaking."

"Alright, hold on. Lemme get Tenn." Purple went back into the dark room and got his girlfriend then went with Tak back to her room. Tenn rushed to her little brother's side.

"Zeiden?" She placed a hand on his cheek. He didn't make eye contact with her but he did grunt in reply. "Are you okay?"

"Ugh."

"Is that a yes."

"Uhh! Mmf."

"Shh! Hun, I don't understand. Blink twice if you're alright." ZIM never blinked. Tenn groaned. "What do you need?"

"Uggghhh."

"He's having a complex partial seizure. He should snap out of it soon. But we do need to give him a dose of vaccine." Tenn instructed. "Tak, will you get it? It's in my room in my med bag I brought for him." Tak nodded and went hastily to get what was needed. When Tak got back ZIM was already sitting up, rubbing his head as if he has a massive headache. Tenn was chiding him. "I'm telling you, ZIM, it's the effects of alcohol! You're epileptic, you shouldn't be drinking!"

"It has nothing to do with my drinking habits." ZIM mumbled.

"Yes it does! Some things that triggers seizures are lack of sleep, missing meals, and drinking alcohol." Tak handed off the vile and syringe to Tenn. She prepare the vaccination as she continued to talk to ZIM. "At least cut back on the alcohol intake. You're a sickly child and we don't want you dying prematurely because you abused yourself too much."

"You're all wound up about nuthin'. I ain't gonna kill myself." ZIM said. He cringed when the needle slid into his arm. "I have a fever. The seizure was probably from that."

"Yeah, sure." Tenn said. "I'm going back to bed." Tenn forced ZIM to look at her. "I'm serious. Easy on the wine." ZIM pulled his face away. Tenn furrowed a brow. He was burning. There was no way he'd be able to pull through the night without more complications. "Actually, I'm staying here with you." Tenn crawled into bed next to ZIM. "Peder, let Tak take the bed and you can have the couch in our room."

"_Whaaaaat_? Girl, I don't fit on that small couch!" Tenn shot the older Irken a glare. ". . . Okay! Fine." ZIM pouted when Tak left him.

"Listen ZIM, if I can't convince you that your health is important to me, then you'll have to do it yourself." Tenn muttered. ZIM laid back down on the bed. For the rest of the night, sleep did not come to him.

_January 9, 2001_

Tak looked out to the South Atlantic ocean. Huge waves crashed over the rocks and unto the shore. She was watching ZIM tearing up the waves with a rental surfboard. He was good. It was rather impressive to her that someone as small as him could have so much talent. Tak laughed out loud when ZIM got flipped off his board with a scream. Minutes later, ZIM returned to the shore and flopped down on his back while sprawling his limbs, breathing heavily. Tak stood up and walked over to him. She knelt by his head.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just exhausted."

"Surfing takes a lot outta you, huh?"

"It sure does." ZIM said. Tak grabbed ZIM by the arms and hoisted him up.

"Let's go back to the hotel." ZIM nodded and went with Tak to the rental booth and returned the board. As she called for a taxi, ZIM changed into dry clothes.

The two Irkens entered the hotel and into their room. ZIM went directly to the bathroom to bathe. Tak smirked and waited for him. She sat on the couch until she heard someone knock on the door to their room. Tak got up to answer it and found a maid holding a stack of fresh towels.

"These are for your room, miss." She said. Tak took them. "We took all the towels out of your room earlier to replace them with new ones." Tak smiled.

"Thank you." She said, closing the door again. Tak carried the towels to the edge of the couch and set them on the coffee table, that way when ZIM needed the towel he'd have to come out and get it. Tak chuckled. ZIM didn't always think things through. He left his clothes outside the bathroom and didn't bother to check if there were any towels. She felt evil for doing that to ZIM, but she didn't care. She liked it whenever she got to see a hot, wet, ZIM emerge from the showers.

It didn't take too long. Five minutes later the door to the bathroom opened and ZIM poked out from behind the door only allowing the upper half of body be exposed. The lower part was hidden behind the door.

"Tak . . . May I please have a towel?" ZIM asked, politely. Tak grinned and shook her head.

"You're gonna have to show me some, babe." Tak said. ZIM frowned.

"Takayla, be serious!"

"I _am_. Zimmy, if you want to dry off, you're gonna have to walk all the way over here to come get one." ZIM shook with anger.

"Takayla, please. I don't want to-"

"Come get them before I chuck them out the window." Tak said. ZIM groaned. He looked behind him, then around to double check to see if anyone else but Tak was watching. He hesitantly stepped out of the bathroom and stalked toward Tak. She smiled sweetly as her eyes roamed his nude body. He snatched a towel off the table and wrapped it around his waist as fast as he could.

"I hate you so much." He grumbled, a strong blush flooded his features. He was about to retreat back into the bathroom but Tak's arms encircled his waist and pulled him into her lap. "Let me go!"

"Not until you take back what you said!" Tak held him tightly.

"Tak, come on! I'm naked and I'm cold! Let. Me. Go!"

"Nuh-uh. Not happening." ZIM continued to struggle in her strong grasp. He slowly slid out from under Tak's arms and sunk to his knees on the ground. He got up in a hurry to find sanctuary from Tak in the bathroom. He only made it to the bed before he was tackled from the side and pinned to the bed. Tak was holding his arms up over his head with her hand. She was straddling his hips and used her other hand to tickle ZIM's sides.

"Tak! Stop!" ZIM burst into fits of laughter. "Taaaak! Yahweh, help me!" Tak cackled sadistically. She ran her finger up and down the length of his sides making him squirm and cry for mercy.

"Maybe if your laugh wasn't so cute I wouldn't be torturing you like this."

"I can't help how I laugh!" ZIM howled. "Get off!" Tak ignored his pleas.

"Say you love me and that I'm stronger, smarter, and more powerful than you!" Tak demanded.

"Never!" ZIM continued to thrash in Tak's restraints. "I hate yooooouuu!"

"Liar!" Tak swirled her finger around his sensitive torso making him wince and laugh insanely. "You can stop this all if you just quit being so stubborn and say what I told you to say."

"Fffine!" ZIM spat. "I love you! I do! I really do!"

"And?"

"You're stronger than me!"

"And?"

"And smarter." ZIM said, weakly.

"And?" ZIM was in tears now, he was laughing so hard.

"You overpower me! Now pleeaaasssee!" Tak smirked and released his wrists from above his head.

"Gooood boooy." She cooed, kissing his temple. ZIM pushed her off him and grabbed a pair of jeans and put then on to make himself at least semi decent. Tak reached out from her seat on the bed and touched his arm. ZIM pulled away.

"Don't ever do that again."

"Oh, don't be so sour." Tak got up and hugged him from behind. ZIM brought his arm behind him and squeezed Tak's side. "Hah, nice try. I'm not as ticklish as you."

"Meh . . ." ZIM pulled away from her.

"Hey, where are ya going? I wasn't done cuddling you." Tak chased after him.

"Taaaak." ZIM moaned. She grabbed him again and lifted him in the air, snuggling his body into her's. "You're so possessive." Tak squished him tighter.

"Mine." She said, cutely.

"Yeah, yeah, I know . . . Now set me down!" Tak obeyed his command but rather instead of setting him down, she dropped him.

"Don't be so grumpy. My goodness. We're supposed to be on vacation." ZIM grunted. "Fine, if you're going to act like that, I can go hang out with your sister in the lounge." ZIM frowned.

"Don't leave me! I'll be bored!"

"Then stop being a wimp and be a little playful!" Tak said. ZIM sighed.

". . . Wanna go out clubbin'?" He asked. Tak smiled widely.

"I'd love that."

**January 15, 2001**

The day kept getting closer and closer. They were half a month away and Red still didn't complete the speech. He groaned, exhaustedly. If their dad were there he'd be the one having to write the speech, not Red.

"How's it coming?" Red turned his head slightly to his left to see Gaz looking over his shoulder.

"Got a long ways to go yet." Red muttered. Gaz opened her normally squinted eyes to get a better look.

"You only have half a page?"

"Yeeeessss, I know, I'm a procrastinator. I was so busy with the other arrangements and flights back to Australia and reservations, it's just . . . Ugh." Red slumped down, burying his face into his arms on his desk. "I'm an awful guardian for not even taking off some time to work on a freaking speech for my smeet brother's Bar Mitzvah."

"Well show me what you've got so far." Gaz said.

"No, you'll have to wait to hear it." Red mumbled, his voice muffled from his mouth hiding in his arms. There was a pause. "Why are you here?"

"I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Is ZIM gonna get circumcised?" Gaz asked, bluntly. Red snorted and raised his head laughing. He looked at her and stopped immediately. She was being dead serious.

"Ehm . . . Well, usually circumcisions happen on the eighth day of existence. But it's different for Irkens. See, we don't have any extra . . . skin to snip . . . Yeah, we don't have foreskin, so instead we do something equally demeaning, if not _more_ embarrassing at one's Irken Bar Mitzvah."

"What is it?" Gaz asked. Red gave her a look.

"You really wanna know?"

"Yes. And will whatever this action be performed in front of the guest, because if it is, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it to the party."

"Heh, no, just in front of the rabbi and legal guardians." Red said. "It's a painful process called, _heshnunivah_." Gaz cocked a brow at the word. "It's an Irken word. Anyways . . . You know what? I really shouldn't tell you. For the sake of your innocent mind."

"Is it like women's circumcision but on a hermaphrodite male Irken?"

"Kind of, but not. . ." Red stated. "They stick three different syringes up there and inject it into the genitalia to ensure a healthy sex life and smeets if they ever come." Gaz raised a brow.

"So it's a medicine so ZIM can have children without running the risk of them having any retardations?"

"Yeah."

"And this happens _on_ his birthday."

"A day after the ceremony."

"And it hurts?"

"Like a bitch."

"Red!" The Irken male jumped. Leslie was just outside his office. "What are you two talking about?"

"Circumcision! Because that's always a fun topic to talk about. Right Gaz?"

"Eh, whatever you just told me about _heshnunivah_ was pretty . . . neat. I guess." She said.

"You told her about _that_?" Leslie asked, hands in her hips. Red smiled innocently.

"She was asking me about it."

"Why don't you two talk about something else. Like, what you guys are gonna wear? Or what's in the menu? Or the speech?"

"I'm working in my speech. It's really hard."

"How hard could it be? Just talk about how proud you are of him and how he's always been so good . . . emmm, probably not that, but anything."

"It's easy for you to say. You're not Jewish. You don't have to worry about Bar Mitzvah speeches." Red said. Leslie rolled her eyes.

"I'm just trying to help." The office door flew open and an infuriated ZIM stomped in. Red closed his laptop and shoved it under his desk so ZIM couldn't see the speech. ZIM approached Red and sat on his lap with a huff, crossing his arms.

"I'm not a child!" ZIM exclaimed. Red raised a brow. The four sat there in silence until Red cleared his throat.

". . . Um . . . Why do you say that?" ZIM shifted in his lap to get a better look at him.

"Okay, so the studio has this annual physical exam thingy and the representatives were all like, 'Its starting Monday! We're going with the children first!' and then they started to list the children or rather who qualifies as a child. They called for me! I was like, 'Hey! I ain't no child!' Then they said, 'Oh yes your are!' and I said, 'No! I'm almost thirteen!' then they said, 'Yes we know, but you're not big enough to be with the adults!' and I was mad because I would have had the adult exam if they weren't discriminating me for my size!" Red shook his head.

"Is that why you're upset?"

"No!"

"Then what is it?"

". . . Timmy called me a shrimp." ZIM pouted. Leslie chuckled.

"Is that all?"

"Is that _all_?" ZIM repeated her question, glaring at her. "You don't understand do you?" Leslie picked ZIM off her husband's lap and gave him a tight squeeze.

"I understand that you're very defensive about your height." Leslie said. "But look at  
>Gaz. She's half a year younger than you and about an inch shorter." ZIM glanced at Gaz then back to Leslie.<p>

"Yes, but there is one big difference."

"And what's that?"

"She'll grow!" Gaz smirked.

"Yup, and when I'm standing five foot five, you'll still be lingering behind at a measly three feet tall." ZIM frowned deeply.

"What's wrong with being short and cute, huh?" Red asked. "I was three foot tall up until I was twelve, then I grew four and a half foot tall until the age of sixteen then I shot up again to this modest height."

"Modest height? You're short too! You stand next to men your age and they all tower over you!" ZIM pointed out. "Like for real, how on Irk did you get the part of the Almighty Tallest on the show?" Red scowled.

"Well goodness! I'm tryin' to talk you up and you're being a jerk to me." Red stood from his chair. "You're a crank."

"I'm not a crank!"

"I rest my case." Red said. ZIM growled and Leslie set him down. "Come here, Zimmy." Red leaned back in his leather chair, spinning it slightly using his leg. ZIM walked over to Red and allowed himself to be pulled into his older brother's lap. "A moment?" He asked Leslie and Gaz. They nodded and left the office, closing the door tightly behind them. Red embraced the young Irken on his lap. "Soon you'll be a man . . . But you know you'll always be a child in my eyes."

"I know. Even though I've proven my maturity of being a man several times to you."

"You mean, lack there of. You still act like a smeet."

"I do not!"

"Hun, you do realize that in the eyes of many Irkens we still _are_ smeets. That's the elder ones who are above the age of one hundred."

"Well that's different. Here on earth I'm a preteen." ZIM said. Red adjusted ZIM so he could prop his feet on his desk.

"That may be but we're not humans. Anyhow, what I was getting at is, just because you'll be a 'man' doesn't mean you can go out and do your own thing. I'm still in charge of you."

"Until the age of fifteen."

"Yeah about that . . ." Red smirked with a somewhat relieved look on his face. "Irken law changed."

"Oh Yahweh, are you serious?" ZIM asked. Red nodded.

"Yup, the new Irken age for adulthood in the capital city is eighteen, just like most humans."

"Is that the same for the other Irken countries?"

"No, just the capital. But they're looking to spread the rule."

"That's so stupid!" ZIM groaned. Red laughed victoriously.

"You get to be mine for five more years!" Red hugged ZIM, squeezing him till he couldn't breath.

"Whhhyyy?" ZIM whined. Red continued to laugh evilly and and rocking ZIM back and forth in his arms. ZIM shivered when he heard Red hiss,

"Mine foreeevvvveeerrrr."

**January 25, 2001**

"I fuckin' hate you so much right now." Red growled.

"You lost the bet, bro. No one to blame but your shitty judgement." Purple smirked.

"You're dead to me." Red took off his shirt and relaxed back in the chair. A scary looking woman with many tattoos came into the room, huffing a cigarette.

"You decide?" She asked.

"Yeah." Red mumbled. "This." He got out his phone and showed her a picture of what he was forced to be permanently scarred with.

"Is that the Australian flag? You're Australian . . . That would explain the accent." She mumbled. Red sighed. The woman prepared the needle for the procedure. "Where do you want it?"

"Chest. Not too big though. I don't want my wife to flip shit too bad."

"And do you want the whole flag?"

"Just the stars of the southern cross part of the flag, in black ink." Red muttered. Purple had a smug look on his face. "I really want to punch you right now."

"Heh heh . . . You have to get a tattoo . . ." Purple snickered. "Leslie's gonna kill you."

"Let me just rub some soother on the area where you want the 'too, then we can begin." The lady said. She opened a container of some sort of cream and rubbed it into his chest. "Thank god Irkens don't have hair. Earlier today I had to shave a fat mans back and tattoo him." The sound of the machine the woman was using to make the design started up. It sounded like an electric shaver. Red cringed. "You should probably relax. Now how big do you want it?"

"Just around my left breast."

"Mmm kay sweetie, this will sting a bit." Red wrinkled his nonexistent nose.

"Yeah, I kind of figured."

**Later**

"That's so _cooool_. Can I get one?" ZIM asked. Red glared at the boy.

"What do you think?"

"Aww, c'mon! I think I'd look sexy with one of those on my chest."

"Don't call yourself sexy, you got other people to say that for you." Red said.

"Can I-"

"No!" Red snapped. Purple was stifling laughter. "What is so funny, my _friend_?"

"Nothing . . . Leslie is gonna fuck you up the ass when she sees that." Purple said. Red rolled his eyes. He started to button up his shirt to hide the inked skin.

"I can hide it." Red said.

"Yes, but you hate wearing shirts. You say their too restricting. She's gonna find out, probably a lot sooner than you'd like." Purple said.

"Find out about what?" Red jumped, startled at the sound of his wife's voice.

"Leslie! Hey there!" Leslie cocked a brow.

"What are you hiding from me, Red Macale?" She asked, sternly.

"He got a tatt-" Red covered ZIM's mouth with his hands but it was too late. Leslie was sharp. All that needed to be said was the first syllable of the word and she knew exactly what her husband was hiding.

"You got a tattoo?" She hissed. Red looked at her. He gave her a innocent, lopsided grin.

"Yeeeeaaahh." He drawled. Leslie narrowed her eyes.

"You did not." She stated, darkly. It chilled Red when she quieted her voice like that and talked threateningly.

"Actually . . . I did." Red jumped up from his seat and attempted to retreat from the room but Leslie grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"Show me." Leslie snarled. Red shifted his eyes, looking left and right, nervously.

"Uhhmmm . . . Nah." Leslie scowled. "Listen, Les, it was a bet that I lost. I didn't want to get it done but I had no choice. We pinky swore!"

"Are you kidding me? You pinky swore? You're not five, you freakin' idiot! Grow up!" Leslie shouted. "Where is it! It better not be anywhere I can see!"

". . . It's on my chest." Red said. Leslie looked close to blowing up on him. As if she wasn't already.

"You dumbass." She grumbled. "Did Peder pick the tattoo?"

"No, I did." Red unbuttoned his shirt again and pulled it apart to show Leslie. "Just the stars of the Aussie flag." Leslie eyed the tattoo on his chest. There were five stars all arranged in a certain way that matched the flag on his chest. She had to admit, it made him look pretty hot. But she still hated body art. Leslie grabbed Red's wrist and pulled him closer so their faces were a mere inch apart.

"You're getting that thing removed immediately." Red shook his head.

"That hurts worse than actually getting the tattoo."

"I don't care! If you don't go in and get it removed, I'll do it myself!"

"How?"

"If I can skin a buck, I can skin an Irken." Leslie seethed. Red pouted.

"You wouldn't do that to me. Besides, I also pinky swore that I wouldn't get it removed." Leslie stared at Red in disbelief. Without another word she pivoted on her feet and left the room. Red called after her. "You better not be getting a fillet knife!"

**January 27, 2001**

"ZIM, you should be our official announcement spokesman. I'm getting sick of it and you're good at making people smile this early in the morning." Spongebob said.

"Why isn't a rep doing the announcements?" ZIM asked. He was talking with his friend in the studio's main office.

"They said if a fellow star made the announcements people would actually listen to them." The sponge said. "Which is true, but they pinned the job on me and I'm tired of it."

"Well I can do them today." ZIM said. "Just give me the paper of things I need to address and I can take it from there."

"Really? Well then." Spongebob slid a paper over to ZIM from across the desk. "Here you go. Don't screw up. Make the call as soon as the clock strikes seven." ZIM nodded, picking up the phone and placing a finger on the intercom button.

"They'll be surprised when they hear my voice instead of yours." ZIM said. "I have a sexy voice and all the ladies will swoon when I say what's on the menu for today's lunch." The clock finally hit seven and ZIM pushed the intercom button down. "Goooooood morning, Nickelodeon studios! I'm Zeiden Macale Junior bringing you your morning announcements!" ZIM chirped cheerfully. Spongebob watched with an amused look on his face.

"You should be an anchorman." He whispered.

"First up! For those who are interested in charity work, come down to the main office and talk to Mr. Jacob about it. He's the tall guy, no hair, and a face. Yeah, we all know him." ZIM said. "Let's see, the studio is starting up a co-ed indoor volleyball team. If you're interested, sign up at the main office."

"The menu." Spongebob reminded him.

"And on today's menu! The Nick Café is attempting to pass off some sort of casserole as edible! Hopefully you guys brought a lunch . . ." ZIM said. Spongebob cackled. "Another thing, our very own Squidward Tentacles is starting an in-studio band! If you're talented in playing an instrument of any kind please talk to Mr. Tentacles about joining his band . . . That actually sounds like fun." ZIM muttered. "I do believe that is your announcements for today! Everyone, have a nice, joyful day full of rainbows and unicorns! I'm Zeiden Macale, and don't you forget it! G'day, mates!" ZIM hung the phone back up. He looked at Spongebob. He was laughing.

"You should do this everyday! I'm making that your unofficial job!"

"Ooooh, how about we take turns?" ZIM suggested. "I can't make it everyday. I have another life on another planet, ya know?"

"Well, whatever works." Spongebob said. "You should get going to your set now. Don't want to piss off Jhonen do you?"

"Of course I do!" ZIM said. "I'm gonna take my precious time getting into my uniform then I'm going to walk slowly to my soundstage . . . 'cuz I'm a jerk like that."

"Yes, yes, do what you must." Spongebob said. ZIM waved a goodbye and was on his way to his dressing room. When he got into the room he slipped his invader uniform on then was back out the door. He hurried to the soundstage where they were doing a dress rehearsal for the next episode.

"Zeiden! You're late." Jhonen stated.

"Well yeeeaaahhh, I was busy with the announcements. Didn't you hear me?"

"Yes, I heard you. Everyone did. They were all talking about how 'cute' and 'funny' you were." Jhonen inspected ZIM. "Where is your contact lenses . . . and wig . . . and PAK? Kid, did you just forget everything you needed?"

"Yes, but can I say something?" ZIM asked.

"Even if I say no, you're gonna talk either way." Jhonen mumbled.

"Yeah, I guess you're right . . . Okay, well first! I don't like those contacts. I never felt comfortable putting things in my eyes. I freak out all the time and they hurt like hell! Next, the wig is all itchy, and by the end if the day my antenna are practically raw from scratching them! Lastly, the PAK is heavy and hurts my back when we put it on and take it off." Jhonen looked unsympathetic.

"Aww, you poor smeet. Get over it." He said. "Go ask someone to help you put in your contacts then be back here in five. If you're late, I'm gonna make you eat a sock."

"But I don't want to eat a sock."

"Then you better get started!" Jhonen said. ZIM frowned and quickly got the things he needed then brought them with him back to the soundstage. He handed his PAK to Jessica and demanded that she put it on his back. The blonde girl looked at her friends with a shrug.

"Do you have the magnets on your back already?" She asked.

"Yes, just place the stupid thing on me so I can carry on." ZIM muttered. He grunted as Jessica forcefully pushed it on his back. He stood upright to see if it'd stay on. It didn't. The thing dropped right off his back and landed on the floor with a loud clang. ZIM groaned. "I'll just do that later."

"Someone please help ZIM! He needs help with his accessories." Jhonen said. A few stagehands approached ZIM. One lifted up his shirt to adjust the magnets on his back as another cupped his face and opened his eyes to put the lenses in.

"Wait, wait! Don't put those in yet!" ZIM cried, breaking away from his grasp. ZIM walked away from the hands and went back to Jhonen. "Man, do I have to wear those stupid lenses? They upset me."

"You wanna know what upsets me?" Jhonen asked. "When you don't wear them. So put them on or I'll get your brother in here. I know he can persuade you to do anything."

"Jhoooooneeeen." ZIM whined. The man shook his head.

"Someone go to the lobby and get Red." Jhonen said. ZIM let out a long sigh. A minute later the older Irken came to the soundstage and looked at ZIM warily.

"Why must you put up a fuss all the time?" Red took the contacts out of a worker's hand and motioned for ZIM to come to him. ZIM lowered his head, trudging over to his older brother. Red used one hand to pick up ZIM's chin and hold it still and the other hand held a lenses. "Keep your eyes open." ZIM winced as Red placed the first lens in his eye. ZIM yanked away, closing his eyes and rubbing the one eye that now hurt. "Just one more. Don't be a wuss."

"I'm not a wuss! It hurts!" ZIM exclaimed. Red shushed him and forced the other contact into ZIM's eye. ZIM whimpered.

"You're such a wimp."

"So are you! Purple told me you started crying when you got your tattoo!" Red's eyes widened and clasped his hands over ZIM's mouth. A few glances were casted their way.

"Shhh shhh! I did not cry. My eyes are naturally watery and I had to sneeze-"

"Yeah, whatever." ZIM pulled away from him. "You were crying like a smeet." Red scowled.

"No I wasn't." Red bit his lip, clearly embarrassed. "I'm going home. You're being mean to me again." He said, turning to leave.

"Red, wait!" ZIM said. Red looked back at ZIM. "I'm sowwy." He gave his older brother his best puppy-dog eyes. Red's features softened at this.

"Aww, it's okay, little buddy." Red cooed. "But I'm still leaving. I have work to do on Irk."

"Alright, but you be back before seven, young man!" ZIM called after him. Red waved him off. ZIM felt a tap on his shoulder. The familiar, annoying voice gave who it was away.

"Heyya buddy!" ZIM groaned. So the fun begins.

**Later**

"Gah! You son of a fuckin' bitch!" ZIM laid on his horn. "I'll fuckin' cut you off next time! See how you like it!"

"Zeiden Macale! Calm yourself!" Tak snapped. "You have horrible road rage. You need to fix that."

"That bastard could of got us in a wreck!"

"You keep swearing and I'll wreck you!" Tak shouted. "Now pay attention to the road!"

"I ammmm! Stop yelling at meee!"

"I'll stop yelling at you when you stop yelling at random strangers!"

"Be silent!"

"No!"

"Augh!"

"Eyes on road now, Zeiden!"

"Yes, mother . . ."

"Are you two gonna keep bickering or are we gonna have pleasant conversation?" Dib asked, nervously from the backseat.

"That depends on if ZIM would like to stop being such a dolt!" Tak said. ZIM clutched the steering wheel, casting a stink eye in her direction.

"Whatever, mate. Say what you want about me."

"All I _was_ saying, Zeiden, was that your road rage could lead to accidents." Tak said. "If you keep up that temper, I'm not letting you drive anymore."

"You can't force me to stop driving!"

"You wanna bet?" Tak challenged, loudly. She looked back ahead at the road in front of them. "ZIM, slow down, someone is walking across the street."

"He's jaywalking. I shouldn't have to slow down for him, he could of used the crosswalk."

"Zeiden! Seriously! Brake!" Tak barked as the car got closer to the man taking his precious time across the street. "If you kill someone, I'm going to-" ZIM suddenly slammed hard on his brakes causing Tak and Dib to lurch forward. The car came to a complete stop in the middle of busy traffic. Horns blared behind them. "Are you nuts? Go! I meant slow down you cretin!" ZIM unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. He walked around in front and stopped by the passenger's door. He yanked it open and pulled Tak out.

"You drive!" He took her place in the seat. Tak face palmed and hurried to the driver's side and slid in. She put it in gear and started to drive.

"I can't believe you! Stopping in the middle of traffic like that to switch drivers! You are so incredibly stupid!" ZIM folded his arms across his chest and looked out the window. "Don't ever do that again! If you do I'm going to . . . Are you even listening? Zeiden! Hey! God, you dumbass. I'll deal with you later." Tak seethed. "Sorry about that, Dib." She apologized to the boy in the back.

"Uh, it's okay." He said, shyly.

"Now, where did you say you lived again?"

**Later**

ZIM laid on his bed contemplating about his argument he had with Tak earlier. She was royally pissed at him and no doubt was gonna give him an antenna full as soon as she was done talking with Gaz, who was the only other person in the house at the moment. ZIM's antenna rose as he heard footsteps ascending the stairs. The door to his room flung open and Tak charged in.

"Why are you acting like this? You've been so moody lately!"

"I have not." ZIM cried into his pillow. Tak sat on the bed and pulled him up, forcing him to look at her.

"You will give me the courtesy if eye contact! If you have bad enough road rage that you're tempted to kill someone then you belong in a psych ward!"

"L.A. is densely populated as it is! No one would care if one was missing!" Tak narrowed her eyes at him.

"You are so-"

"Stupid? Yeah, I know! I've heard!" ZIM looked down at his lap. Tak pinched his jaw and made him look at her again. Instead of seeing a angry face, however, her features seemed to soften a great amount.

"ZIM . . . You're not stupid . . . True, you're not the brightest guy out there, but I don't want you to be. I find it really cute, sometimes, on how clueless and dumb you can be. But you're not a complete simpleton." Tak pressed her lips gently against his. "You're really sweet, Zimmy . . . most of the time. I don't care if you're not intelligent."

"You don't care you're dating a C average student?"

"Not when that C average student can sing, dance, act, surf, skateboard, snowboard, backflip, hit a home run, and play several instruments without breaking a sweat. No. I really don't care." ZIM grinned. Tak planted another kiss in between his eyes. "I love you. I'm sorry for yelling at you. I guess yelling at someone who is already pissed off, isn't a very proper way with dealing with the issue." Tak pulled ZIM close to her.

"I'll work on that road rage thing I have, just for you."

"Thank you. It's about time you address that problem of yours." Tak smoothed ZIM's antenna over his head. He smiled, closing his eyes and laid his head in her lap.

"Mmmm."

"Hah, you're such a lush." Tak cooed, stroking his antenna softly. He made an adorable whining sound. "Yeeeaaaah, I should stop before you start to enjoy yourself too much."

"Noooooo, keep gooooiiinnngg." ZIM drawled. Tak rolled her eyes.

"Alright, babe. Just don't drool on my lap."

"I won't make any promises."

**January 30, 2001**

"Dude! His party is tomorrow and you still haven't finished it yet?" Gaz asked. Red shushed her.

"Yes, I know! I couldn't think of anything to talk about! I have a severe case of writers block and you talking isn't helping me at all." Red said. "Can you go back up stairs to the banquet hall and see if the decorators are almost done?" Gaz sighed.

"I guess. Where's ZIM?"

"Tak is trying to distract him with other things as we get everything set up. We don't want him to see the hall yet." Red said, rubbing his head. "Does this look long enough to you?" He held up a piece of paper to Gaz. She squinted looking at it.

"Wow! Is that a whole page? Good boy!" Gaz feigned being impressed. Red scowled.

"Your sarcasm isn't appreciated here. Go do as I said." Red went back to writing the speech.

"Yes, _father_." Gaz spat the sentence out. Red waved her off not really paying any mind. Gaz crossed her arms and walked out of hotel room and to the lift to go to the highest level were the bar mitzvah was to be held.

She entered the banquet hall, eyes open all the way to get a good look. The banquet hall itself was elegant and have very expensive décor and even a few water fountains. It had to be expensive to rent it for the whole night. Red said it costed him a good five grand. That's not including the catering and waiters and waitresses serving.

Gaz scanned the area. It was a neat looking room. The walls were brick and the floor was hard wood. It gave it a rustic look whereas bright, green, exotic plants gave the room color. A pond with a small fountain flowed in the corner of the room. Coy fish swam happily in the cool water. A bar in the center of the room would be selling, or rather giving, a variety of alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages the next day. The lights were dim. Floral artwork hung on the walls. Tables lined the room with ritzy-looking, fine china and pure, white table clothes.

Gaz felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to face an elder man wearing a suit. "Excuse me miss. Are you friend of the bar mitzvah?" Gaz cocked her brow at the funny wording but then remembered that bar mitzvah meant, 'son of the commandment'.

"Uh, yeah. Zeiden. He's turning thirteen tomorrow."

"Right, right. He's a bar mitzvah." The man repeated. Gaz rolled her eyes.

"Yeeesss. He is." She said.

"Where is the coordinator of the ceremony? I must talk to him about the menu and procedure."

"He's in his hotel room. Do you want me to take you to him?"

"That would be wonderful. Yes." The man said. Gaz led him down a level and brought him to Red's room.

"He's in there. Careful though. He's a little stressed at the moment." Gaz said, then left. The man shrugged and knocked on the door. A curse was heard from the opposite side of the door followed by shuffling. Moments later Red opened the door.

"Yes?" Red asked.

"Hello, my name is Mr. Carlson. I'm catering for your son's bar mitzvah tomorrow." Red nodded and let the man in. He brought the older man to the coffee table and told him he may sit. Red took a seat in a chair next to him.

"He's not my son. But I sure do act like his father a lot of times." Carlson rose a bushy eyebrow.

"Then where is the father of the young one?" He asked. "He is the one who is in charge, yes?" Red shook his head.

"Our dad is probably dead. I'm Zeiden's legal guardian." Red explained. "I'm in charge in the ceremony." The man tilted his head in confusion but decided not to ask any personal questions.

"I see . . . Well, here's a list of what will be catered in tomorrow. This is what you ordered. I would like for you to read it over and make any changes that you'd like." The man handed Red a few sheets of paper. Red took them from him and skimmed the pages.

"Mmm 'kay. Lets see what we got here." He mumbled. Red asked ZIM awhile ago what kind of food he'd like to be served at the bar mitzvah. ZIM made it easy for him by simply saying, 'I don't care'. Red then chose to go with Mediterranean foods. "Pita bread and hummus, and Greek salad for appetizers. Lamb chops, salmon, veal, oyster dish, lobster . . . A bunch of other stuff. Yup, sounds about right to me."

"Great. The cuisines will be ready tomorrow by seven."

"Thank you, Mr. Carlson." The man nodded. He handed Red a slip of paper.

"Your bill, sir." Red looked at the small paper. Another five-hundred dollars to add to the expense of the party.

"Thank you. I'll have your money in either cash or credit when you get here tomorrow." Red shook Carlson's hand and the man left. Red slumped down in his seat. He looked at his speech. "Oh my God. There is just no way I'm gonna get this done by tomorrow."

**January 31, 1996**

ZIM was impressed. The banquet hall was absolutely breath taking! The decor, the setting, the zen-like atmosphere! It was amazing! All his friends, co-workers, relatives, and friend's of friends were packed into the room. He was to greet them upon entering by deleting out hugs and kisses. They'd receive his greeting and say a happy birthday back. Once they were welcomed, escorts brought them to their seats for the ceremony. After the ceremony, the actual party could start.

"Come on, ZIM. Everyone is here. We have to start the fanfare." Red said. He pulled ZIM out of the room. "This is just the introduction. I'm going first with Leslie. Then Zee and Mark are going in. Then Tenn and Peder. You'll be the last one going in. Got that?"

"Like a wedding reception?"

"Yes, like a wedding reception." Red fixed ZIM's black kippah on his head then adjusted his bright blue and white prayer shawl around his shoulders. ZIM stood figuratively tall in his black suit. It made Red proud at how grown up ZIM looked. "You look great." Red said.

"Thanks." ZIM said. He gave Red a hug around his waist. "The D.J. is playing your intro song, you should probably get going." Red nodded. He walked to the double door entrance to the hall and wrapped his arm around Leslie's waist.

"Ladies and gents! The brother and sister-in-law of the bar mitzvah!" The D.J. announced. Red walked into the room with his head held high, smiling brightly as the party guests clapped for them. The couple walked to the front of the room and took a seat at their long rectangular table, just like one at a wedding party. "The sister and friend of the bar mitzvah!" Zee and Mark went in next taking their spots in their chairs at the table as well. "The sister and other brother from another mother of the bar mitzvah!" Tenn and Purple were laughing as they entered. They waved at their friends as they too took a seat. "The bar mitzvah's girlfriend, and last, but surely not least, our bar mitzvah tonight! Zeiden Macale!" ZIM walked down the aisle, arm-in-arm with Tak. Every guest stood and cheered for him. He nodded and grinned and even shook some hands and gave some hugs as he made his way to his seat in the middle of the table. He sat still smiling. Tak was sitting at the table next to Tenn. He waved to her. She blew him a kiss back. ZIM was sitting next to Red on his right and the rabbi on his left. The rabbi stood.

"Welcome everyone. Tonight is a night of celebration." He announced. "Tonight is when this young boy becomes a young man." ZIM sighed. This was the boring part of the ceremony. The rabbi dragged on about what it meant to be a bar mitzvah and read a few scriptures from the torah as well as the bible since they were Messianic Jews, it was necessary to read from both. "Would the grandfather of the bar mitzvah please recite a _ha-motzi_?" An elder Irken man stood up from one of the first tables in the front. He turned to the guests. He cleared his throat before speaking. ZIM lowered his head and closed his eyes listening to the blessing his grandfather rattled off. After the prayer they partook in the meal. Laughing, making conversation, fellowshipping. ZIM was excited about the whole party. The boring part was over. But before the real fun began, Red had to give a little speech. ZIM was curious to see what his brother had to say. Red looked uneasy and a little nervous.

"Hey, if you don't want to say that speech, you don't have to." Red looked at ZIM.

"Oh no. I really want to. I can't just not say it because I'm nervous. I gotta get over myself. Tonight is about you and you only. Not me." Red said. Twenty minutes later, everyone seemed to be wrapping up their meal and talking joyfully. All having a blast. That was Red's cue. He took the microphone from the master of ceremonies and got everyone's attention.

"The brother of the bar mitzvah will now speak." The master said. Red nodded to the man and rose the mic to his face.

"It's time for a speech. Are we excited?" The party goers clapped and whistled. "Okay then, you guys may speak for yourselves, because I'm delivering the speech . . . and well, that just ain't fun for me." The guests chuckled. Red smirked looking down at ZIM sitting right next to him. Red walked over closer to him and put a hand on ZIM's shoulder. "I'd like to start by thanking those of you who have travelled a great distance to attend the party with us tonight. Whether it be from the States or the Kimberley, we appreciate your continuous love and support. I'd also like to thank my grandparents for calming me down when the hotel screwed up the reservations. Shit happens . . ." Red muttered the last part. Cackles erupted from the audience. "Anyway! Zeiden Macale Junior! My unique, fun-loving, insane, little smeet brother! We've been on many adventures since the day he first got here. A few of which I'd like to share with you guys right now." ZIM's eyes widened, hoping Red wouldn't tell an embarrassing story.

"It was a hot summer day in Alice Springs about eight years ago. ZIM just turned five and thought he was invincible . . . _and_ apparently invisible, for that matter. On this particular hot day, I was paying no mind to young ZIM wandering around the house, being too engrossed in my college work."

"Oh God . . ." ZIM mumbled, knowing exactly what story Red was about to tell. Red chuckled.

"ZIM never liked wearing clothes, especially when it was as hot as that day. So unbeknownst to me, ZIM suddenly became an exhibitionist and decided to go outside and run around for a little bit." ZIM flushed as the guests laughed. Oh how he wanted Red to shut up right now! His friends were listening! "After what I assume to be a half an hour I heard a knock on the front door. Before I could answer it, however, I heard ZIM screaming on the other side of the door. As I open it I see a naked, muddy ZIM being held by a policeman while biting the poor man's ear trying to break free of him." The people in the area lost it. Everyone was laughing, except ZIM. He looked close to attacking Red. "I took ZIM away from the guy and he told me to keep the kid on a leash. I should've taken his advice." Red said. "I brought ZIM into the living room, still naked and dirty and interrogated him. When I asked him what the heck he was doing outside as nude as the day of his birth, his response was simply, 'Global warming made me do it'." The people's laughter grew. ZIM was glad it was over, until Red started to talk again. "Two years later, when we lived in Michigan for three years. ZIM and I were at a Tiger's game in Detroit. Yes, it was another hot day, and yes this story does have nudity in it as well."

"_Reeeed_." ZIM whined.

"We got great seats behind home plate and ZIM's favorite pitcher was starting, so as you can imagine, ZIM was a little . . . ecstatic." Red chuckled. "They were playing the Indians that day and since Cleveland, Ohio isn't that far from Detroit at all, a lot of Indian fans came to watch the game. We were sitting in between a group of teenage Indian fans and a couple of rather large, portly Indian fan men." ZIM buried his face into his hands. "And since it was so hot that day and Cleveland was loosing miserably, the Indian fans seemed to be getting increasingly irritated, and ZIM standing on his chair and pointing his finger at them while yelling' 'In! Your! Face!' every time the Tigers got another run or made a good play wasn't helping at all." The audience laughed again. "Finally, seventh inning rolled around and the fans around us seemed to blow when ZIM went on another one of his crazy 'In your face!' rampages. One of the portly fellows stood up and glared at ZIM telling him to shut up. Well, if you know ZIM like I do, you'd know ZIM does _not_ like to be told to shut up." A lot of guests nodded in agreement. "So you know what ZIM did? He took off his shirt and exclaimed as loudly as possible that the man was cranky and he needed a big hug." The audience laughed hard. "At first I didn't know why he took off his shirt, but when ZIM wrapped his arms around the stranger and pulled his Tiger's shirt over the man's head, it became very clear to me that ZIM was trying to suffocate the Cleveland fan." Red laughed with the audience. Once they calmed down he continued. "When we got kicked out for the rest of the game and we were on our way home I started to question him about the incident and he once again blamed his actions on global warming."

"I'm going to kill you." ZIM muttered, face still buried in hands.

"The reason why I told you these stories is because . . . Zeiden is unique and unlike anybody else in this entire universe. You'll never meet someone quite like him. It's his audacity and ridiculousness that makes him such a great, humorous friend and brother." Red said. "The first time I saw ZIM was under a dire situation. Our mother was dead, our father was missing, ZIM's life was in my hands. I raised him as if he were my son. I brought him up how my parents brought me up. I took care of him and loved him unconditionally. He was my pride and joy, so to speak. I was and still am very proud of him. He's matured into a very talented, handsome, and inde-" Red choked up. He gave himself a moment before speaking again. "Independent young man . . . He's grown up too fast in my opinion. I som-someti- . . . sometimes- oh my God, I can't do this." Red bit his lip, trying to collect himself. He gave himself another moment.

"Red?" ZIM looked up at him. Red continued on.

"I sometimes wish he was still a smeet that needed me for everything-" Red looked down, allowing a few tears to slip from his closed eyes. "Even though he's now a man, he'll still be my sweet, little smeet brother- No! Zeiden! Nooo! I don't want you to grow up!" Red finally snapped, tears pouring out of his eyes. He dropped his mic and picked ZIM up and hugged the boy tightly, crying into ZIM's shoulder. ZIM smiled gently and hugged Red back. Allowing himself to be cradled by his older brother. ZIM knew good and well that Red missed the younger him, so why not pretend to be younger for him just for the moment? Red cried hard, squeezing ZIM and begging him to stop growing up so fast. The audience watched, awing and cooing at the adorable sight.

"Red, you were right when you said that I'll always be your sweet, little smeet brother." ZIM whispered to him. "I'm proud to be your sweet, little smeet and I'm not afraid to admit it." Red sobbed. ZIM brushed his older brother's antenna in a comforting manner. A minute later Red finally calmed down enough to finish the speech.

"ZIM, I'm so glad I was blessed with such a wonderful brother like you! I want you to have a great rest of your bar mitzvah, so let's get on with it. Mazel tov!"

"Mazel tov!" The audience cheered in response. ZIM smiled. Suddenly a bunch of party goers took him from Red's arms and lifted him high in the air, singing and chanting the upbeat mazel tov song as the D.J. played it over the speakers. ZIM laughed, gleefully as he surfed the crowd. All were dancing and singing. It was a celebration to remember for sure.

**Later**

"This next game is for the ladies." The D.J. announced. ZIM was standing in the middle of the floor with a blindfold on smiling broadly. "The rules of the game are, any women . . . or heck, even a man or two, comes up to Zeiden and kisses him." ZIM laughed. "The object of the game is that ZIM must guess who had just kissed him. Relatives, friends, anyone can play. Just don't be creepy about it." ZIM smiled. "Are you ready ZIM?" He nodded. "Alright first contestant." The crowd of people all gathered in a big circle with ZIM in the middle. An elderly Irken woman stepped forward first and walked over to ZIM. The young Irken boy waited, somewhat nervously. He felt a pair of lips on his cheek for a very dry, quick kiss. "Who was it, Zimmy?"

"Uhh . . . Aunt Mary?"

"Nope, try again." The D.J. said. The elder woman kissed his cheek again.

"Aunt Kylie?" The elder woman smiled and nodded.

"Great job, Z! Got it on the second try!" The D.J. said. ZIM's aunt gave him one last kiss then went back out to the circle. Tenn stepped in next. She pulled ZIM in for a hug then gave him a big, wet kiss on his forehead. ZIM grunted at his restriction.

"It's Tenn." He stated, wiping the drool off his head. Tenn grinned.

"You know me so well!" She swayed a bit in her embrace with him. ZIM fixed the blindfold on his head as Tenn made her way back. Replacing Tenn was Leslie. She put both hands on ZIM's cheeks and gently kissed his forehead.

"Leslie." He said, quickly, recognizing the method.

"Ugh, dang kid, you're good at this!" She exclaimed. Gaz approached ZIM in the middle of the circle next. She leaned forward and pecked him in the corner of his mouth.

"Zee?"

"Nope. Try again." The D.J. said.

"Kirra?"

"Nuh-uh."

"A stranger?"

"Hah. Ya right."

"Gaz?"

"There you go!" The D.J. finally said. ZIM smirked. Red and Purple looked at one another smirking.

"Doooo iiiiiitt." Red said. Purple chuckled and quietly went to the center of the circle. A few giggles were heard from the spectators. Purple cupped ZIM's chin and kissed the boy on the lips. ZIM cocked a suspicious brow through the blindfold. It was a dry kiss but only a kiss a girlfriend would give her boyfriend. After a few short seconds Purple pulled away. ZIM stood as still as possible. He then slowly reached up and pulled his blindfold down. ZIM gasped.

"Ahhh! Oh my God!" ZIM screeched. The room bursted into fits of laughter. ZIM, hiding his smile as much as possible, punched Purple's arm hard. The older Irken laughed and retreated back to the outside if the circle. ZIM blushed furiously. "I'm going to kill you! Oh my God . . ." ZIM feverishly rubbed his lips, letting out a long breath. He put his fold back over his eyes. "You suck." When the laughter died down Zee went to her brother next. She kissed him on his temple. ZIM couldn't tell who it was by the kiss but rather by the perfume.

"Zee." He said. His older sister patted his head.

"Nice, mate." She said. ZIM's friends looked at one another. Timmy grinned evilly and went into the circle next, but instead of kissing him, he grabbed ZIM by the legs of his pants and yanked the black dress pants down. ZIM gasped with horror and tore off his blind fold. He stood in the center of the circle, hot pink boxers exposed to everyone at the party. ZIM pulled his pants up immediately and glared at Timmy who was laughing with his friends. ZIM ran to him and tackled his friend to the ground. The boys rolled around, wrestling each other, laughing joyously as they did so. Soon ZIM got back up and went back into the circle again. He placed the blindfold on him once again.

"Last one! Let's make it a good one!" The D.J. said. Several people looked at Tak. She stared at them back and shrugged. She confidently walked to the middle. Tak rested a hand on ZIM's hip. The other hand ran two fingers across his jaw line, urging him to open his mouth. ZIM smiled, already knowing who it was and gladly gaped his mouth so she could sneak her tongue in. ZIM placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him. The observers all started to whistle and make all sorts of catcalls at the couple kissing in the middle of the dance floor. Tak winked at their audience and brought her hand around behind ZIM and grabbed his butt, squeezing and fondling it. The audience cheered of approval at Tak's move. ZIM just snickered through the kiss, not caring who saw Tak touching him like that. It was exhilarating really. Tak pulled away at long last.

"Who was it, ZIM?" The D.J. asked.

"Well I certainly hope it wasn't one of my cousins." ZIM said jokingly. The crowd laughed. ZIM took off his blindfold and kissed Tak again on the lips.

"Alright! The next thing on the agenda . . . The sibling dance. If ZIM's sisters would please make their way to the center of the dance floor, that would be wonderful." ZIM waited till Tenn and Zee came to him.

"You're dancing with me first." Tenn said. The lights darkened. The song 'Count on Me' by Whitney Houston played over the speakers. ZIM got closer to his older sister and put his hands on her waist. Her own hands placed themselves on his shoulders. ZIM tilted his head down and leaned it against her stomach. "You tired?" ZIM nodded.

"It's been a long day." ZIM said.

"Yeah, it has, hasn't it?" Tenn pulled him closer. The two swayed to the soothing music, listening to the meaningful lyrics. After awhile Tenn sung quietly along to the song. ZIM closed his eyes holding his older sister lovingly. Her hand petted his antenna in a relaxing fashion. As they danced, Zee watched with an uncertain look on her face. When the song was done, she took Tenn's place and danced with her little brother. The song they danced to was 'I'll be There' by the Jackson 5. After a few moments into the song, Zee spoke up.

"Zeiden,"

"Huh?"

"I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"For what I said to you awhile back. I called you an awful brother and a brat. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any of it."

"I know you didn't."

"Zeiden, I'm going to tell you something. Promise me you wont cry?" ZIM looked up at her with a worried expression.

"What?" He asked.

"Promise me."

"Wh-what is it? Tell me." He begged. Zee sighed, drawing him closer to her, hugging him while dancing to the song.

"I'm moving out. I'm going to be living with Mark. We're moving to Russia in a few months. He has to work at an oil rig there and he didn't want to leave me." ZIM's eyes went wide. He was shocked.

"What?" He whispered. "Y-you can't go." He pouted.

"I'm sorry, honey." She hugged him tighter. "It's probably better this way."

"Don't say that!" ZIM cried, grabbing a lot of people's attention. "You can't just leave me!"

"Shhh shhh, sweetie, please." Zee said, wiping a stray tear from ZIM's eye. "I don't want you to take it so hard."

"Zannah, I don't want you to leave!" He said, burying his face into her torso. "You c-can't go." ZIM started to sob. Zee frowned, letting a few tears of her own escape.

"Zimmy, I need you to be strong, understanding, and supportive. It's my decision, Hun." ZIM shook with angst.

"Y-you can't g-go." ZIM whimpered. Zee bent her head down, kissing the top of his head.

"Please, don't make this so hard for yourself, ZIM. Please, just understand." Zee said as calmly as she could. ZIM sniffed.

"You have to stay." ZIM whined. "Please." Zee sighed. She knew this was going to be hard. She picked ZIM up and rested him in her hip, still swaying to the song.

"_And oh, I'll be there to comfort you, build my world of dreams around you. I'm so glad that I found you. I'll be there with a love that's strong. I'll be your strength, I'll keep holding on._" Zee sang softly to ZIM with the song. "_I'll be there. Don't you know baby, yeah. I'll be there. I'll be there. Just call my name, I'll be there._" ZIM balled into her shoulders as she sang. His shoulders shuddering. He held on to her tightly, not in the least bit ready to let go of her. The song started to come to a close. "Zeiden?" ZIM pulled back to look at her.

"Yeah?"

"It'll be alright." She pulled him back in for another hug. He then whispered,

"I sure hope so."

**February 5, 2001**

ZIM watched as Tak gracefully slid across the ice in her purple, sequenced dress. She was gorgeous and perfect. It was ZIM's first time watching her competitively figure skate. ZIM didn't know anything about figure skating, but he did know for a fact that Tak was amazing. Always sticking her landings without a problem. ZIM smiled when the crowed _oo_'d at a particular hard move that she nailed. ZIM wasn't doubting her for a second. She had talent. A few spins, leaps, and jumps later her time was up and she slid off the ice into the tunnel that led to the locker rooms.

"Why don't you go down and talk to her. She was a nervous wreck before she went on tonight. She needs reassurances that she did fine." Mrs. Griffon whispered to ZIM. The young boy nodded.

"Sure thing, Sib." He stood and walked down to the area where he met Tak before she went on. They allowed access to him to enter the locker room and he found Tak sitting on a bench retying her skates. She looked up and saw him. She grinned.

"Hi." She said. She was still out of breath from her run.

"Hi." He came closer to her. Tak stood up, wobbly on the concrete ground and gave him a hug. "You look amazing, Takayla . . . and beautiful."

"Thank you." She said with an indefinite sound to her voice. ZIM tilted his head.

"Is something wrong? You usually talk a lot more." ZIM said. Tak trembled, her bottom lip quivering.

"I messed up on my double axel, ZIM! The judges are gonna mark me down for it!" She shook with fear of what the outcome of her mistake would be. ZIM cocked a brow. He didn't even realize she messed up.

"Well what did you do?"

"My ankle collapsed!" She cried. "How could you not see that? I nearly fell!" ZIM looked at her with a blank expression.

"If I couldn't even tell you messed up, then it couldn't have been that bad." He finally said. Tak's scowl vanished slightly. She sighed.

"Maybe you're right. I'm just blowing up a small mistake out of proportion." She said. Tak sat down again. "It really wasn't bad?" ZIM shook his head. "You didn't notice?"

"No, I swear I couldn't even tell you flubbed." ZIM said, in all honesty. Tak looked down at her lap. ZIM smiled, reaching in his jean pocket and pulling out a small object. "I got you something." Tak glanced up at him. "Close your eyes." Tak smiled and did. ZIM put whatever he was holding around her neck. Tak opened her eyes and looked down, gasping at what she saw.

"Zeiden, I love it!"

"You better!" ZIM cleared his throat. "Excuse me, this thing comes with an introduction." He said. "Behold! For what thou wear-th around thy neck is the rarest, fairest, gemstone in this galaxy . . . actually it's the second. Anyways, it's called red diamond. It costs two point five million dollars per carat. This one in particular was mined in Australia, mah homeland, ya dig?"

"How many carats is this then? It looks pretty big." Tak asked, fingering the pendent around her neck.

"The gem has fifty carats. Costed me one-hundred twenty-five million. The chain is white gold." ZIM said. Tak's jaw dropped. Without warning Tak lunged herself at him, knocking him down to the floor. He grunted when he hit the concrete with the additional weight of Tak on top of him. He looked at their current pose and saw Tak had lodged herself in between his legs that were bent upward. Her hips fit snug between his thighs.

"Oh my God, Zeiden! You didn't have to do that!" She exclaimed, hugging him and burying her face into the nook of his neck.

"But I really wanted to." ZIM said. She pulled back and looked down on him lovingly.

"I love you so much." She said softly. ZIM smirked.

"Prove it." He tested her. Tak leaned her head down and touched foreheads.

"Then I will." She grinned and snuck a hand up his shirt. Tak closed her eyes and brushed her lips against ZIM's. He also closed his eyes to enjoy the moment. His hands made their way in her lower back and pressed her body more into his. Tak kissed his lips gently and caressed his chest. Her other hand ran up and down his thigh, from his knee back down to his hip. ZIM groaned, urging her to touch him further. The hand that was one his hip trailed over to the front of his pants and unbuttoned the button and slowly unzipped his pants. Tak, ever so subtly, started to pull the jeans down as she kissed her little man. ZIM ran his hand over her bottom and cupped her buttocks. She pulled away from the kiss and snatched his hand away from her rear and set it back up on her back. ZIM had to learn that she didn't like to be touched they way she touched him. She liked to touch him but when it came to being touched, that was a different story. Tak pressed her lips against his again. This time kissing him a little more greedily. "You convinced yet?"

"Mmm . . . I think I might need a bit more . . . persuasion." ZIM gave her a cocky grin. Tak snickered.

"Alright, you asked for it." She scooted down so her face was directly above ZIM's pelvis.

"What are you-" ZIM felt Tak's teeth bite down on the elastic of his boxers and pull them up then released them letting the band snap back down. ZIM chuckled as her warm breath blew on his lower abdomen. Tak bit his underwear playfully pulling them down almost far enough that she could see his private area. She buried her face in his pelvis to tease him. He burst into laughter. It tickled him. Their fun was cut short by a booming voice.

"What the hell are you two doing?" ZIM gulped. Leslie, being her normal nosy self apparently sent herself to spy on the two Irkens. When she entered the locker room she was horrified to see Tak's face plunged in between ZIM's hips and ZIM letting it happen, in fact, even being happy about it. ZIM blushed madly, sitting up. Tak withdrew from being on top of him and fixed her dress. ZIM pulled his pants back up to proper height and zipped it up again. "Dear lord, I can't leave you two anywhere without you doing something disgusting like that." Leslie stormed over to ZIM and grabbed him by the arm. He looked at Tak and winked at her as his sister-in-law led him out.

"We weren't gonna go far, Les. We were just messing around."

"Uh huh, sure." She grumbled, pulling him along.

"And what we were doing isn't as nearly as disgusting compared to what you and my brother do in the bedroom." Leslie stopped, turning to face him.

"Yes but we're _married_." She pointed out. "It's not gross when you're married." ZIM rolled his eyes.

"It is if your married to my brother . . ."

**February 6, 2001**

ZIM smiled, closing his laptop contently. He just finished reading an article about Larry. His first song . . . didn't do so good. In fact, it did so bad that critics didn't even bother reviewing it. ZIM turned to his friends sitting with him at a table in the studio's cafeteria.

"You guys wanna know something neat?" He asked. A big dopey grin plastered on his face.

"What?" Dib asked.

"I'm selling my penthouse in Meijour. My family is investing in building a four story house." ZIM's friends looked at him.

"Zeiden, if it's four story's tall, it's not a house, it's a mansion." Dib pointed out.

". . . I know, I was trying to sound modest. Besides, the bottom floor will be underground, so above ground It'll look only three stories high." ZIM said. "Anyway! We hired top of the line professionals to make the blueprints. We're locating the home out of the city and to the west coast of the country of Terica on the Malorrah Ocean."

"Irk has countries? I thought I was all one big mass of land." Chester said. ZIM shook his head.

"Huh! No! Where'd you hear that from? That's like me saying that earth had no water and was just land. No, Irk has like fifteen countries, all of which have several provinces or states." ZIM informed them.

"I never knew that either. What else does Irk and Earth have in common?" A.J. asked. ZIM shrugged.

"Lots of stuff. Have similar government control systems. Irk as a whole is a parliamentary democracy. We have sports, wars against other countries. Irk it kind of one big country despite all the tinier countries. We call it a Mega Republic-Democratic Country-World."

"Country world?" A.J. inquired.

"Well, you know how some counties here have City-States? Think of it as earth being known entirely as the United States. Then you have all your other individual countries."

"Oh . . . I see . . . I think."

"There is no better way to describe it. Sorry." ZIM said. "Any who, after the rehearsal I signed up and got a membership at a sporting facility to help condition for baseball this spring. Y'all wanna come with?"

"I might as well. I have nothing else to do." Timmy said.

"Yeah me too." Dib said.

"Well, if I want to try out for the team it'll probably be good for me." Chester said. "Where is it?"

"Somewhere downtown. Just wait till you see my new vehicle! I just bought it yesterday!" ZIM said, excitedly. "I feel so empowered driving it."

**Later**

"Four wheel drive, diesel, brand new, dark blue, Chevy Silverado. Got the parts sent here from Silao, Mexico and assembled right here in L.A., California. Thinking about getting lifts on 'er. Doesn't it make me look awesome?" ZIM asked, sitting on the hood of the massive truck.

"It makes you look smaller than you already are, Z." Timmy chuckled. "It doesn't really fit you." ZIM frowned.

"Yeah, big toys are for big boys, Zimmy." Chester laughed with Timmy. ZIM sat there on the hood of his truck with an unamused look.

"Guys stop. If he was tall enough to crawl unto the hood, then he's big enough to drive the truck." Dib defended him.

"Pfft! He didn't crawl on the hood by himself! Remember? He had to step on my back and get boosted up." Timmy said.

"Do you guys seriously not like it?" ZIM asked. "Because I was really getting sick of looking like a pretty boy, city slicker in my Mustang."

"Chill ZIM, we all know you're not a city slicker." Timmy said. "I mean how could we think that? You were born and raised in the boondocks of Australia."

". . . Do you wanna take a ride?" ZIM asked.

"I thought you had-" Dib was cut off by ZIM's phone going off.

"Hold on," ZIM said answering the phone. "Yes?"

"_Jalokia is here again. Needs to talk to you._" Tenn replied.

"He's at our home?" ZIM asked.

"_Yes, so get here quick. He's waiting for you._"

"Okay." ZIM sighed hanging up. He looked at his friends. "You guys wanna stop at my house for a little bit?" They shrugged. ZIM smiled. "Get in guys." ZIM opened the large door to the drivers side and jumped in. The other four boys either got in the backseat of the can or the front. When Timmy entered he noticed something quite humorous.

"Are you sitting in a booster seat, Zeiden?" The Irken turned on the truck, blushing madly. He knew he was gonna get shit for that.

"I couldn't see over the steering wheel, okay? Leave me alone!"

"How are you reaching the peddles?"

"I had it specially assembled to fit me." ZIM mumbled. "Costed me an extra five grand to do that . . . You're gonna make fun of me for that too!"

**Later**

"You've got to be kidding."

"I'm being serious, ZIM."

"Hah! I knew it!" ZIM chirped. "I totally saw it coming!"

"You saw that coming?" Jalokia asked.

"Yes! Apparently a lot of Irkens think my life is interesting enough for a reality T.V. show." ZIM said. Dib was smiling next to him.

"So what do you say, Zeiden?"

"Well . . . I have to ask my brothers and sister-in-law. They're the ones in charge." ZIM said.

"Make sure they consider it." Jalokia said. "I think this could be really good for your career."

"Ehhhh, alright. I'll talk to them. Any idea when it would start if I say yes?"

"It really depends. Just talk with your siblings. Get it okay'd and call me as soon as you get consent." Jalokia said. "I have to leave now. I have a new secretary and he can't be left alone for more than a minute without messing up some files." Jalokia nodded to ZIM and his friends and beamed himself back to Irk.

"He seems nice. That's your music producer?" Timmy asked.

"Yeah, and he is nice." ZIM said. "So what do ya guys think?"

"About the reality T.V. show? I think it seems pretty neat. Can I be in it?" Chester asked.

"Mate, I don't know how a reality T.V. show works, but I'm guessing whoever is involved in my life gets to be in it." Chester stared at ZIM blankly.

"Is that a yes?" ZIM rolled his eyes. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Purple enter the house covered in dog hair.

"Peder! C'mere a minute!" ZIM called for him. Purple looked at ZIM and entered the kitchen taking a seat by the table. "You playing with the dogs again?"

"Obviously. I've been training them like you were supposed to help me do." Purple said.

"Sorry, been preoccupied."

"What do you want?" He asked.

"I have a proposition-"

"Oh God."

"No! It ain't bad! Jalokia just told me that we had an offering by Ractur Studios to have a reality T.V. show." ZIM said. Purple pressed his palm to his eye. "What say you, Dr. Kinley?"

"I'm leaning towards no, but overall it goes to the elder of the house. Ask Leslie."

"Leslie will never agree to it! She doesn't like being in front of cameras." ZIM said, remembering the time she went to Irk with Red and got bombarded with paparazzi asking her questions like, 'What is it like to be married to Irk's sexiest man?' That trip really pissed her off.

"Then I guess the answer is no." Purple said.

"Come ooon!" ZIM whined. "Think about it! It could be fun."

"Having cameras follow you around everywhere and get no privacy or alone time? That doesn't sound like fun."

"They'd only come to film an episode a day every week or so." ZIM said. Purple looked at ZIM.

"Yeah right. Why don't you ask Red. He's the only other celebrity in this household." ZIM frowned.

"You guys stay here." He told his friends. ZIM went searching and found him in his office. Red had his face in his hands, arms resting on the desk. He was breathing as if he was crying. "Red?" ZIM asked, making a gentle approach. "What's wrong?" Red looked up at ZIM with tear soaked cheeks. He quickly wiped them away, pretending ZIM didn't see them.

"What's up, ZIM?" He asked with a weak voice.

"Are you avoiding my question?"

"Nothing is wrong, Z." Red said. ZIM looked unconvinced. "What do you need?"

"We were asked if we would like to have a reality T.V. show on Irk."

"Uhh . . . Yeah, sure whatever." Red muttered. ZIM got closer to his brother, crawling on his lap and staring at him.

"What's going on?" ZIM asked again. Red shook his head.

"Nothing." ZIM scowled. Red wouldn't meet ZIM's eye. It bothered ZIM when he did that. Red was always saying how much he hated liars when he, himself, has just lied to ZIM's face and is still trying to pass off whatever it is he's upset about as, 'nothing'.

"Why are you lying?" ZIM snapped.

"Zeiden, I don't want to tell you!"

"And why not?" ZIM yelled.

"Because I can't trust you, you won't tell Leslie!"

"About?"

"No!"

"Tell me!"

"Zeiden, no!"

"Why is it so important that not even your own wife can know?" ZIM shouted. Red never kept secrets from Leslie. Never ever would he even dare think about keeping one from her. They were too involved in each other's lives to not share every single detail to one another.

"Because it'll upset her!"

"Why?"

"It just will!"

"That doesn't answer anything!"

"I can't let her know!"

"Know what?"

"I'm pregnant!" Red finally blurted out. ZIM's jaw dropped. Red bursted into fresh sheets of tears making ZIM extremely confused. Why was that a bad thing? Red bore a smeet, that's great!

". . . I don't understand." ZIM whispered. Red was covering his face in shame. His antenna were pressed firmly against his head.

"I'm aborting it, Zeiden." He whimpered. "Before Les can find out." ZIM's heart seemed to shattered.

"How could you do that?" ZIM grabbed Red's wrists and yanked his hands away from his eyes. "Your own flesh and blood, and you want to kill it?"

"It's not like that!"

"Then what is it then?" ZIM questioned.

"It's going to die anyway! I just don't want to go through the heart break of when it finally happens." Red croaked. "Irken-Human hybrids will not survive. Our anatomy from humans is just way too different. I did research on it. Our child cannot survive under any circumstances."

"How would you know?"

"I'm a biologist, Zeiden! Think about it!" Red growled. ZIM looked from his eyes to his stomach. "I'm not showing yet, ZIM."

"How did you find out?"

"I wasn't feeling well. I went to the doctors by myself just awhile ago and they told me I had conceived."

"How? Leslie is infertile."

"Yes she is, but I'm very much fertile. Irkens are extremely versatile and can use any kind of sexually transmitted bodily fluids to get themselves pregnant. Her female ejaculate got inside of me when my member went back into my sheath, fertilizing one of my eggs in the process." ZIM frowned deeply. Red looked devastated and miserable.

"Red, you can't kill it. What if you're wrong? What if it lives?"

"It won't, ZIM!"

"Miracles, Red! They happen!" ZIM tried to shake some sense into his brother.

"I can't rely on a miracle, Zeiden. I'm getting an abortion." Red said. That was final for him. ZIM wanted to punch him for being so stupid.

"Murderer." ZIM slid off Red's lap and stalked out of the room, leaving a sobbing Red behind. ZIM closed the office door and was surprised to see his friends eavesdropping. ZIM growled and pointed at them. "You can _not_ tell anyone what you had just heard!" They looked shocked but nodded. ZIM pushed past them and when up stairs they lingered behind, following him to his room.

"Zeiden . . ." Dib started quietly. "We're sorry. It was none of our business."

"Yeah, we thought you guys were going to talk about the T.V. show." Timmy said. ZIM sighed.

"We just need to get things sorted out." ZIM muttered. "I can't let my brother do that to himself and to his smeet."

"What are you going to do?" Chester asked.

"I have to tell Leslie. It's her smeet too. She has a say in what happens to it."

"Dude, your brother is going to kill you." Timmy said.

"If he's not afraid to kill his own offspring, I wouldn't be surprised if he felt okay to kill his own brother either." ZIM said. "That's a chance I'm going to take though. This is serious. He's scared and confused."

"We're here for ya, bro." Chester said, the three other boys nodding in agreement.

"Thanks. Just help me pray to Yahweh that the outcome of this all is good." A moment of silence passed.

"ZIM?"

"Yeah, Dib?"

". . . I'm not religious."

". . . Oh yeah."

**February 24, 2001**

"Oh my God! Someone call 911!" A stage hand shouted frantically. Several people started to surround the scene.

"We need a medic!" Another cried.

"Move! Move!" ZIM pushed past the people and fell on his knees next to his fallen brother. "Red this has gone on long enough! They need to know!" Red panted looking up at the ceiling.

"No . . . No one can know." He wheezed.

"Red, please! If you don't, I will!" ZIM urged his brother. Red sat up groaning. His belly was slightly swollen but people would only guess that he put on a few pounds. Red wiped sweat off his brow.

"Zeiden, I don't need this." He stood up on his feet, wobbling quite a bit. "I'm alright everyone. Just dehydrated." He announced. A few hands offered a water bottle to him and he took one gratefully. ZIM snatched the plastic bottle out of his hand.

"Tell them." ZIM hissed. Red closed his eyes and held his head, swaying back and forth.

"Oh! He's going down again!" A couple of workers rushed to his side just in time before he could fall all the way to the ground. ZIM wanted to scream in frustration. He looked behind him where his co-stars and friends were looking on.

"He needs to go home. We can't have him fainting on us every minute." Jhonen said, coming up to the scene. "Zeiden, will you call someone to come get him."

"I'm fine!" Red insisted. "I'm fine, this is normal."

"Red, fainting isn't normal. You're sick." Jhonen said. Red sat up once more.

"Stay down. If you stand you may collapse again." A stage hand said, pushing Red down. The Irken slapped the man's hands away.

"I told you, I'm fine!"

"And moody . . . It's like he's pregnant or something." ZIM said, dropping his first hint. Red shot a death glare at his younger brother.

"Hah! That's a good one, ZIM." Red gritted his teeth. ZIM sighed. Keef ran up beside him.

"Is he okay?" Keef asked, looking at Red. "Hey, have you gained weight? You have a pudge." Keef asked Red. The older Irken stood up quickly, stumbling a bit, ignoring several people who told him to stay down and relax. Red hurried out of the busy soundstage almost running into a few studio officials on the way out. Jhonen ordered some hands to follow Red to make sure he didn't faint again. The man then looked back at ZIM. Eyebrow raised.

"What's with him?" He asked. ZIM shifted his eyes, left to right.

"I'm not sure if I should tell you but . . . I feel as if I have to, however."

"What is it?" Jhonen asked. ZIM didn't say anything. The Irken boy looked at Keef. Jhonen got what ZIM wanted. "Go away, Keef. ZIM and I need to talk alone." The orange haired boy just smiled and pranced away as happy as can be. "Now tell me." ZIM took a deep breath before letting out the truth.

"He's pregnant. He's already a month and a half in, that means he's got four months left." Jhonen was flabbergasted.

"The studio has strict rules about making pregnant people work here. There is lots of restrictions and papers that need to be signed. It's something they need to know. Are you sure he's . . ." Jhonen trailed off. ZIM nodded.

"Positive. Red never let's himself go like that. I never seen him with a lower abdominal bulge like he has now." ZIM said. "What are we going to do?" Jhonen scratched his head.

"I need to confront him about it." He said. ZIM bit his lip.

"Okay, but not just yet. Let me tell his wife about it tonight then you can talk to him tomorrow. I want her to find out before he finds out you know." Jhonen nodded.

"Alright, ZIM. You do what you must. You have the rest of the day off. Take your brother home, tell his wife, then bring him back here tomorrow. This cannot be ignored. The studio is very nosy about their employees' health." ZIM nodded again, turning to leave. ZIM felt like he was in some serious shit. He probably was.

**Later**

"Leslie?" The woman looked up from her book. She set it next to her in the bed and beckoned ZIM to enter. The young boy did and took a seat next to her on the bed.

"What's on your mind, Zei-Zei."

"A lot . . . I need to tell you something important." He said. Leslie grunted, telling ZIM that she was listening. "You know how Red has been acting up lately?"

"Yes. He told me when he went to the doctors they said it was just a result from his concussion."

"Well, what he told you is bull shit." Leslie looked at ZIM.

"How so?"

"Les, he's with child. He's over a month in." Leslie looked shocked, staring at ZIM for a long time.

"No . . . That can't be-"

"But it is, and he's planning on aborting your child if you don't do anything about it right now." Leslie didn't know what to say. She remained quiet for a long time. Soaking it in.

"Zeiden, you can't be serious."

"I am, Leslie. I joke around a lot but I'd never kid about abortion." ZIM said. That seemed to convince her.

"My God . . ." Leslie whispered. Tears streaming down her face. "How could he even consider doing something like that without even telling me! It's my baby too!"

"That's what I said, Les. You need to talk to him. Now." ZIM said. Leslie's breaths were shallow as if she was hyperventilating.

"Bring him in here." She finally said. ZIM nodded and discreetly left the room. He found Red in his office again, trying to throw himself into his work to get his mind off of things.

"Red, Leslie wants to see you." ZIM told him. Red let out a deep sigh, not looking up.

"I'm busy." He said, simply.

"Red . . ." ZIM said. Red groaned, standing up. He walked sorely to his room where he knew Leslie was at. When he entered the room he was surprised to see her crying hard. His heart felt like it was beating double than it should have been. She found out. That could be the only reason as to why she would be crying. A thought crossed Red's mind that maybe he should bolt to save himself from the impending hell he would have to endure.

"Red, get your ass over here!" Leslie balled. Red lowered his head in shame, trudging to her.

"Yes, dear?" He asked. Leslie didn't answer. She took Red's hand and pulled him closer to her. She sat him on the bed and pulled up his shirt. Leslie sniffed and placed a hand on his stomach right where the bulge was.

"How come I never put two and two together?" She asked herself. "He's never had a belly before."

"Leslie-"

"Don't talk, Red. I'm thinking." She hushed him. Red bowed his head. She lovingly rubbed his stomach. What felt for like minutes they stayed like this until Leslie finally spoke again. "You're not aborting our child, Red." She said. "I'm not letting you."

"It'll die anyway!" Red explained to her how he found out the smeet wouldn't make it. Leslie heard him but did not want to change her mind.

"I don't care, Red. Everyone has a right to life. Even the unborn." She said. "We're keeping it and we're going to see what happens. How dare you even think about killing it."

"Leslie, you don't understand-"

"No, Red! You don't understand! You know abortion is wrong!"

"I know, but I don't want to go through the heartbreak or unnecessary pain!" He yelled back.

"Well you know what? That's life! Shit happens. You'll go through heartbreak more than once in your life." Leslie said. "If you go behind my back and abort the child, I will press charges."

"No you wouldn't." Red tested. Leslie huffed. He's got her there. She loved him too much to take him to court for anything.

"Okay, so maybe I won't. But I will not be happy." She said. They sat in silence for a few more moments. Leslie trying to calm down. "Red . . . we'll get through this together, okay? We just have to stay strong." Red gazed at her with big, regretful eyes. He let out a long, stressed sigh laying back in the bed. He rested one of his hands on his bulge. Leslie smiled warmly at him, putting her own hand over his. "Don't do anything you'll regret."

"I won't, Les, I promise." He assured her. Leslie nodded.

"Hey, honey." Leslie said, catching his attention once more.

"Yeah?"

"We're having a baby." She stated. A small smile pressed on Red's lips.

"Yeah."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay so, yeah. Interesting chapter. I'd like to call this chapter a bipolar chapter. One section, happy and silly! The next day! Omg! So sad! Blah, blah, blah! Drama! Eek!<strong>

**. . . Yeah, soooooooo . . . Anyway, like I said in the before you read area, don't try to think logically when you read this story! Let it take it's course! Screw logic! Who needs that anyway. Also, seahorses guys! Seahorses! If you don't like mpreg then do a little research on my friends the seahorses and you may discover something startling. So hah! **

**Also, I'm assuming the creator of Fairly Oddparents and Danny Phantom, . . . And TUFF Puppy (whatever the heck that is) Butch Hartman. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he supports mpreg too considering Cosmo got pregnant in one of his specials. (When I first watched that special I had one of those, 'Da fuq?' moments. But it's funny to me now.) **

**Nah I kid, but seriously. I got a review saying they didn't care if their was mpreg in the story as long as it's funny. Well guess what? It may not be funny now but it will be! I just thought it was a good idea that it would start off dramatic. **

**Here's my personal view on mpreg. It's hilarious! Okay? Just try and picture Red on a hospital bed, legs spread wide shouting profanities such as, **

**"Oh lord! I gots a bay-bay comin' outta me! God, it hurts! Ahhhhh! Pull it out! Pull it out! Get! It! Out! Ahhh, shit! Nooo! Jesus! Am I giving birth to a fuckin' moose? *cries*"**

**Just the thought of it makes me laugh! Besides, I think women go through enough crap in their lives. What, with the periods, having to shave your legs and armpits, taking about an hour just to get ready in the morning, etc. It's time the men put up with some shit. (I'm jk-ing you, my male readers! I love you!) **

**Anyways, that's behind us . . . Seahorses!**

**Fact of the chapter!**

**I wrote this entire chapter in school! . . . Well most of it. Anywho! I wasn't originally gonna have Red get pregnant in this chapter but all of a sudden . . . Something happened and I did! Oh well!**

**Question of the chapter!**

**I already have a due date for Red and smeet/baby abomination that is gonna magically pop out of him. But what I don't have is a gender!**

**Should the smeet/baby be male, female or an it? (It meaning that you want me to surprise you guys.)**

**So send in your answers to me, via review, or PM or you could visit my profile! I just set up a new poll. **

**Have a good night or day or morning . . . whenever you're reading this!**


	19. Premiere

**February 25, 2001**

"Once you take off the top layer, then proceed to scrape off the peanut buttery goodness with your central incisors." ZIM said.

"Oh yeah?" Dib asked.

"Yeah, I just so happen to have a decent sized pair of incisors." ZIM stated.

"I've noticed." Dib said.

"Good, let the glory that is my teeth be shown to everyone." ZIM said. He then proceeded to lick peanut butter off his snack bar.

"What are you guys doing?" Timmy asked, sitting by the table with the two.

"ZIM was just explaining to me the extremely difficult process of how he eats food." Dib said. "You'll be surprised how complicated he makes things for himself." ZIM nodded.

"Tis true."

"Well the announcements are going to be on soon. Isn't it your turn to say them, ZIM?" Timmy asked. ZIM shook his head.

"Nope, S.B. is doing the honors." ZIM said, leaning back on the couch he and Dib were sitting on in one of the studio's lobbies.

"Is he telling the big news?"

"Yup. He got consent from Red. In just a few minutes everyone who works here will know." ZIM said. There was a crackling sound that was heard over the speakers in the ceiling. Spongebob's voice then sounded over the P.A. system.

"_Good morning Nickelodeon Studio. I know you're disappointed. You thought ZIM was making the announcements today, well guess what? You're stuck with me!_" ZIM chuckled. ZIM got a lot of comments from costars around the studio saying how funny he was and how they actually started to listen to the announcements in the morning instead of ignoring them. "_The menu today for the Nick Café is a variety of Chinese food or pizza if you want to keep your MSG intake to a minimum._" ZIM looked at Dib.

"Good. I'm allergic to MSG." The human child said.

"_A few exciting announcements today as well. First off, I was informed earlier today that Otto Rocket is going on a convention trip to Maine. Keep him in your prayers for safe travel and for a great experience. This is the first time he's ever left California and he's a bit nervous as you can imagine. Next, great job to my best bud Eugene Krabs for publishing his first and last ever book about safe spending and finance. It's called, 'Save A Little'. You can buy a copy in the lobby if you wish. If you see him today, why don't you congratulate him on that achievement. Last thing, our very own, Red Macale, has just discovered that he is over a month pregnant with his first child. So if you see him today as well, give him a big hug and give your best wishes to him and his wife . . . Also, please don't give him crap about how he is pregnant since he's a man and all. As we all know, Irkens are slightly . . . different from us humans and toons. That's it for today's announcements. I will not be delivering them tomorrow. ZIM will be. Thanks. That is all._" The intercom went silent.

"So where is your brother? We got to go congratulate him." Timmy said.

"I'm pretty sure he was with some people in another lobby. Probably already getting mauled by tons of people telling him congrats." ZIM said. "I feel bad though. He found out that his smeet might not even reach the age of one."

"Yeah, S.B. kinda left out that one major detail." Dib said.

"Well, how about we celebrate instead of mourning right now. I mean . . . it ain't dead yet." ZIM said.

"That reminds me. When will you be able to determine the sex?" A.J. asked.

"Irkens don't take as long as humans to develop inside the womb, so in another month . . . Although, the smeet will be half human. Oh my god! I just realized how ignorant I was about smeet/babies." ZIM exclaimed.

"Why don't you come up with another name besides smeet/babies?" Timmy asked.

"Does smabies or beets sound better to you?"

"I like smabies." Dib said. "It sounds better." The pentad of boys walked down the hall of the main office building to look for Red but was not able to spot him.

"He's probably in the dressing room. He's had morning sickness and didn't want to stay home even when we told him he should. He just got all pissy about it." ZIM said, changing courses to head to the dressing room. Sure enough, ZIM was right. Red was talking, or rather yelling, at Purple about being sore. Purple looked defeated then caught glimpse of the boys.

"Red, please calm yourself. ZIM's friends are here." Purple shushed his friend.

"How can I be calm when it feels like someone just kicked me in the stomach?" Red demanded. "I'm hungry!" Purple raised his hands as if telling Red to stop yelling.

"Then let's go get you something to eat." He said, placing a hand on his best friend's back. "Before you decide to bite my head off." Red gave Purple a look then pouted.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." Red whined. "It's just . . . everything I eat doesn't satisfy me! This fucking demon inside me is eating all my food that I eat!" Purple sighed.

"I understand, Red. Let's go." Purple led him out of the room. ZIM smiled up at Red.

"What do you want?" Red asked.

"How's my little niece or nephew?"

"She or he is being a pain in my ass." Red growled. "Over a month in and this is what it's doing to me already. The next four months are going to be miserable."

**March 2, 2001**

"Just a few more weeks till both our shows hit the air." Dib said. "Isn't that awesome?"

"Yeah! I'm so excited!" Timmy said.

"Me too!" Chester agreed.

"It's pretty cool to think about it. We're gonna be on T.V." A.J. pointed out.

"Meh," ZIM grunted. "I've been on T.V. thousands of times before. It's exciting at first until you get screaming, insane, fangirls and boys on your tail." His friends looked at him.

"Well we don't have fangirls yet, so I'm still excited!" Timmy said. ZIM brushed him off.

"Guys, I'm bored of this game." ZIM bounced the basketball back to Chester. "I hate basketball. It's worse than football."

"You can show us another one of your wall flippy thingys!" Chester suggested. ZIM shook his head.

"I don't feel like doing that right now-"

"Please?" Chester begged. ZIM rolled his eyes.

"Fine. But this is the only one you're getting this month." ZIM said. He back up a few feet before running directly to a brick wall of the studio. He ran up a few feet before springing back and doing his signature backflip.

"Again!" Timmy cheered. "Look! You have an audience!" He pointed to a large group of toons and humans from other shows in awe of what ZIM had just done. ZIM sighed but just for the heck of it, decided to amuse his new audience. ZIM bent backwards and did a hand spring.

"Awesome!" Chester said. "Do something else!"

"Can you do a back flip without using your hands?" Timmy asked.

"Yes, but I have to gain momentum first." ZIM readied himself and did two back springs before flipping without springing.

"More!" His friends begged. ZIM scratched his head and chose to do at least two more for them. ZIM got a running start and did a side flip then finished with a tunnel flip using his truck's hood to jump off.

"Dude! You should do gymnastics!" Timmy said.

"Yeah, no." ZIM said. "Red doesn't like me doing those flips in the first place."

"Then how did you ever learn them?" Dib asked.

"Self taught. Red doesn't like to admit it, but he can do those flips too. I believe I saw Purple do them once with him as well." ZIM said.

"Geez, can all Irkens flip like that?" Dib asked. ZIM shrugged.

"Only the fit, flexible, and nibble ones . . . and ones that know what they're doing." ZIM said.

"Will you teach us?" Chester wondered.

"Noooo. That's a bad idea. I don't want to be responsible for you if you guys crack your heads open." ZIM said, then changed the subject. "So the studio is putting on a huge get together for the cast for both our shows because this is the first time in Nick history that they ever aired two brand new shows on the same day."

"We made history!" Timmy said.

"I just hope there will be no rivalry between the shows." Dib said. "What is it turns into competition after awhile?" ZIM brushed off the comment.

"Nah, that won't happen."

"Well of course your easy-going about it. You don't care if your famous on earth because you're already a celebrity on one of the most densely populated planets in the universe." Dib pointed out.

"Irk only has a ten-billion residents . . ." ZIM said.

"You do realize that's like quarter more than earth's population, right?" A.J. asked. "We only have seven billion."

"I'm not saying all ten-billion like me though."

"Yes, but you're not counting your Vortian fans, or Plookeesian fans or Meekrobians . . . and all those others." Dib stated. ZIM sighed.

"Okay guys, stop making me feel like the most popular kid in the universe. There are only a handful of people here on earth who know me." ZIM said.

"They will after your show airs." Timmy said. ZIM groaned.

"Okay, forget what we were just talking about. Who wants to play another game?" ZIM asked, checking the basketball.

"I thought you hate basketball." Chester said.

"I do." ZIM said. "But if it'll make you guys shut up, then so be it."

**The Next Day**

"Do you even play a band instrument?" Squidward asked the boys.

"I play killer percussion." ZIM said. "And alto sax. My sister was just teaching me trumpet. I can play piano, guitar, and didgeridoo."

"What is a didgeridoo?" Timmy asked.

"An instrument my ancestors played." ZIM said, simply.

"Dang you play a lot of instruments." Chester said.

"I play the trumpet!" Timmy said.

"I can't play anything." Dib said.

"Yeah me either." Chester agreed.

"I play trombone." A.J. added.

"Alright, you three are in." Squidward pointed at Timmy, A.J., and ZIM. "You two. If you really want to join I can teach you how to play the clarinet." Dib and Chester shrugged.

"Might as well." Dib said.

"You three. Show me what you've got." Squidward said. ZIM looked to Timmy.

"You go first."

"No dude. You're used to performing in front of people. You first." ZIM sighed.

"Fine." ZIM grumbled.

"Start with the saxophone, Zeiden. We need a saxophonist." Squidward said.

"Do you have one I can borrow?" ZIM asked.

"Okay then . . . Start with the trumpet." ZIM looked at the squid blankly. "Okay, the percussion then. We don't have a very big percussion ensemble anyway."

"Who's all in it?" ZIM asked.

"Patrick . . . That's it." Squidward admitted. "Go start off with the snare and give me a traditional roll off into a song for a parade that or your favorite cadence." ZIM nodded, grabbing a pair of sticks and leading them over to the snares. ZIM cracked his knuckles then struck the drums and playing the roll off. He had perfect tempo, it was his power that he needed to control. "Nice. It lacks restraint. You can work on that." ZIM chuckled.

"Oh Squidward . . ." ZIM said. "You cannot restrain the beast!" ZIM lifted a fist in the air in victory. His friends laughed at his antics. Squidward was less amused.

"Timothy, it's your turn." The brown-haired boy nodded and got out his trumpet from it's case.

"What do I play?" He asked.

"Anything." Squidward leaned back in his seat. Timmy bit his lip in concentration then lifted his instrument to his lips and played a fanfare. A bit sloppy but it was good for the most part. "Mmm Kay. Austin?" Squidward looked at A.J. He already had his trombone out ready to play. Once he's completed a section of some slow song, Squidward nodded.

"Great. You can come to the rehearsal tomorrow if you wish. Keep practicing."

"I have a question." ZIM said. "Why are you doing this?"

"So the people of the world can recognize my musical genius-"

"No I mean . . . Who is going to see this?"

"Oh . . . We'll be putting on concerts." He said. ZIM nodded.

"Can I get a solo?"

"You just joined the band." Squidward stated.

"So?"

"So . . . probably not just yet." He stood up. "Alright, you guys should get back to your sound stages. Thank you for trying out. Be back here in the auditorium by seven."

"Seven?" ZIM asked.

"Is there a conflict?" Squidward asked.

"Kinda, I had a date."

"Dude! You go out with Tak every night!" Timmy said. "Why don't you take a day off?" ZIM frowned.

"Guys, she doesn't like it when I cancel on her."

"So what? She'll get over it!" Timmy said.

"If seven doesn't work for you then you may come in at six and we can have one-on-one practice." Squidward suggested. ZIM nodded.

"That'd work best." ZIM said. Timmy sighed.

"Oh my gosh, ZIM. You're unbelievable. The whole reason we joined this band is so we can hang out!" ZIM gave him a cocky smile.

"You'll get over it."

**March 5, 2001**

"You training for the Iditarod later this year?" ZIM asked. Purple grunted as he tightened the harness around his lead dog, Abbi.

"Yup. It's gonna take a lot of hard work." Purple said. "You need to help me keep these dogs in check. They should be easy to train but there is ten of them and only one of me."

"That's fine. I'll do whatever you need." ZIM said. "If you show me how to harness them I can help you with that in the future." Purple cursed and pulled his hand away from getting pinched by a buckle.

"Yeah. I'll teach you that later. Right now I want to build these dogs' stamina some more." ZIM scratched a young male malamute behind the ear.

"How are you going to do that?"

"I'm going to have them run as a team on the sand. It's like running through snow that way."

". . . Clever." ZIM said.

"Why thank you." Purple finished strapping the dogs in. They were now all lined up two by two in a double file order. He grabbed the main leash then shouted a command. "Hike!" The dogs immediately started trotting. As soon as they did, Purple let go of the leash and let them run. "Whoa!" The dogs halted simultaneously.

"That's cool! You taught them that much already?" ZIM asked. Purple smiled, proud of himself.

"Just wait till you see this." He said, walking through the sand to his team. ZIM followed. "Hike!" The dogs trotted again. "Gee!" The two lead dogs turned right forcing the dogs following to turn right as well. "Haw!" The lead dogs then turned left, continuing their run. ZIM was thoroughly impressed. "Whoa!" ZIM watched as the dogs stopped once more. Purple quickly started to unhook the dogs. "Line out!" The lead dog pulled the team out from the harnesses.

". . . That's neat."

"Oh, they can do so much more." Purple said. "Mush!" He commanded the dogs. The dogs all happily sprinted in their own directions burning off their bottled up energy. "Easy!" Purple yelled, telling them to slow it down. "Can't have them tiring themselves out so quickly, now can I?" Purple muttered. "Can you go grab the tack?" ZIM nodded and picked up the harnesses that were around the dogs. "Good, go bring them to the garage to the tack box and stuff them in there."

"Did you need anything else?" ZIM asked. Purple shook his head. "Nah, you're good."

"Alright then. I'm going to steal my dog away from you then. Tyson! Heel!" The only Samoyed of the group of huskies and malamutes ceased in running and bolted toward his master. The poofy, white animal nudged ZIM's arm telling ZIM to pet him. "Mate, can't you see my hands are full?" He asked the dog. Tyson barked, wagging his tail. "Shut up! You're so loud!" Tyson yipped again. "Shh! Seriously!" The monstrous sized dog reared up and put his paws on ZIM's shoulders. "Down!" ZIM twisted away. "Come on, we're going to the garage." ZIM set a few harnesses on the dog's back. The two carried the items to the garage. Upon entering the garage they found Gaz browsing the second fridge they had in there for pop. "What's up?"

"Not much. How are the dogs doing?"

"They're all really well behaved." ZIM said.

"Eh . . . Yeah, they seem like it." Gaz said. ZIM turned to go inside. "I wouldn't go in there."

"Why not?" ZIM asked.

"Your sisters are bickering, Red is crying, and my mom is about to strangle him." ZIM raised both hairless brows.

"Really?" He inquired. "What a dysfunctional family I have." He went inside anyway and made his way to the kitchen. Gaz was right. There Tenn and Zee were verbally fighting about something. ZIM didn't care what about. As long as it didn't concern him. He decided to go find Tak to see what she was doing. He found her in her and Gaz's room using his laptop.

"Hi, Zimmy." She said, glancing up when he opened her door.

"Hey . . . What ya doin'?" ZIM took a place next to her.

"I'm looking at a forum. Things every couple should know about each other." Tak said.

"That's sounds like fun! I wanna try." ZIM chirped. Tak smiled.

"Okay, I expect you to get these all right." She said. "First question; what is my favorite food?"

"You don't have a favorite food. But your favorite type of food is seafood." ZIM said. Tak nodded.

"Question two; do I have any allergies?"

"Yes, an airborne peanut allergy."

"Question three; what's my favorite holiday?"

"Easter, mostly because you love the spring time." ZIM stated, without hesitation.

"Good, next, what is my favorite body part on you." Tak giggled. ZIM's face went blank then a scowl pressed his features then answered.

"My ass . . ." He muttered. Tak laughed, putting an arm around him.

"Oh honey, you know me so well. You know I love every body part on you, though, right?" She asked. ZIM grinned. "What is my biggest fear?"

"You have two fears. Large bodies of water and being lonely."

"What is my favorite color?"

"Purple and yellow." Tak smiled at ZIM.

"You passed with flying colors." She scooted the laptop to ZIM. "Now do it to me." ZIM read over all the questions once more.

"Alright, favorite food?"

"You're extremely picky so you don't like a lot of foods. But if you had to like one, it's oriental."

"Heh, yeeeaaaahh." ZIM drawled. "Do I have any allergies?"

"Oh yes, you're allergic to peppermint, pollen, and latex." Tak said. ZIM nodded, not surprised that she knew all that.

"My favorite holiday?"

"Chanukah and Pesach or as I would refer to it as 'Passover'." Tak answered. "Your favorite non-religious holiday is Australia Day."

"When did I stop believing in Santa?" ZIM asked, adding the question in.

"You never did. You're Jewish." Tak pointed out.

"What body part do I like most on you?" He asked, leaning in closer to Tak. She smirked and leaned in with him. Lips nearly touching.

"My eyes," She said, batting her eyes. "My hands," She ran a palm up his shoulder. "And my lips." She closed the gap between the two and kissed him sweetly. ZIM chuckled at this. He pulled away after a few moments.

"Phobias?"

"You're claustrophobic and you're scared of snakes, spiders, darkness, and losing the ones closest to you." Tak answered.

"Color?"

"Blue and orange. Go Tigers." Tak smirked, already knowing she got them all right. She kissed ZIM again on his soft lips.

"Oh my God, aren't we, like, perfect for each other 'n stuff?" ZIM asked in a poor, over-exaggerated valley girl accent. Tak grinned, rolling her eyes.

"Yes. Yes we are."

**March 13, 2001**

"Inhale." Red did. "Good, now hold it . . . and exhale." Red let out his breath slowly. Leslie was kneeling behind him rubbing his shoulders. "How ya feeling?" She asked.

"I really don't want to do this, Les." Red said. "I don't think I can handle it."

"Red, don't be so whiny. I never met a pregnant woman before who complained more than you." Leslie said. She lifted his shirt, lovingly looking at the pudge forming and growing. Leslie ran a hand over his smooth stomach then bent down to kiss the area.

"I'm so fat. Jesus! Just look at me!" Red looked at his stomach. He was two point five months in and his usually tone belly was becoming more and more noticeable. As of right now, it looked like a wannabe beer belly. "I'm a fat ass."

"Red, you're not fat. You just have a baby in you." Leslie said.

"It's called a smeet, dumb shit." Red growled at his wife.

"Excuse me? What did you call me?"

"Nothing, dear." Red mumbled. Leslie scowled and sat back in their bed. "Leslie, I'm tired."

"You slept ten hours last night, Red. And when are you gonna let the media for Irk know you're pregnant?"

"I'll let them find out for themselves. It's not really any of their business. I really don't want a bunch of paparazzi to annoy the living shit out of me at the moment either."

"Whatever." Leslie sighed.

"Augh . . . I'm hungry . . . What time is it? Can we eat?" Red asked. "I need food."

"We just ate, Red."

"Bull shit! Stop lying to me." Red exclaimed.

"Calm down! Fine, let's go get you some food." Leslie led him out of the room and to the kitchen. "What do you want?" She looked through the cupboards. Red was already in the fridge pulling out all sorts of things. Leslie watched him as he opened a bottle of Vegemite and proceeded to eat it without bread or anything. She wrinkled her nose at this. "You shouldn't eat that just plain."

"Shut up! You don't control me!" Red told her, mouth full of the spread. "What is that smell? Something smells bad . . ." Red stood from his seat at the table and pushed Leslie aside to look in the cupboard. "Oh, gross!" He pulled out a perfectly yellow, bundle of bananas. "These wreak. Are they spoiled?"

"If they were spoiled, Hun, they'd be brown and mushy. They're fine. I don't know what you're smelling." Leslie said. Red frowned. He threw the just boughten bananas away then continued his search for more food. Leslie waited till he was facing away from her before she pulled the bananas out of the trash and put them back into the cupboard.

"Do we have chips? I like chips."

"Why not eat something healthy? You know . . . for the baby?"

"Smeet!"

"Sorry, smeet." Leslie corrected herself.

"No! This damned thing doesn't deserve good, healthy food! It keeps making me throw up in the morning. It's making me sore, and . . . and sad." Red's voice cracked. A few tears ran down his cheeks.

"Oh brother." Leslie muttered. "Red, sweetie." She soothed him, rubbing his back. "It's alright, baby, this is all normal." Red looked at her. Then scowled.

"It's all your fault! You did this to me!" Red bursted into new tears, crying hard. Leslie rolled her eyes waiting a few minutes till he calmed himself down. The Irken man sighed, looking about him. "I'm still hungry . . ."

**Later**

Purple looked at his Imp to check the time. It was six o'clock on the dot. Time for his date. He smiled. He was especially excited for today's date. "You ready?" He asked Tenn when he came into her room. She was just finishing her eye makeup.

"Yup. Let's go." She took his hand and dragged him out of her room and down the stairs. He led her out to his black, Mercedes Benz Class C. "Aww, I wanted to take your Firebird." Tenn said. Purple gave her a smile.

"I'm getting rid of it. I'm getting a newer model later this year." He said. Tenn raised a hairless brow but nodded getting into his nice car.

"You have any idea where we're going tonight?"

"I have a few places in mind. We're starting with dinner though. I haven't eaten all day." Purple complained.

"Why not?"

"Red wouldn't let me. He made me go to Irk and work in the research department at the bio facility." He said. Tenn shook her head.

"Just 'cuz he's pregnant doesn't mean you can let him boss you around." Tenn told him.

"Yes, I know . . . but he's scary as heck." Tenn could only nod in agreement. Not even Leslie wanted to approach Red. He was acting like a pissed off, castrated bull.

"Well if you don't stand up to him now he's just gonna walk all over you for the next four months."

"I guess you're right." Purple said. Tenn rested a hand on his leg and gave it a tight squeeze. Purple took one hand off the steering wheel and interwound his fingers with her's. They drove a short distance to the restaurant Purple picked out. A high class, five star, restaurant. The hour they spent there was pleasant and the food was divine. The whole time they were there, Purple couldn't stop thinking about his big plan. A plan that he hoped went smoothly and didn't end up tragically. Purple walked out of the building with Tenn.

"What's next?" Tenn asked. Purple smirked.

"Umm, actually we're going on a helicopter ride." He said. Tenn lifted her antenna to see if she heard right.

"What was that?" Tenn asked.

"You're not afraid of heights are you?" He asked, driving down the highway and pulling off into a small airport for tiny aircrafts.

"No."

"Then come. It'll be fun." Purple smiled leading her out and bringing her to an already revved up heli. The pilot welcomed them and told them to take a seat in the chopper. Purple smiled at Tenn who was confused. Purple put on a headset and instructed Tenn to do the same. For some reason a man with a video camera followed them on. Minutes later the helicopter took off and ascended into the sky. Tenn watched as the ground got further and further away. After some time she turned back to Purple. He was looking at the floor of the chopper, one if his hands was shoved into his black, pants pocket. Tenn put an arm around him and pulled him closer to her. He cocked his head a bit and grinned at her.

"You seem nervous." Tenn noticed. Purple bit his lip. He ignored her and talked into his headset to the pilot.

"What's our elevation?"

"Four thousand feet, sir. Going over the site in a moment." The pilot responded. Purple took in a deep breath. He looked at the guy with the camera and gave him a curt nod. The man then lifted his camera and started to film Tenn and Purple. Tenn raised a brow.

"What's going on?" Tenn asked, looking back at Purple. He pointed out the window and told her to look. She leaned over and peered out the window of the helicopter. Far down below she saw a controlled fire burning on the asphalt of a large abandoned parking lot. A fire that spelled something out in bright orange and red flames. 'Tenn, I love you! Will you marry me?' She gasped and whirled back around. When she did she was surprised to see Purple directly in front of her, on one knee with a black, velvet box in his hands. Her eyes went wide, jaw slightly agape. She knew where this was going.

"Tenn Harlee Macale," Purple gave her his signature, cocky grin. "You wanna hear something really cheesy?" Tenn put a hand over her mouth and nodded. Purple used one of his free hands to hold her's while another hand held a ring with a big diamond stud on it. "_My love for you burns stronger than a raging fire. It cannot be contained, I have to let it be known._" Tears escaped Tenn's eyes.

"Did you get that from one of Zeiden's songs?" She asked, laughing. Purple chuckled too.

"Yes! But that doesn't matter! Will you marry me?" Purple asked the biggest question of his life while sliding the beautiful ring on her finger. Tenn allowed the tears to fall and she nodded vigorously. The whole time the camera man filmed them. Purple stood up and Tenn jumped up on him, kissing his face all over.

"Oh! I love you, Pur! I love you so much!" Tenn cried into his shoulder. Purple beamed letting his emotions take over and letting his own joyful tears fall. He was truly happy with the answer. "We got to get home and tell everyone!" She said.

"But not before I do this." Purple cupped her chin, tilting it up and pressing his lips to her's. He pushed his tongue in her mouth and she welcomed it with her own. Tenn threw her arms around his neck. He pulled her closer to him, his hands around her waist. The couple's eyes were closed in bliss, savoring the other. Both were ecstatic that they were engaged. Purple pulled away a minute later. "You want to tell the news now?"

**Later**

Tenn and Purple walked into the house hand-in-hand, both smiling widely as if they've just seen the funniest thing in the world. Everyone who lived in the large household was in the living room either watching T.V. or playing a card game.

"Hey guuuyyys," Tenn drawled catching everyone's attention. "We have some exciting news." ZIM turned back to his card game and took a guess.

"You two are getting married?" He muttered. Tenn and Purple looked at each other.

"Yes, actually." Purple answered. ZIM's head shot back up at them.

"Seriously?" ZIM asked. Tenn nodded. ZIM jumped up and ran to them. "Congradu-fricken-lations!" He shouted, throwing his arms around the two. Leslie and Zee went to Tenn and Purple, giving them hugs. "Aww. Group hug!" ZIM's voice was muffled from being surrounded by so many tall people. "Red get your ass over here!" The man laying on the couch shifted.

"Augh . . . What?"

"Group hug!"

"I'm not in the mood." Red mumbled, tiredly.

"Okay then we're moving over to you." ZIM said. He broke away from the hug and knelt by the couch side. "Ya know . . . Purple and Tenn are getting married." That comment seemed to make Red go wide awake. He sat up slowly and looked at the couple.

"Really?" He asked. The two nodded. Red smiled. "Oh! Come here!" He outstretched his arms, beckoning them over. Tenn and Purple chuckled and embraced the man being careful of his swelling belly. "I'm happy for you guys." He said. ". . . I'm your best man right?" Purple chuckled.

"Of course, you and Zeiden both." ZIM smiled.

"I'm da bestest man." ZIM hissed at Red. The older brother rolled his eyes.

"Riiiight. So how are you celebrating?" Red asked. Purple thought for a moment then grinned when an idea popped in his head.

"Beer, smoke, and a hockey game?" He suggested.

"Sounds classy. Works for me." Red laid back changing the channel to Canadiens hockey game as Purple darted off to get the smokes and bottles of beer. He came back in less than a minute handing Red a Heineken and cigar. He took a seat next to his best bud on the sofa, Tenn on his lap. Red took the lighter from Purple to light his cigar. Before he could even get the flame, Leslie snatched the cigar out of his mouth. He scowled at her. ". . . What the hell?"

"You have a smeet inside you, dumbass." She said, flicking the cigar away. "Give me the beer too." Red hugged the bottle to his chest.

"No." He said, childishly. "It's my beer." Leslie groaned, prying the beer from his hands. "Noooo! Mine! Give it back!"

"No, Red. Stop! You're not getting beer!" Leslie scolded him.

"But I waaannt it!" Red whined. ZIM looked at Leslie with an innocent face.

"If he's not gonna drink that may I have it?" He asked. Tak frowned and thumped his head. He looked down at the ground, knowing the answer Tak gave him. Red huffed and sat back and watched the game. Every now and then Purple would taunt him by waving the burning cigar in front of his face or by taking a large swig of the Heineken and letting out a loud belch. Yup, life was good in the Macale home.

**The Next Day**

"Last thing, ZIM. The reality T.V. show, is that a yes?" Jalokia asked. ZIM nodded, he was getting ready to leave his producer's office and go back to Nickelodeon studio to film a new episode.

"Yeah, can we go over that contract another day? I have a shoot."

"Of course. I don't even have the contract yet but I'll get it by the next time you come here."

"Alright, I'll see you later then." ZIM brought himself to earth to his garage. He got in his truck and drove to the studio where the whole cast was waiting for him, but before he could start filming with them, he had to make the morning announcements. He quickly walked to the office, hoping he wasn't too late. When he entered the office, Spongebob was there waiting for him.

"How was you're meeting on Irk?" He asked.

"It was fine. I agreed to the show. They're calling it, _Meeting the Macales._"

"Fun name." Spongebob said, nonchalantly.

"Yes, most of it will be in Irken with English subtitles. Other parts will be in English, however."

"Oh, that way I can watch your show." The yellow man, smiled. ZIM picked up the phone and pushed the announcement key and started to talk.

"Gooooood morning, Nickelodeon studio! I'm Zeiden Macale and here's what's looking at you for today, kids . . . And that was a movie reference." ZIM started, excitedly. "The Café will be serving Mexican food, and from what I've heard, that shit goes right through you. I personally wouldn't trust it . . . Hah, I swore . . . Announcements today, Debby Thornberry is now a proud kidney donor! What a sport! I'd donate a kidney but I'm Irken . . . I don't have no kidneys." ZIM reported. "Anyway, congrats to my older sister, Tenn, and my best friend forever and ever, Peder Kinley. They just got engaged yesterday. You'd better treat my sissy right, Kinley . . . Or I will get you." ZIM said, darkly. "Eugene Krabs already sold a thousand copies of his first book! Yay! And now, an update on Otto Rocket in Maine. I talked to him yesterday via phone. He told me he is doing fine . . . He saw a moose! And he'll be coming home tomorrow."

"Don't forget to tell them about the blood drive." Spongebob reminded ZIM.

"Oh yes! On March 25, the studio is hosting a blood drive. If you're interested in giving blood, sign up at the main office. I think that's it for today-"

"What about your news, Zeiden."

"I don't have any news, shut up, Spongebob." ZIM whispered at his friend. The yellow sponge ripped the phone away from ZIM and talked into it.

"In other news, ZIM has been asked to be a reality T.V. star for Irk in his new Irken show called,_ Meeting the Macales_. The best part is, it'll have English subtitles so we can understand it! It won't air on earth but he's giving us all copies of every episode." ZIM grabbed the phone back.

"Yes, that's true, but who cares? No one! That is it for today's announcements. I have beams of rainbows shooting out of my love cannon for you guys! I'm Zeiden Macale, signing off." He hung up the phone. Spongebob laughed at the unique sign off.

"Cute, ZIM. Real cute."

"Why thank you." ZIM smirked. "I have to go get changed in my uniform. I'll smell ya later, S.B." ZIM happily sauntered out of the room and down the halls of the busy studio. Several cast members from other shows greeted ZIM. As he walked down he'd give out hugs, hand shakes, or high fives to all his friends. ZIM's popularity at the studio was increasing every day. He became friends with everyone. Even the kitchen staff.

"Hey ZIM!" ZIM turned and saw a few kids from_ Rocket Power_ wave at him. He winked and used his index and middle finger to wave back. He continued down the hall to his soundstage. He was just about to turn the corner when he felt someone grab the back of his shirt and yank him into a supplies closet. "What the fu-" ZIM was cut off by a hand covering his mouth. ZIM tried to pull away but whoever was holding him had a death grip.

"Shhh, buddy. It's only me!" ZIM raised a brow.

"Mmphh!" ZIM screamed through the hands. The boy holding him let go. "Keef? What are you doing?" ZIM demanded.

"I head you and Tak are going steady." He said.

"Yes. Why do you care?" ZIM asked in a rude tone.

"Well I just wanted to make sure, ya know? I didn't want rumors of my best friend going around the studio." Keef said, putting a hand on ZIM's cheek. Then Irken pulled away from the creepy boy.

"Why don't you go crush on someone else for a little bit?" ZIM asked. "It's obvious it's not going to work between us so you should just give up on me now."

"B-but, Zimmy! It has always been my dream to-"

"I don't care what your dreams are, Keith! Please just leave me alone! You've been bothering me the entire time we've been rehearsing together!" ZIM was about to leave but Keef grabbed his wrist. "Let me go!" Keef pulled ZIM back and slammed him against the wall. "Don't you dare try anything, Keith!"

"I don't want your affection! I just want to be accepted by you, Zeiden!" He cried. "Why can't you accept me . . . as a friend?" ZIM pushed the boy away and bolted out of the room.

"I'm serious, Keith! If you keep up with your shit, I'm putting a restraining order on you!" ZIM stomped down the hall. He was seeming only white, ZIM was so mad. He barged into the soundstage. "Let's get this thing over with." He growled to his fellow cast members. They looked frightened by his sudden entrance and demand. ZIM sat in his makeup chair and let the artists take care of him. ZIM sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Whatever your problem is, ZIM, you'd better get over it quick." Jhonen said. "I can't have you being pissy all day. It makes the cast and crew nervous."

"Tell Keith to leave me alone." ZIM told Jhonen. "He never stops bothering me." Jhonen scratched his head.

"Who's Keith?"

"Keef! That's his real name!" ZIM snapped. Jhonen raised his hands in front of him.

"Chill out, man. I'll tell him to back off. God, I just heard you over the intercom minutes ago and you sounded happy then."

"That ugly, freak can change my mood that much in such a little time." ZIM muttered. Jhonen shook his head and left ZIM alone after that. And so did everyone else.

**March 15, 2001**

ZIM was about to blow. Everything that's happened in the past two days just seemed to make him angrier and angrier, causing him to be a real grouch. No one wanted to approach him, not even his own siblings. But of course there always is that one girl who had enough guts to bother him even when he was in a bad mood.

"ZIM, can I borrow your laptop?"

"No, Tak. Go away." He muttered, laying on his side in his bed.

"But you're not even using it." She pointed out.

"I said no!" ZIM snarled. Tak scowled.

"Why not?" ZIM groaned.

"What do you need it for?"

"I need to send in all my homework that was due today." She said.

". . . Fine." ZIM sat up. He let her sit next to him on his large bed. As Tak used the laptop, ZIM just looked bitterly at his lap. Tak noticed this and furrowed her brow.

"Stop it! Blimey! Why are you in such a crabby mood?"

"I'm not!"

"Don't give me that rubbish! You are too! Tell me what's wrong."

"It's Keef, okay?" ZIM shouted. "He's been bothering me a lot lately."

"What has he been doing? Did he do something to you? Did he touch you?" Tak asked.

"He's been following me around the studio. Just yesterday he pulled me into the supply closet, when I tried to leave he grabbed me and pushed me against the wall. After I yelled at him, he kinda left me alone after that." Tak didn't say anything.

"Seems like you two have issues. Why'd you let him touch you?"

"I didn't let him!" ZIM said. "God, I just wanna be left alone." A moment of silence.

"Zeiden, I think you need a break. You've been so stressed and cranky lately."

"I have not! Why is everyone saying that?"

"It is sooo puberty." Tak murmured to herself. "Just take a nap and forget about everything."

"That's what I have been doing." He grumbled, laying back on his side, away from Tak. She ran a hand over his antenna and kissed his cheek.

"I'll leave you alone now."

**March 28, 2001**

Dib woke up. His back was sweaty. But that was weird since he didn't feel hot. His back was pressed against ZIM's in Timmy living room. They were having another sleepover. Dib sat up and looked at ZIM. It looked like he just took a shower without toweling off. The Irken's bare chest and back was drenched as well as his face.

"ZIM, are you okay?" Dib was fully aware that Irkens don't normally sweat, so this was scary for him. "Zeiden?"

"Huh?" ZIM was in between Dib and Chester was on his other side.

"Are you okay?" Dib asked again.

"Yeah, I'm light headed. It's weird. I took my medications for my epilepsy. Maybe I've become immune to them. I should go get a stronger dosage." ZIM said, nonchalantly. "It's not big deal."

"Will you have a seizure?" ZIM shrugged.

"Maybe." Dib gave ZIM a nervous look. "I've had many seizures before."

"Yes, but none of us know how to deal with you if you have one."

"She'll be right. Just know that if it lasts more than three minutes you should probably call the ambo." Dib gasped. "Dillon, I'll be right."

"But what if you're not?"

"Dying of epilepsy is extremely rare. I think we're alright. Just go back to bed and forget about me." ZIM said. Dib pouted, but laid back down.

"Should I get Timmy's mom? Ya know, just so she's aware of you're current condition?"

"No, she'll rush me to the hospital. You know how Mrs. Turner is." ZIM said. "I seriously am fine."

"Alright ZIM . . . I'll be right here if you need me, okay?" Dib said. He waited for ZIM's response but when he didn't get one he called his name again after five seconds. "ZIM? . . . Zeiden? Do you hear me?" Dib looked down at his friend. ZIM's eyes were closed and mouth slightly open. Dib looked at the Irken's chest. It wasn't rising and falling telling Dib that he wasn't breathing. Dib began to panic. He turned to A.J. sleeping beside him. "A.J.! A.J. wake up!" The dark skinned boy opened his eyes a crack.

"What's wrong?"

"ZIM isn't breathing." Dib said. A.J. shot up.

"For how long now? Is he having a seizure?"

"I believe so." Dib answered. A.J. crawled over Dib to inspect the Irken. Tears were pouring from ZIM's eyes, he had his mouth open desperate for breath to come in but none would. He was laying flat on his back. "He's been having seizures a lot more frequent lately. It's scaring me." Drool dripped down ZIM's cheeks as he still tried to breath. "It's been about half a minutes when he's stopped breathing."

"Timmy." A.J. patted his friend's shoulder to wake him up.

"What? Man, can't you see I'm sleeping?"

"Get you're mom and dad! ZIM is having a seizure. Hurry!" A.J. instructed. Timmy looked over to ZIM, the bolted out of the room to get his parents. Now Chester was awake.

"What's going on?" He asked. His question was answered when ZIM had a sporadic jerks of his arms and legs. As if he had volts of electricity coursing through him. ZIM made a mumbling noise. Dib wanted to comfort the Irken but he knew he shouldn't get too close.

"ZIM? Can you hear me, man?" ZIM didn't answer. Instead he lashed out. His right claw scratching Dib's face deeply making the poor boy cry out in pain. He held his cheek. Three different lines started to form. A bit of blood escaped the wounds. Chester was about to grab ZIM's hands to prevent him from doing that again but A.J. stopped him.

"Don't restrain him!" He said.

"Good heavens!" The three boys turned their heads to see Timmy's mom rushing in the room followed by his father. "Is he breathing yet?"

"No, ma'am he hasn't been for the past minute." Dib answered.

"Ooohh! Dear, call the ambulance then his brother!" Timmy's mom told her husband. The man nodded and left to make the calls.

"Augh . . . Ugghhh . . . Ehhhh . . ." ZIM moaned, breathlessly.

"What do we do?" Dib asked. Timmy's father came back into the living room with a phone on hand telling the operator everything that was going on.

"They said to start CPR." Timmy's father said.

"I don't know CPR-" A loud gasp was heard coming from ZIM. Air finally pushed it's way into his lungs. Good thing too. He was starting to turn blue. "Oh thank goodness!" She sighed with relief.

"They said to get him ready for the EMS." Timmy's father said. ZIM was breathing rapidly now. Eyes wide open. Moments passed. Dib put a hand on ZIM's shoulder.

"I'm okay." ZIM wheezed. "I'm ace, see?"

"Hun, you need to go to the hospital." Timmy's mom said. ZIM sat up.

"N-no I don't. I don't go to the hospital after every seizure." ZIM mumbled. Timmy's dad was already calling Red. ZIM sighed. That would irritate ZIM's older brother. He hated late night calls and since he was two and a half months pregnant, it would make him even more irritable. ZIM shook. He was getting cold now that his sweat was cooling him off and he wasn't wearing a shirt. Dib gave ZIM his fleece throw to wrap around the Irken's shoulders as he shivered. It wasn't too much later until the ambulance arrived. ZIM rolled his eyes. It was really all unnecessary.

**Later**

"Has he always had symptomatic generalized epilepsy?" A doctor asked Timmy's parents who came along in the ambulance since his brother didn't show up in time.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure he's mentioned always having it." Mrs. Turner said.

"I see." The doctor said. "Zeiden, how often do you have seizures typically?"

"It depends. Once to twice a month. Though, lately they've been coming more frequent." ZIM said.

"Hmm . . . You been getting enough sleep lately?" ZIM nodded. "You skip meals?" ZIM shook his head this time. "Did you take your medications?" ZIM nodded again. "Do you drink." ZIM hesitated before answering that question.

"Uh . . . Yes . . . Sometimes."

"Sometimes?" The doctor challenged. ZIM looked down at his lap in the bed they had him sit on.

"Often." He admitted.

"Well there's the problem." The doctor said. ZIM scrunched his face. They were gonna make him stop drinking. Red finally walked into the room being escorted by a nurse. Red glanced at ZIM with a concerned look.

"He alright? He hasn't gone to the hospital for epilepsy since he was eight." Red said.

"He's fine. Though I've made some new discoveries about him. He's got more health problems that have been lying dormant all his life." The doctor pulled out a chair for Red to sit, noticing that it was uncomfortable to stand. Red nodded to the Turners as they left.

"What is it?"

"Well first of all, let's address his epilepsy. His alcohol intake is too high. He needs to realize that drinking too much triggers the epilepsy. Also, his medications seem to not be doing a whole lot of good. So we're going to up the dosage and put him on a strict diet while we're at it." The doctor handed Red a few pamphlets. The titles reading 'Ketogenic Dieting 1, 2, & 3'. Red opened one of the three pamphlets and immediately found out that the diet consisted of high fat but low carbs. "He may have asthma." ZIM from the bed perked up.

"What?" He asked. The doctor ignored him.

"And he may have semen fertility issues when he gets older. He's very underweight for his age. I'm aware that he's grown an inch in the last month but he has remained the same weight. It's unhealthy for him." Red scratched his head.

"Why do you figure he has asthma?"

"Underweight pre-adults like Zeiden are prone to lung problems. He's been having some asthma symptoms earlier. I want you to keep a journal of this and keep track of it. We'll have another check up next week to see how it is. I'm not diagnosing him just yet, though."

"What should he do? About the fertility thing?" Red asked.

"Gain weight. It's the only option." The doctor said. "Your brother is very . . . sickly. He's very healthy, don't get me wrong. I can tell he eats right and exercises regularly, but he has so many health issues. Epilepsy, low blood pressure and sugar, running the risk of sperm infertility, and possible asthma . . . I'm thinking he needs to change his lifestyle a little bit." ZIM raised his hand.

"I uhh . . . object to that asthma thing. I wasn't born with it." ZIM pointed out.

"Yes, but being underweight can trigger it. What were you doing that was so physical this late at night that gave you those asthma like symptoms?" The doctor asked.

"Well . . . Before I went to bed, I was messing around with my friends. Ya know, wrestling and fighting?" The doctor nodded then turned back to Red.

"He may have asthma, I don't know how severe just yet."

"I'll be sure to monitor it." Red said.

"Is he sporty?" The doctor asked.

"Yes, soccer, baseball, hockey, he does lots of things." Red answered.

"Mm Kay. Make sure you watch him extra closely when he's doing those activities and write down all his symptoms he may be having." Red nodded. "Well it's late. I bet you'd like to go back to bed so I'll let you two leave."

"Thank you, doc." Red got up. The doctor looked at Red's chubby stomach.

"How much longer?" The doctor asked. Red looked at him with a half smile.

"Three and a half months." Red said. The doctor smiled.

"First?" Red nodded. "Scared?"

"Oh yes."

"We offer birthing classes if you're interested." He said, giving Red another pamphlet. "You and your wife or husband is welcomed at anytime." Red smirked.

"Thanks, I'll be sure my wife knows about this." He said, shaking the man's hand then leaving with ZIM. Red looked down at him. "Asthma . . . ya know, our grandpa had asthma." Red told ZIM getting in the truck.

"I don't have asthma." ZIM muttered. "I can't have it. I'm an athlete."

"Athletes can have asthma too."

"But it's a pain in the ass for them!" ZIM said.

"You'll just have to adapt." Red rested a hand on his bulging stomach. He decided to change the subject so ZIM wouldn't get hung up on the possible new physical condition he may have. "I have an ultrasound tomorrow to determine the sex. Wanna come?" ZIM grinned.

"Sure. I'd like to."

**The Next Day**

'I can't believe they left me home alone with him . . . again! What the hell?' ZIM thought to himself.

"Stop glaring at me, you fuckhead." Mark sneered at ZIM from watching T.V. on the couch. "God, you're so annoying and ugly." ZIM refrained from shouting insults back. Mark would get violent if he did that. ZIM adverted his eyes away from the Vortian to his laptop screen. Just one more hour till Red gets home from work then he and ZIM could go to the hospital and get the ultrasound done. ZIM was excited to find out the gender. He hoped it was a boy. That way, if the child lived, ZIM could teach him lots of things. It would be like having a younger brother. "Know what would be funny?" Mark asked. ZIM didn't answer. "Hey! I'm talking at you, ya whore!"

"I'm not a whore!" ZIM cried. "I can't help it I have girls always coming on to me!"

"Answer my damn question before I bop ya!" ZIM groaned.

"What would be funny?" ZIM asked.

"If your brother miscarries." Mark said with a smirk. ZIM scowled deeply.

"You're really mature." ZIM grumbled.

"I wish you were miscarried." ZIM rolled his eyes at Mark's bitter sense of humor. "You'd be better off never existing."

"You're so full of shit." ZIM muttered.

"Aww, is the poor smeet just sad because I'm taking his big sissy away from him?" ZIM glared at Mark.

"Why don't you get your head outta your ass?" ZIM asked. Mark flipped ZIM the bird. The Irken chose to ignore it. "Fuck you too." ZIM's phone rung and he happily answered it. "Yes?"

"_ZIM, I need you to come to Irk right now. We have a couple hundred reporters here demanding to talk with you._" Jalokia's voice came from the other end of the line.

"Jalo, my brothers have my transporter. They're already on Irk. What do they want?"

"_They have questions about the new reality T.V. show. You have millions of fans excited about it. Think about it. This is their first time ever to see the kind of stuff you do on a daily basis._"

"Well I can't come. Can you just control the crowd? Tell them to leave or something? I'm not in the mood to be interviewed."

"_I can most certainly try. By the way, the tallest would like to meet with you again. She's also looking forward into seeing you in another concert._"

"Tell Tallest Miyuki that I'll have a concert just for her. Of course I was gonna have many more anyway."

"_Alright, Zimmy. You should probably come by tomorrow and talk with the media. They're missing you._"

"Right. I'll see what I can do. Talk to ya later, Jalo." ZIM hung up the phone.

"Pfft. The tallest wants to meet you? Does she have no taste like the rest of Irk too?" Mark asked.

"Irk has great taste. It is Vort that has taste in outdated shit."

"Fuck you! Vort is and always will be better than Irk!"

"Is that why Irk is the number one most advanced, healthy, and rich planet in this half of the universe?" ZIM asked. Mark went silent for a moment.

"I'm going to fucking slam you against the wall and rape you until you can't feel your legs if you keep talking shit about Vort."

"Oh, so now you hate me enough to fuck me?" ZIM asked, then added sarcastically. "It's nice to know your wild fantasies you have about me, Mark." The tall Vortian snarled and got up and stalked toward ZIM. He grabbed the boy by the antenna and forced ZIM to look at him.

"I'll give you to the count of three to leave before I carry out my threat."

ZIM didn't answer. Instead he decided to bolt from the room. He didn't actually believe Mark would be insane enough to rape him . . . Well, who knows, maybe the Vortian did hate ZIM just that much.

ZIM went upstairs to his room until Red got home. It would be better to be there than with Mark. ZIM groaned resting on his bed. He coughed a few times, eyes getting watery. After the fit he calmed down again, only having a bit of tightness in his chest. ZIM moaned pushing his face into his pillow, tiredly. When he rose his head again Red was in his room, shaking him to get him to wake up.

"Why, good morning sleepy head." Red said. "Damn, wish I could've stayed in bed all day, but noooo, I had to go to work because apparently Purple can't be a CEO all on his own." ZIM groaned getting up.

"You're cranky." ZIM stated. Red nodded.

"And hungry." He added. "Let's go. Leslie is waiting for us in the truck." ZIM hopped out of his bed and went with Red to the truck. As soon as they got into the truck Red started to argue with Leslie about something. ZIM frowned at this and leaned back. Of course he had to sit in between the two bickering people. Leslie pulled out of the driveway and started the short drive to the hospital. In no time they made it there. Red got out of the truck, accidentally slamming the door on ZIM when he was trying to get out. The three of them walked into the hospital together. Red was trying his best to suck in his belly, being very self-conscious of it.

"Stop doing that, you boob." Leslie said. "Just let it hang out. The doctors here know you're pregnant." Red crossed his arms.

"God, I look so . . . undesirable." Red pouted. Leslie groaned, rolling her eyes.

"You're such a whiny ass." She said.

"Next time wear a condom, bright one." ZIM said. Red's facial features darkened.

". . . Be honest here. Do I look ugly with this belly?"

"Red, you're stomach is only half the size it should be. Just wait a few more months, you'll be horrified." Leslie said. That didn't make Red lighten up at all. "Honey, you look adorable with your tummy." Leslie cooed, hoping it would make Red feel better. It seemed to by the way he grinned at her. She told him and ZIM to sit down as she signed Red in. Red leaned over to ZIM and whispered,

"Fifty bucks it's a girl."

"Hah! You're on, bro." ZIM smirked. The brothers shook hands to seal the deal then waited smugly until the sonographer came to get them. Once she did come She led them to a ordinary room and instructed Red to sit on the bed for now.

"My name is Miss. James." She introduced herself, shaking Leslie's hand then Red's. "It's a pleasure to meet such big names." Miss. James smiled at them. "Also, this is my very first Irken screening and wow! My first one just so happens to be on a male Irken too! I'm sorry, I'm excited." She apologized. Red just chuckled.

"It's fine. What do I need to do?"

"You may either roll up your shirt or just take it off." Miss. James said, preparing the sonogram. Red reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it up and over his head. "Good. Now lay down on the bed and I'll get a water-based gel. It'll be cold, so be prepared for that." Red scooted up further on the bed and laid back on the mattress of the bed. Leslie brought her chair to the side of the bed.

"Excited?" She asked. Red shrugged.

"I don't know. Kind of. If the child was planned then I would be excited for sure." Red said. "You know, today we're going to find all the defects our child will have. They're going to estimate the day of his or her demise, too." Red said. Leslie reached for his hand and held it tightly.

"I'm still trying to picture what a smaby will look like." ZIM mumbled. "It'll either be really cute or really ugly. No in between." Red scoffed.

"Let's hope it inherits it's daddy's good looks." Red said.

"And it's mommy's brains." Leslie added. The sonographer pumped some gel onto Red's stomach. He gasped at the cold feeling.

"Are you ticklish?" Miss. James asked. Red nodded. "I'll try my hardest not to make you uncomfortable then." She said, rubbing the gel over his spooch. He bit his lip refraining from making any noises. Leslie chuckled at his blushing face. She could tell he was enjoying the tickling sensation on his stomach. Once the gel was coated equally across his abdomen the sonographer proceeded with the ultrasound. She scrolled over his stomach till she found what they were looking for. "Look! On the monitor! It's your baby!" Miss. James announced. Red glanced at the screen and saw a fuzzy black and white outline of what looked to be like a blob.

"Uhh . . . How precious?" Red said, not sure what he was looking at.

"See the head and the forming eyes. Oh! And there's the gender! Cute little antenna . . ." Miss. James exclaimed. Red held his breath as she figured out what it was going to be. "Cute little _curly_ antenna. Oh, I can tell already she's going to be beautiful." ZIM groaned and took out his wallet, flicking a fifty dollar bill to Red. The older brother laughed. Leslie cocked a brow at this but chose to ignore it.

"Honey, we're having a daughter!" She hugged Red around the neck. He smiled.

"Can't wait to see her." He mumbled. Miss. James continued with looking at the unborn girl.

"Mr. Macale, we're going to have to run a few tests. You have an Irken/human hybrid and we need to do some research on this to prepare for delivery and other medical conditions that may come up. It's probably best if you come back next week to see what kinds of things we're dealing with here. Let me just run a few scans quick so we can evaluate them later." Red nodded. Miss. James left the room to get the scans ready. ZIM jumped up on the bed Red was in. Leslie took a hand towel and started to wipe off the gel on his stomach.

"She has antenna. Maybe she'll be more Irken than human." ZIM said.

"Can't be sure now can we?" Red said, running a hand over his stomach. "I can't believe my stomach is gonna grow even larger than this. I'm only half way pregnant."

"You're gonna look as if you swallowed a basketball." ZIM said. Red moaned, sitting up in the bed.

"God, I don't know if I wanna go through the pain of child birth." He mumbled.

"Well that's too bad, sweetie. That child has to come out eventually and you can't force it not to come." Leslie said, sitting next to her husband and brother-in-law. "I'm going to have you take birthing classes and watch a few videos so you know what to expect." Red shook his head.

"Nooooo, that's boring." He whined. Leslie scowled.

"I don't care. You're taking classes and we're going through them together." Leslie rubbed his spooch then bowed her head down to kiss his rounding belly where the belly button would be. Red smiled.

"Well . . . Child bearing can't be that bad, right?"

**Later**

"Oh God! Turn it off! Eww! Gross! What is that? Jesus! No! No more!" Red covered his eyes in complete disgust. "Why would you make me watch such a thing? And who said that birthing was a beautiful thing? That's fucking gross!"

"Well guess what, Reddy? That's gonna be you in a few short months." Tenn smirked, having just watched a educational birthing video with him. Red shuddered.

"Ugh! God no! How do women do that? How do they think that's precious? It's fucking sick!" Red exclaimed. Leslie put her hands on his shoulders to sooth him.

"Baby, it's okay. The pain is only temporary."

"Yeah, Red. After the labor you'll have a beautiful smeet in your arms and you'll forget all the pain." Zee said. Red was silent for a long time.

"It's a good thing Purple and ZIM weren't in here to watch that human's birth. They'd be traumatized . . . much like I am now." He muttered.

"That brings up question I have." Leslie said. "Is ZIM going to be in the room for the birth?" Red crossed his arms.

"It's up to him. I don't think he'll be able to handle it though." Red said. "Christ, I couldn't even handle it."

"We'll just have to see with him then. It's probably best if he stay at a friends house though." Zee said. "You know what doctor is delivering her?" Red shook his head.

"Nah, I don't think I'm having a doctor. A midwife perhaps." Red said.

"You want a woman to deliver?" Tenn asked.

"Well, she's seen it all before . . . probably not exactly what I got packing down there but it's not like my junk will come out during the birth." Red said.

"May I suggest a midwife at my hospital?" Zee asked. "She's really patient and gentle."

"Sure, guess so." Red mumbled.

"Her name is Beatrice. She's fresh out of college but she's already delivered thirteen human babies." Zee said. "I had to give a patient an epidural and she was explaining to me her process of delivering. I've witnessed the birth. I think she's pretty trustworthy." Zee said, with a nod. Red sighed, reclining on the chair.

"Hook me up with her then."

"Will do." Zee said. "I have to get to work now. I'll be home at nine."

"I'm gonna go talk to Pur." Tenn left with her sister, leaving Red and Leslie alone in the living room.

"Let's do some breathing exercises, babe." Leslie said. "I watched a tutorial video from the hospital. I think I can help you with it." Red groaned.

"I don't feel like it."

"I don't care." Leslie pushed him off his seat and onto the floor of the living room. She went behind him and sat on the ground as well, straddling his hips from behind and telling him to lean back on her. "Okay, just go limp everywhere. From head to toe. Relax." Red released his tensed muscles and in doing so he let out a monstrous belch. Leslie cocked a brow. "Geez, how long were you holding that one in?"

"About an hour. I think I just barfed a little in my mouth when I did that." Leslie rolled her eyes.

"Well, if you're done burping now, I'd like to continue the exercise." Red nodded, resting his head against her breasts.

"Mmm, they're like pillow. Thermal pillow. Soft and warm." He said, closing his eyes in bliss. Leslie sighed and flicked his antenna.

"Will you please stop getting off topic?"

"Fine. What now?" He asked.

"Inhale through your nose . . . or pores rather." Leslie said. Red slowly inhaled till he couldn't hold anymore air. "Now gradually exhale through your mouth." He did as told. The whole time he was breathing Leslie ran her hands up and down his aching sides and stomach. He repeated his breathing for awhile longer. Leslie smiled down lovingly at him. She bent her head down and planted a soft kiss on his forehead. "You know what kind of birthing technique you wanna use?" Red shrugged.

"What are my options?" He asked. Leslie pursed her lips.

"Hold on a moment." She leaned over to the coffee table and picked up a pamphlet, not leaving her spot behind Red. "This has all the options." She explained. "Let's see . . . you're definitely having a natural birth . . ." Red's antenna perked up.

"Excuse me? What was that?" Leslie looked down at him.

"If you have an epidural you run the risk of getting low blood pressure, and a fever. It also slows the labour and increases the chances of a cesarean section."

"Was that supposed to convince me?" Red asked. Leslie groaned.

"We'll talk about this later." She said, looking back to the pamphlet. "Augh! All these birthing methods sound stupid! Silent birth, hydro birth, hypno birth. We can stick with the Bradley method . . . Alright, positions . . . Eh, we're just gonna do the lithotomy position only you'll be on more of an angle."

"What's that?"

"You're just laying down and your legs will be in stirrups or held by someone."

"Hell no. Not stirrups." Red said. "Then I won't be able to move my legs at all."

"Then who do you want holding your legs up?"

"I don't care. I just don't want them constantly up during the whole birth." Red took the paper away from Leslie and looked at it himself. His eyes widened at one picture and description in particular. "What the fuck? Episiotomy?" Leslie quickly snatched it away from him before he started to freak out. It was too late. "What if that happens to me? I don't want to get cut because the damn smeet don't fit through my . . . hole."

"Relax, Hun. Chances of that happening are slim."

"I don't want to get cut down there." Red whined.

"I said you won't!"

"You don't know that!" Red snapped. Leslie bit her lip trying to think of something to say.

"I could give you a perineal massage starting a few weeks before the due date. That'll reduce the chances of tears and an episiotomy." Leslie suggested.

"You're gonna massage my crotch?" He cocked a hairless brow. Leslie nodded.

"If you want to be blunt about it, yes." She said. Red sat up.

"Whatever works . . . I'm tired. I'm going to take a nap." He said, getting up weakly. Red turned to Leslie with a smirk on his face. "Will you come with me?"

"No, I have things to do-"

"Come on! I'm really horny." Red whined. Leslie shook her head.

"I'm not going to have sex with you. Not when you're pregnant." She said. Red made a whining noise.

"Please? It don't hurt da smaby." He drawled. "How 'bout oral? Or you can use your fingers!" Red gasped, happily. "Maybe you'll be able to touch the smeet!"

"Red!" Leslie shut him up. "Man, one minute you want nothing to do with me, the next you're begging me to stick my fingers up your vag-"

"Umm." Leslie cut herself off when she heard her daughter's voice.

"What is it, Gaz?"

"ZIM is having difficulty breathing again." She said, coming in from the back slider door to the beach.

"What was he just doing?" Red asked.

"He was just running around playing fetch with Tyson. He stopped after about ten minutes and just sat on the sand breathing heavily. He told me his chest hurts." Gaz said.

"Take me to him." Red demanded. Red and Leslie followed her outside to the beach where ZIM was sitting, panting harder than Tyson. "Zeiden?" ZIM whipped his head up to his brother.

"Hi." Was all he said. Was all he probably could say. ZIM went into a coughing fit. "I don't . . . have asthma." He managed to wheeze out.

"You're contradicting yourself." Red said. "Come on inside. The air is dry out today, maybe it's effecting your probable asthma."

"No, I'm fine . . . Tyson wants exercise." ZIM started to catch his breath again. "Hoooo!" He climbed up to his feet. "See? All good!" He presented himself to Red and Leslie.

"Come inside." Red ordered. ZIM pouted.

"I want to stay here-"

"Go."

"But-"

"Now!" ZIM closed his mouth and hurriedly walked back inside to the house. Red grunted. "I'm going to go write down his episode. Can you go check on him?" He asked Leslie. She nodded and went to ZIM's room as Red went to his office to document the incident. "Auuugghhh . . . Kid, you have so many problems." Red whispered to himself.

**March 30, 2001**

Being completely surrounded by crazy, screaming fangirls and boys could definitely take a toll on your already sensitive-to-sound antenna. ZIM just wished for at least one moment of silence just so he could remember what quiet was like. ZIM continued his way down the red carpet waving and blowing kisses to his fans. He was running late for his interview so unfortunately for his fans he could not sign autographs or take pictures with them.

"Master Macale, the host is ready for you." One of the studio officials told the small Irken. ZIM nodded. He waved one last time before allowing himself to be escorted into the studio building where the talk show host would interview him about the reality show. After, he'd meet the Tallest.

ZIM waited just by the entrance of the stage, listening for his cue. Finally the host, Cartan Lik spoke up after being informed they were back from the commercial break.

"So we have a special guest for you all today. He's most known for his powerful voice and extreme talent. Please welcome Zeiden Macale to the stage!" ZIM put on a big smile and walked to the center stage where Lik's desk was along with a couch next to it. Lik stood up to greet ZIM. The small boy accepted a hug from the host as the crowd roared with applause. ZIM winked and waved at the audience then sat down. "And how is Irk's favorite little star doing today?"

"He's doing fine." ZIM smiled at the man, resting his feet on the coffee table in front of him. He was careful to avoid the coffee cup on it.

"I heard you like coffee, so we got some there for you. It's imported from earth." Lik told ZIM. The boy beamed.

"Is it Italian dark roast?" He asked. The man nodded. "Black?" The host nodded again. "Oh, Red's gonna hate you." ZIM chuckled picking up the mug and taking a sip of it. "I'm going to be bouncing off the walls all afternoon now." The audience laughed at ZIM's innocent behavior.

"Speaking of your brother." Lik started. ZIM perked his antenna, setting his coffee down. "It's seems like he's been hiding from us for the past couple months. Where is he? We miss him."

"Oh he's . . . been working. Ya know, he's a co-CEO of Irk's top bio research facility. It's hard work."

"Ah, yes I see. Well when you go home tonight, make sure he knows that he needs to start making more appearances."

"I'm pretty sure he's watching this interview back at home." ZIM said. "Anyhow, I'm sure he'll be back soon. Don't ya worry."

"Well, that's great to hear." Lik said. "Now, a reality T.V. show. That's really exciting for many Irkens. People now days find what celebrities like you do on a daily basis very fascinating." ZIM shrugged.

"I could tell you what I do on a daily basis. Starts off with waking up, take my meds, eat, go to the studio, hang with friends, come here, go home, eat again, free time, shower, bed. That's roughly my everyday system."

"Yes, but you see. There's more to your day than that. The people of Irk want to know what you do with your friends and what you do at the studio." Lik said.

"Huh, my friends and I do every ridiculous thing that comes to our minds when we hang with each other."

"And that's what the people want to see! I think your reality show will be a hit from what you just told me!" Lik exclaimed. "Tell us, what have you done recently with your friends that may be dubbed as 'interesting'?" ZIM thought for a moment.

"Well we . . . prank other workers at our studio. I pulled a good one on the CEO just a week ago! Hoo! That was a riot! Who knew that the guy wouldn't appreciate roadkill in his desk drawer!" ZIM laughed at the memory. The audience followed suit at his jovial mood.

"You couldn't have gotten away with that, right? You weren't fired?" Lik asked.

"Of course not! When it comes to power at that crummy studio, I'm the top dog! He can't fire the star of _Invader ZIM_! I'm the main character, my name is in the title for Christ's sake." ZIM said. "Nah, I kid. He threatened to fire me but Jhonen pleaded against him. So instead he called me to his office, sat me down and yelled at me for a good ten minutes on how I shouldn't act up because it looks bad to the public eye. Guh . . . Humans, I tell ya."

"You must hold some sort of power in that studio though, right? I mean, you're at the top of Irk's charts! Irk is one of the most powerful planets in this entire universe! Surely you have control."

"I do but I never use it." ZIM said. "Tak doesn't allow me to." The host narrowed one eye.

"Tak doesn't let you use your power?"

"She's my humbler. If my head is way in the clouds, she brings me down back to Irk. I can't be known as a conceited jerk. That's the worst reputation to have." ZIM explained. Lik nodded, understandingly. "Plus she holds the power in our relationship, so what power I have automatically goes to her. And what she says goes." Lik snorted and laughed with the crowd. ZIM rose both hairless brows. "What? It's true. And I personally don't mind it. After all, with great power comes great responsibility. And well . . . I'm just not responsible enough."

"Ahhh, ZIM. You always make wonderful conversation." Lik said. "So are you saying that Tak won't let you use your power because she's worried you'll be a jerk and she won't want to be seen with you?"

"Yes." ZIM answered. "It hasn't happened yet so I think she's doing a good job at controlling both of our powers combined. It's easy for me. All I have to do and sit back and relax."

"Does she boss you around?"

"Sometimes. She's quite assertive, I'm more laid back. We're total opposites but we balance each other out nicely."

"You don't mind if she gets a bit pushy?"

"Sometimes pushiness is a good thing. I seriously have no motivation to do anything sometimes so she'd get on my ass about it and won't leave me alone till I do that task." ZIM said. "I guess you could say that she helps me build character too."

"Wow. You think your reality show will catch her doing that sort of thing?"

"Absolutely." ZIM said. "She does it often. I think some people could learn something from her."

"Will she be in your new show, _Invader ZIM_?" Lik wondered. ZIM didn't know.

"Umm, there's a possibility. She's not in the first episode, that's for sure." ZIM said. "Who knows, she may be later in the series."

"Your show is broadcasting tonight. Do you find yourself nervous because humans may judge you differently than us Irkens, or are you more excited."

"Eh, I don't get nervous easily. I'm excited. Mostly just to see the finished product. I don't care what the critics will say." ZIM said.

"Well good for you and best of luck to you, your family, your friends, and your cast and crew." Lik turned back to one of the cameras. "We'll cut to commercial now but be sure to tune in tomorrow night for our next special guest, Skoodge Orajesh." ZIM tilted his head. He hasn't talked to Skoodge in ages. He should do that sometime soon. "Thank you for coming out, ZIM." Lik shook ZIM's hand.

"No problem, mate. I got to be leaving though now. The Tallest is waiting for me." ZIM said. The host nodded, watching the young boy leave. ZIM was led out from the backstage to a hover limo. The chauffeur opened the door for the boy. ZIM nodded to him and slid in. Inside the limo already was Jalokia and Mevlo. "Ugh . . . I'm tired."

"Should've gotten more sleep, child." Mevlo said. "I was watching your interview. You looked like you were very slap happy."

"Meh," ZIM leaned his head back. "I couldn't sleep. I swear I have insomnia."

"Just hang in there. The Tallest would like to meet with you while you're still conscious." Jalokia said. ZIM closed his eyes as his producer and agent talked to one another. A short ride later they pulled up to the Tallest's palace. A big golden gate opened and the limo drove past and up the long white concrete driveway to the magnificent palace. The limo went through a loop until it was by the front double doors of the palace. A valet opened the door for ZIM. As soon as he exited the vehicle, a mass of bodyguards surrounded him and led him inside. Jalokia and Mevlo stayed behind. They'd go to the Jalokia Records office building to finish up some business. ZIM walked in the grand foyer of the building.

"Can you spread your limbs for the body check?" One guard asked. ZIM widened his stance and stuck his arms straight out, rolling his eyes as two men patted him down from head to toe. ZIM smirked, deciding to pull their legs a bit, when one man touched ZIM's crotch. "Whoa, mate! Buy me dinner first!" ZIM chuckled when the guards groaned at his immaturity. ZIM smiled when he heard a gentle voice laugh with him. He craned his head up the double stairs. There she was, gracefully walking down the steps. The tallest being in the galaxy. Miyuki.

The guards backed off from ZIM, bowing their heads, now that they were in the presence of the great Almighty Tallest. Miyuki stood before ZIM smiling widely. Before ZIM could speak however, he must always show respect to his highest worldly authority. ZIM got on both knees then hunched over, putting his forearms on the ground. He then brushed his antenna at her feet, to show her that the very top of his head was below her. He remained like this as he felt her hand place itself on his back, as she gave him her blessing.

"Please rise, young one." She said, her calm voice echoed in his antenna. ZIM stood back up to his full height. Then of course, as royalty, Miyuki had to greet the Irken in their way. She bent over, putting both hands on either of his antenna and kissed ZIM on both cheeks, then a kiss on his forehead. The way royalty shook hands on Irk. ZIM grinned up at her.

"My Tallest," He started. "I must say, you look ravishing today. And of course it's not just today, but always."

"Why, thank you Master Macale, you look simply stunning yourself." Miyuki turned on her heel. "Please come, young one. We can speak in the parlor." She said as she walked away. Before ZIM followed her, he looked to the guards and gave them all a cocky smile.

"I'm her favorite."

**Later that Night**

"This is so awesome, you guys! In just a few minutes our shows will be aired on every T.V. in America!" Dib exclaimed.

"I can't wait to see the finished product!" A.J. added.

"Look at everyone that's here! The whole studio came here to watch the premiere." Timmy said. The five boys just entered the auditorium. A huge screen was hanging from the ceiling. The seats were filled with toons, humans, and other species all talking to one another. The first few rows of seats were reserved for the stars and backups of the shows. A few backups were already sitting. The boys were about to take a seat but were stopped by one of the studio's officials.

"Timothy and Zeiden, before you sit we want you to talk to your fellow cast mates." Timmy and ZIM nodded already being warned of this earlier. "So just head to the backstage now and wait till we cue you boys." The two nodded. Their friends went to their seats. ZIM watched as Chester and A.J. forced Dib to sit closest to Red. They were scared of him before but now that Red was constantly cranky, it made him even more intimidating to them. Dib sat leaving a seat in between he and Red so ZIM had a spot to sit.

"So you just gonna say some thank you's and that's it?" Timmy asked. ZIM nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so." ZIM and Timmy walked to the backstage. They waited there for a few minutes till an official took the stage and welcomed them then announced a few things. Finally Timmy and ZIM were called to the stage. The two boys walked onto the stage waving at their friends and family in the crowd. The audience applauded for them. The official gave ZIM the microphone first, since they figured he was more comfortable speaking in front of people. "Uh oh, they gave me a mic again." ZIM started, winking at the crowd. "Hiya! Thank you all for coming tonight to both our shows' premieres! I guess I have to say a few things about my experience with you guys and what it's like to work on the set and what not. So Imma start-"

"Thank you's. Start with the thank you's." Timmy told him. ZIM nodded.

"Right, okay then. I'll start with the thank you's . . . Thank you." ZIM said, bluntly. He earned a few chuckled from the mass. "Thank you family, thank you friends, thank you others. Okay, I'm done with those, now I'm going to talk about the people I'm going to be working with." ZIM gestured his hand, outstretching his arm to the first few front rows. "My cast family, they're all great. We all get along very well . . . For the most part . . . When you watch our show in just a few minutes we won't look like we all get along. My brothers are bickering about smoke machines and lasers, Dib and I hate each other immediately. Gaz . . . Is actually a lot like her character." The audience laughed. "But we do! We all get along beautifully! I promise . . . I'm looking forward to working with these guys. They're wonderful, I feel like our show has a chance of being not a total failure! Did you hear that, Jhonen? I have hope!" ZIM exclaimed. More laughter from his colleagues. "But seriously. Thank you guys for the love and support. I appreciate it and enjoy the shows." ZIM handed the microphone over to Timmy.

"Yes, thank you all. It's great to know that we have so many people here that all support us and our shows. My own cast is awesome. It's great because I have the opportunity to work with my parents and my best friends, much like ZIM has the opportunity to work with his siblings. It draws us closer together and it's amazing. Thanks again." Their audience clapped and whistled for the boys. Timmy handed the mic back to ZIM.

"Umm . . . I just wanted to tell you something really cool. A little fun fact, if you will." ZIM said. "_Invader ZIM_ is the first show off Irk starring an Irken. So guess what guys? I made history!" The audience roared with applause. "I have Jhonen to thank for that. He's the one that recommended me for the show, so thank you Jhonen! You're okay as person!" ZIM smiled brightly to the people that were gathered, blowing them all a big kiss. He left the stage with Timmy to sit. ZIM plopped down next to Dib who gave him a high five and Red who put a hand on his little brother's head, ruffling his antenna. ZIM grinned up at him.

The auditorium went dark and the giant screen bursted with lights of color of _The Fairly Odd Parents_ theme song. ZIM watched the opening credits with a wide smile. His friends were ecstatic about it. The song itself was pretty catchy. As if it were some sort of Broadway musical. ZIM read the title, _The Big Problem_. From the information Timmy has given him, the first part of the episode was about him wishing he were an adult. ZIM figured it'd be interesting enough. ZIM watched the show as it proceeded. A hairless brow raised most the time. He wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a comedy or not. It wasn't all that funny. The writers probably were just nervous, being first episode and all. Maybe part two would be better. ZIM allowed a few snickers to pass along with the laughter of the fellow Nicktoons behind him. He noticed the line of seats from Red on down no one was laughing. This included Purple, Tenn, Zee, Mark, Tak, and Leslie. The humor was a bit too childish for their taste. ZIM thought so too but he didn't want to look like a sour puss. Once the first part was done they took a break for a five minute intermission. ZIM turned to Red.

"What did you think?" ZIM asked. Red had an unreadable expression.

"Umm . . ." He cleared his throat. "It was kind of annoying."

"I feel as if it's geared toward seven year olds." ZIM said. Red nodded in agreement, then thought for a moment before giving ZIM a peculiar look. ZIM finally realizing, nearly face palmed at what he just said. "That's probably why they rated it T.V.-Y7 then, huh?" Timmy came up behind ZIM.

"Hey. You like it so far?" ZIM gave him a sheepish smile.

"Yeah! It's awesome!" Timmy grinned, having several people come up to him and shake his hand and congratulate him of a job well done. ZIM rolled his eyes. "It's not that awesome." Red chuckled. ZIM honestly didn't think their acting was all too good either. Of course this is their first show ever. ZIM has been in many movies already. He had more experience.

"Just wait. Going from their show to ours will be like going from sweet to sour." Red said. ZIM smirked.

"Can't wait." Once the five minutes were over the people settled down to watch the next part. This half of the episode was titled, _Power Mad_! ZIM liked this episode a bit better than the last one. It had more action in it. It was also a bit funnier to him. Every now and then ZIM would glance over at his friends beyond Dib. They were watching the show so intensely. It was like, if their eyes left the screen for even a yocto second the world would blow up. They all had similar smiles that went from one ear to the other. ZIM was glad they were having fun but he had a feeling that for the next few days all they'll be talking about is the show, even though they already started on their next episode and that would be airing next month. The episode came to a close and the ending credits began to roll along with a short bloopers real for kicks. The auditorium erupted with applause. They must've liked it . . . or they were clapping just because everyone else was.

"We will be taking a twenty minute intermission now. Come back soon to watch _Invader ZIM_ with us." One official said taking the stage. "You may hang here or go out to the lobby for refreshments." Red quickly stood up.

"Maybe they'll have liquor." He said, rushing to the lobby. Red pulled Purple along with him. ZIM rolled his eyes. Leslie won't allow him to drink. She followed her husband out to make sure he doesn't misbehave.

"Where are they going?" Dib asked.

"My brother is gonna try to get some alcohol." ZIM said.

"But . . . he's pregnant. He shouldn't drink."

"That's why Leslie went out with him. I know his job as a biologist tells people that he's really smart, but seriously, sometimes he can be down right stupid. I caught him smoking a doobie the other day."

"Wow. Isn't his child gonna have enough problems as it is?" Dib asked. ZIM nodded.

"Like I said, he can be very stupid." ZIM said. "So in just a few minutes our show will be playing. Nervous?" Dib shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess. They put a bloopers reel at the end just for fun! I think those will be fun to watch too." Dib said. ZIM smirked. There will probably be no bloopers of his brothers. Every time they screwed up they'd swear. Of course they could censor but even then the viewers still know the two older Irkens have potty mouths. ZIM would admit, sometimes when he would mess up he'd let a few profanities slip by his tongue as well. Of course he'd keep that to a minimum considering that his brothers don't like him swearing. Hypocrites.

"That'd be fun to watch." ZIM said. "Hey, where's your dad?" Dib pointed his thumb behind them.

"Sitting a few rows back with a few others." Dib said. "After this he has to go to his lab and do research for something or other. He'll be gone all night."

"Oh, I see. You wanna stay at my place?" ZIM asked. Dib nodded.

"Yes. I really hate when he leaves me alone by myself all night." ZIM scoffed.

"Man! You're so lucky! I'm not _allowed_ to be alone because of all my conditions . . . and the fact they don't trust me alone. All because I almost chopped off my fingers with a butcher's knife." ZIM complained. Dib raised a brow.

"What the heck were you doing?"

"I killed a kangaroo and started to gut it in our garage at our Alice Springs home. Purple walked in on me just as I cut myself deep." Dib looked confused.

"You hunt . . . kangaroos?"

"Well yeah! It's like killing deer. In 'Stralia we kill them boomers. They're just a bunch of pests anyway." Dib shook his head.

"Well being alone isn't all as cracked up as you think it is. Is boring and scary sometimes." Dib said. "Besides, you really shouldn't be left alone. Like you said you have a lot of medical conditions that can strike at any moment." ZIM groaned.

"It just sucks having people constantly watch your every move." ZIM said.

"Pfft, you complain too much." Dib muttered. ZIM shot him a glare then realized that his friend was right. He did complain a bit too much. Really, ZIM didn't have anything to complain about. What was wrong with having people watch over him all the time? It just meant they loved him. Dib didn't have that. ZIM felt pity towards the boy. His father was a sort of neglectful. Quite the opposite of ZIM's siblings whom were very sheltering.

"Yeah, you're right, D." ZIM said. "Hey, tomorrow I have to go get evaluated for asthma. If you don't want to come I can drop you off at your house when I'm on my way to the hospital."

"Nah, it's fine. I'll just go with you." Dib said.

"Okay, then I have to go to Irk to sign a few contracts. Ones about the reality show, the others are about some magazine photo shoots. I may be getting a cologne line. Isn't that neat?"

"Didn't you already have a cologne line?"

"No. I had a clothesline. And I was an icon for a tech company. That was it."

"Oh, well then, I'll go to Irk with you too." Dib said. Red scooted past Dib and ZIM holding a silver can in his hand, trying to hide it the best he could. Red sat by ZIM showing him the can of_ Coor's._

"I managed to smuggle this past, Les." He whispered. "I is sneaky." He giggled, popping the top. He lifted the can to his lips and took a sip. ZIM frowned and took the beer away from him. ZIM swatted his brother's head.

"Red, stop. You're being a naughty butt-face." ZIM handed the beer to Dib when Red tried to grab it back. ZIM pushed Red back so he couldn't take it. "I'm telling Leslie!" ZIM stood up and darted out to the lobby. Red gasped.

"Zeiden! Don't tell on me!" Red took off after him. Dib listened as the two brother's voices carried throughout the auditorium even after they were out of sight. "Stop making me run! I'm going give the smeet a concussion!" Dib chuckled. Irkens. They could be so weird.

**Later**

ZIM was back in his seat. The _Invader ZIM_ theme song was playing. ZIM was impressed with it. It was like an upbeat, techno, robotic march. It also sounded a lot like one of the Irken Empire's military corps songs. The opening credits came and gone, soon the episode officially began. For reasons unknown, the opening credits would not be broadcasted on T.V. Not until the next episode anyway. Action on the screen passed as Irkens filed into the large convention hall. Finally ZIM heard it. The introduction of his brothers. They were so lucky. Their characters where revealed the coolest way in all the show.

"_Now, wiggle your antenna in salute because here they are! Your all knowing, all powerful leaders! The Almightyyy Taaalleeessst!_" ZIM leaned forward. This would be the first time he'd see them after the computer modifications to make their waists skinnier, and their bodies taller. Thin arms, long necks and fingers, and their faces appeared to be longer too. When the lift descended with the Tallest on it Red's jaw dropped.

"What the fuck? I'm pink!" He said, not realizing just how loud he was. Everyone heard him. The auditorium bursted with fits of laughter. Leslie moved over to Red and slapped him hard on the head, then told him not to swear. ZIM didn't hear the rest of Leslie's threat he was laughing too hard. ZIM cut himself off when his chest started to tighten up again. He coughed a little then went back to watching the show once everyone calmed down. ZIM chuckled as he watched his brothers fighting over smoke machines and lasers. He smirked when Purple got hit in the eye and went crashing to the ground. It took so many takes to get that small part right! He'd either fall over and scream, "Oh, my lord! I've been hit! God saveth me!" or "Ooo! Bad acting! Waaahh! Oh noes!" Then he'd fall to the ground over dramatically.

Another noticeable thing was that Purple's voice was higher pitched. It made him sound quite . . . odd. He sounded weird before but this was really different. Red's voice has been tweaked a bit too, but nothing too major. When ZIM's character made the big reveal the audience in the auditorium started to cheer. ZIM smiled. So far, so good. He assumed they liked it. ZIM's voice was dubbed over by Richard Horvitz making him sound different. If you listened closely however, his normal voice was meshed in with Horvitz's voice. It was easy to hear when ZIM's voice went higher pitched.

The crowd laughed at many of the scenes. Especially the 'Worse or Better?' scene. He continued to watch, rubbing his antenna contently. The scene where Red pulled a sandwich out of his pants and gave it to ZIM was one of the worst to film. He kept getting a lot of crap from Red, Purple, cast mates, and even crew mates on how the sandwich was almost as big as him. It wasn't that he was small . . . Everyone knows he's small . . . It's just, that sandwich was huge compared to any other ordinary sandwiches. The audience apparently found it cute when ZIM hugged the sandwich close to him and squeaked, 'Gimme'. They all awed at that part. The show played out perfectly. ZIM discovered that he was in almost every single scene! No wonder it took longest for him to film.

ZIM kept noticing many changes. Like when he was standing next to Zee to get the SIR units they cut her down to make her a lot shorter than she really was. Same with Tenn. Otherwise his sisters would stand at a height of five foot, five inches. Three inches shorter than Red.

ZIM observed Dib's acting. He was really good for the first time in front of camera! He nailed his character even though his character was quite the opposite of him in real life. But that's why Dib is such a good actor. It was amazing how Dib and ZIM could pass off as enemies on the show. They were very convincing in their acting. It was weird. They hate each other so much on the show but in reality, they're awesome friends who get along beautifully. ZIM turned his head to Dib. He had a wide smile on his face. He caught ZIM's glance and grinned to his friend.

"You're amazing." He whispered to ZIM.

"I'm very impressed with your acting too, D." ZIM said. The boy gave him a shy smile and looked back to the screen. Dib was always so modest and nice.

"Thanks, Zei."

Soon the first half of the episode came to a close, signaling another five minute intermission. The lights grew bright again and ZIM faced Dib.

"What do you think so far?" ZIM asked.

"Well, I was in only one scene this half." Dib said. "I think you and your brothers were really funny. GIR is pretty funny too." ZIM laughed.

"Yeah, but could you imagine if GIR was real? He'd be so annoying!" ZIM said.

"Totally." Dib agreed.

"Thank God for computer magic, eh?" ZIM leaned back in the seat. Gaz walked by them and took a seat in Red's lap. The older Irken gave her a look but then went back to talking to Leslie and Purple.

"Did I look extra pale to you in the show?" She asked. "I mean, I'm Cajun and usually have a medium skin tone but I was like pasty white."

"Well did you see Red? His eyes were pink. Maybe the editors changed it, or it could be the lighting." ZIM said.

"Huh! I never said they could change my appearance." Gaz mumbled. "Red," The Irken man turned his head to look at her. "You look good in pink." Red frowned.

"Why the hell would they change my eye color? It couldn't have been the lighting because Purple's eyes would have changed too." Purple snickered.

"You don't know why?" Purple asked. Red tilted his head.

"You do?"

"Yes. I told them too. Just for kicks." Purple admitted. Red scowled.

"If my stomach wasn't so full of smeet right now, I'd kick your ass." Red grumbled. Leslie put an arm around his shoulder leaning into him.

"I think you make pink look hot." She whispered in his antenna. Red's frown morphed into a grin. Leslie gave him a kiss in between the eyes.

"Ew, mom." Gaz groaned. "You can't do that now. There's innocent minds here."

"You walked in on us doing a lot more than kissing, Gazelle. I don't know why you're complaining." Leslie said.

"I seem to walk in on a lot of things. Like ZIM and Tak the other day. Caught her with her hand halfway down his pants." Gaz shuddered at the memory. Red glared at ZIM. He blushed heavily.

"Uh, actually, Gaz. She was looking for a french fry she dropped down my pants . . . on accident. Nothing sexual at all." ZIM lied.

"You are such a tard, Zeiden." Gaz looked at him as if he were the dumbest person she's ever seen.

"Nuh-uh! You're just jealous that it was Tak's hand and not yours . . . Oh God, why did I say that?" ZIM face palmed. "Ignore me, Gaz." The girl with purple hair had a face that looked very disturbed. Dib chuckled.

"The things you say, ZIM." He said. ZIM sighed.

"Shh. I don't know where that came from, okay?"

"Where is Tak anyway?" Dib asked.

"She's sitting by Zee and Tenn."

"Why isn't she over here?" Dib questioned. ZIM looked down at his lap, embarrassed.

"They won't let us sit by each other anymore."

"Why?"

"All because she got a little frisky during a church sermon once. It wasn't even that bad. Her hand was just grazing the front on my pants." ZIM crossed his arms.

"Umm," Dib started. "I don't attend church, but I do know enough that you're not suppose to be making moves on the people sitting next to you."

"I don't normally attend church either. Usually I go to the synagogue without Tak." ZIM said. "But whatever. Someday they can't force us to be separated anymore." Dib and ZIM talked until the show started to play again. The second half went exactly as ZIM remembered filming it. The chase scene between Dib and ZIM. Yeah, ZIM remembered that day. They made him run around in the ninety degree weather wearing leather clothing, boots, and gloves. Not to mention that itchy wig and those uncomfortable lenses. He nearly fainted that day from dehydration. Then he almost fainted again when he refused to take a break and wanted to get the scene over with. Dib himself was sweating so bad they forced the boy to take a break before he went down as well.

And the very last scene, when ZIM called in to the "Tallest". Surprisingly, that took awhile too because they filmed that scene with actual transmissions that would fail or drop the calls. A lot of technical difficulties.

Altogether, ZIM was happy with how the first episode turned out. But going from _Fairly Odd Parents_ to _Invader ZIM_ was like going from hot and humid to cold and dry. Those shows were like polar opposites. ZIM found this quite humorous. They were aired back-to-back. He wondered what families across the nation thought of it.

The credits started to roll and the room once again coursed with positive energy. As soon as the credits were over the bloopers reel played, surprising everyone. Apparently only Dib and ZIM with a few other selected people knew that the reel was showing. It started off with the camera zoomed in on Dib and ZIM saying their lines avidly. It was the classroom part where Dib was calling ZIM out on being an alien.

"_. . . That's no kid! He's and alien! An alien! One of the monsters I've been talking about! He's here to conquer earth!_" ZIM looked at Dib then at the camera.

"_Wait you wanted me to pretend I had a self-destruct button?_" ZIM asked someone off screen.

"_Yes, just reach for it on your right wrist. That'll be edited in later._" Came Steve Russell's quiet voice from behind the cameras with subtitles.

"_Can I get a real one?_"

"_ZIM, don't be stupid._"

"_But I just think-_"

"_No_."

"_But_-"

"_Shh. Shut up._" ZIM crossed his arms. The small Irken's gaze fixed upon the people behind the scenes.

"_I don't want to work with you anymore_."

"_Okay, now I'm tempted to give you a real self-destruct button!_"

The people watching the reel snickered as it cut to the next blooper. This one was of the Tallests getting the ending transmission from ZIM.

"_What is . . . earth?_" Purple asked, perking his antenna. Red was sipping on his soda.

ZIM popped up in the giant screen in front of the Tallests.

"_Invader ZIM reporting sirs. The mission goes well._" ZIM said. At that moment Red started to choke on his soft drink. He coughed as he sputtered his next words.

"_F***ing almost inhaled my straw! Augh!_" They edited it so it censored out the first word. Purple watched in utter disgust as his friend gagged, not making any moves to help his poor friend. You could hear ZIM's insane laughter off screen somewhere. "_Mate, that's not funny! I could've died!_" Red shouted melodramatically. It cut to the next outtake on the scene where ZIM first gets on stage at Conventia then falls off the stage. ZIM remembered filming that part. He was so embarrassed. His jaw hurt really bad after that too. The crowd laughed, jubilantly. ZIM shook his head. Next outtake was actually behind the scenes footage of Purple attempting to teach line dancing to some backup Irken technicians caught on candid camera. A few more mess ups went by. All as funny or funnier than the last.

Another one of behind the scenes footage. Purple and Red were engaged in conversation.

"_I'm going to try to go this shoot with out swearing_." Red claimed, looking at his phone, fixing it while he was talking.

"_Yeah? I'll hold you to that._" Purple said, nonchalantly, not really looking in any specific direction.

"_'Kay, just watch me._" Red muttered, finally able to fix his phone.

"_You're not gonna . . . be able to do it._" Purple said, distractedly. Red shot a glare at his friend.

"_Where can I go to get some f***ing support?_" Red groaned, mostly to himself. "_Wait. I mean- God, damn it!_"

"_Oh well that did last too long._" Purple said, unamused.

ZIM looked over at Red.

"I don't even remember that conversation." He told ZIM. ZIM chuckled. Next cut was Gaz going on a rant about the fact that you can't itch an itch, you have to scratch it. That rant was aimed towards Dib.

"Wow, Gaz. Didn't know you were so anal about proper usage of vocabulary being in the right context." ZIM said to her.

"Shut up, ZIM." She grumbled. He just chuckled, tuning back into the reel. The next one was the sandwich scene. ZIM was jumping up and down in front of the tallest.

"_Wait!_"

"_What? You got you sandwich!_" Purple said. ZIM gave them a disgusted look.

"_But it came out of his pants._" ZIM tilted his head toward Red. The other two Irkens played along with it.

"_That way it's nice and warm. Don't you like warm sandwiches?_" Red asked, shamlessly.

"_Yeah. C'mon, ZIM, that s**t is better than_ Subway,_ right there._" Purple added.

ZIM smirked. He remembered that scene well. When Red changed out of his costume he had mayonnaise all over his crotch. The reel finished soon after and ZIM got up to leave to the cafeteria where an after party was to be held. He was happy they added in the bloopers reel. That way the cast and crew could reflect on all the laughs they shared when filming. Tak caught up with him and held his hand.

"That was awesome, Zimmy. You are so cute in that little invaders costume!" She pinched his cheek.

"Huh, you think so?" ZIM asked. Tak smiled.

"I know so, babe." She whispered. The couple passed Red who was talking to a few of the editors. From what ZIM heard of their conversation, Red was complaining about him being 'Tallest Pink' in the episode.

"Hey, ZIM. I'm hanging with the guys. Are you coming with or not?" Dib asked. ZIM shook his head.

"I'm gonna chill with Tak for a bit, Kay? I'll meet up with you later." ZIM said. Dib nodded, leaving his friend. ZIM faced Tak. "Wanna go to my dressing room for a bit of . . . alone time?" ZIM asked, seductively. Tak smirked.

"Hun, you read my mind."

**Later**

A knock was heard coming from his dressing room's door. ZIM groaned, breaking the kiss from Tak.

"Twist the knob and pull! Geez, am I the only one who knows how to open a door?" ZIM mumbled. When Tak saw who it was she pulled ZIM closer to her and held him possessively. "What do you want, Keef?" The boy with orange hair stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"I want to be mutual friends." Keef said, timidly. "I'd also like go apologize to you for being so obnoxious." Tak narrowed her eyes at the boy. ZIM sighed.

"Yes, Keef. We can be friends." ZIM said. Keef nodded.

"Thanks and I know that you two are . . . preoccupied with something else but I just wanted to tell you something so Tak can rest easy whenever I'm around you." ZIM raised his antenna to show the kid he was listening. "I found a boyfriend."

"Oh really? Since when do ten years olds start dating? . . . Wait a minute." ZIM realized that he was only ten when he first started dating Tak. "Well, never mind. What's his name? Where's he from?"

"His name is Paul. He's from Anaheim."

"How'd you meet him?" ZIM asked.

"Well . . . Our parents knew each other. And we're not really official yet. But I hope we are soon." Keef said. ZIM refrained from rolling his eyes.

"Uh. Well I'm happy for you." ZIM said. "Now if you'll excuse me-"

"Oh right! Sorry buddy! I'll leave you two alone. By the way, Dib sent me up here to get you. He wants you to hang out with him for a little while." Keef said. ZIM groaned. He watched the overly happy kid leave his room.

"'Bout time that creep gets lost." ZIM said. He got up from the couch only to be grabbed by Tak and yanked down again.

"Where are you going?" She questioned.

"I was gonna go see Dib and the guys." ZIM said. "Why?"

"Don't '_why_' me. This is our time. They can wait." Tak resumed nibbling on his jawline.

"Yes but, we've already been up here for twenty minutes. The party will end soon so we might as well mingle for awhile then we can continue at home." ZIM suggested. Tak ignored him, biting his neck. ZIM sighed. "Fine, Tak. Five more minutes-"

"Excuse me! We're not done until I say we're done!" Tak grabbed his face and forced a kiss unto him. ZIM scowled, letting his body go limp. He might as well do as she wants. She was going through puberty and was very hormonal. Tak grabbed the waistline of ZIM's jeans and tugged at them. She really wanted to do more than run to second base. By the looks of it. She wanted to round and go to third base.

It didn't take long before someone else came knocking at their door. This time whoever it was didn't wait to be invited in. Enter Red holding another bottle of liquor.

"I have to hide in here. I need alcohol and Leslie is driving me nuts! She says, 'No alcohol! Bad for baby!' and I say, 'It's called a smeet, dip shit.' then she'd get mad and take my precious away. I want to drink! Let me live!" Red talked a mile a minute. ZIM cocked a brow. His brother had a bad case of 'pregnant brain'.

"Fine, Red. You can stay here for awhile to drink . . . But I'm telling Leslie." ZIM warned.

"No! Leave me be!" Red begged. "You don't know what it's like, Zeiden! I want this godforsaken thing out of me!"

"There you are!" Leslie banged through the door. She stomped toward her husband and ripped the bottle out of his hand. "I told you to stop! Jesus! Why don't you listen? Are you trying to kill our child? . . . Wait a minute!" She gasped with realization. Red's eyes went wide.

"No, Les, no! That's not-" She grabbed him by the antenna before he could finish his sentence and yanked him out of the room.

"God, all these interruptions." Tak said.

"Yeah, must be a sign." Tak glared at ZIM. "What?"

* * *

><p><strong>'Nother Chapter. (Insert unenthusiastic 'Yay' here.)<br>**

**I need to update more often. Seriously guys! Don't be afraid to get on my ass if I don't update as often as I should. I'm already half-way done typing chapter 21! I'm just not uploading for some odd reason!**

**I have some exciting news! As of my final exam I had during my lifeguarding class (which required a physical exam and two written exams) I am now a certified lifeguard! Cool right? No? Oh . . . (You: Who cares about the author! No one likes her because she's too lazy to update!) Hey guys! That was rude! Don't come crying to me if you start drowning in a pool or something because I won't save you! . . . Just kidding. As a lifeguard, I have a duty to act and therefore, my duty is to save anyone (whether I like them or not) from getting hurt or killed.**

**I digress! Lifeguarding has nothing to do with the story! (Except for the fact that Red used to be one.)**

**Here's the fun fact of the chapter!**

**If y'all haven't noticed, ZIM has been getting increasingly irritable and cranky. Why? You ask. Well I'll tell you, my friends. It's a little stage in life called, (Can you guess it?) That's right! Puberty! Yaaaay!**

**Questions of the chapter!**

**1. My favorite kitchen appliance is the toaster. What's yours? Also, how old are you guys? (I ask this because I want to know at what age level i should be writing and directing the story more to.)  
><strong>

**2. (This one actually relates to the story) Do you guys like how I portrayed the characters? Example: ZIM is a funny, blithe, adorable, somewhat brash, overly confident, cunning, and coy child full of chutzpah and insanity and suffers from drastic mood swings. Dib is a sweet, sympathetic,** intelligent**, nice, reserved, charming, cute, sensible, and an easygoing kid who's cool headed as well as kind. Gaz is quiet yet demanding. Tak is clingy, pretty, smart, controlling, caring, protective, and self confident. I always pictured Red and Purple's relationship to be like Ian and Anthony from Smosh. Anyone else? Hum? Yeah? No? I'd like your opinion.**

**That's all for now folks!**


	20. Breathe

**Please allow me to rant a little bit. I HATE and I mean absolutely HATE when people say that girls are always the passive, submissive, non dominant half of the relationship! I hate it! And it's simply not true! I'm a girl and I'm a bloody dominant girl too! Just ask my ex! (No we didn't have sex. But when we made out I was sure I was in charge) So that's why the girls are always topping in this story! I'm breaking those god damn stereotypes and if you don't like it . . . Just simply get over it. **

**No, anger was not directed towards some of you guys who believe in the girls stereotype. Annoyance, however, was. Just. Stop. Really. It's annoying as shit. (I'm a slight feminist just because of all the damn sexism in the world. It's driving me crazy!)**

**And just so I'm clear, I'm not necessarily irritated at you guys! Meaning my readers. Others irritate me. Not you. Unless you're one of those people that I described. Then yes. I'm irked with you. Stop it.**

**Don't get mad at me. Just accept the fact that girls can top too. Now, Keep Calm and Read On.**

* * *

><p><strong>March 31, 2001<strong>

Tak listened to her boyfriend's conversation. Actually, she was eavesdropping. He was using the phone to call a girl back in his hometown in Perth. They met when he first moved in. They were technically neighbors even though she lived a mile down the street from his house. This was because his Perth home was rather isolated.

"No, no. Just been working on some new songs . . . Yeah, you heard about that?" ZIM chuckled. Tak could only listen to his side of the conversation and it bothered her. "Softball? . . . Really, I inspired you? Well, I'm flattered." Tak groaned. She wanted him to get off the phone so badly right now. She hates when he talks to other girls. "Yes, I'll be visiting again soon . . . Yeah, I hate it here. There's too many people . . . Yup, and when I do come, we can hang for awhile." Tak had enough now. She opened the door to his room. He barely even looked up at her when she came in. ZIM continued to talk to the girl. Tak grabbed his phone and ended the call abruptly. ZIM's jaw dropped. "What the hell? Why'd you hang up on her?"

"You don't need to talk to her." Tak said. "What's her name anyway?"

"Why should I tell you?" ZIM crossed his arms. Tak shot him a death glare, convincing him to change his answer. ". . . Her name is Neilsa."

"What kind of name is that?" Tak asked.

"It's Gaelic! Now will you please let me finish my call?" Tak shook her head and stuck his Imp down her shirt in her bra. "Tak, come on." ZIM whined.

"If you want it; get it." She said, simply. ZIM growled. He was in no mood to play games with her.

"Takayla, please just give it back." ZIM begged. She shook her head. ZIM let out a long, exasperated sigh. He crawled over to her on the other side of the bed. He reached for her shirt and pulled it down a bit revealing her hot pink bra she was wearing. Tak smirked when his hand went down her shirt to retrieve his cell. When he peered down her shirt she wrapped him up in a tight hug and pulled him on her lap. "Ugh! Gosh, you're so clingy." He finally got his phone back and shoved it in his pocket. Tak rocked him back and forth in her embrace. "Let me go. I have to talk to Zee." ZIM pried Tak's arms off from around him. He started his search for his older sister. Tak tagged along just to annoy him.

"She's in her room, ZIM." Tak told him. ZIM looked at her.

"How do you know?"

"I saw her." Tak said. ZIM nodded then went to Zee's room. He knocked before entering.

"Zannah?" ZIM stepped into her room, bumping into Tak as he did. Zee look up at him from her book.

"What is it?" She asked. ZIM looked to Tak.

"This is private . . . Go away." He said. Tak frowned but left nonetheless.

"What's on your mind?" Zee asked. ZIM walked more into her room, not really making eye contact.

"Russia is far away, Zee." ZIM started. His sister sighed heavily.

"ZIM, I know you hate Mark and don't want me to leave, but Mark and I . . . I think we love each other." She said. ZIM curled his lips down in disgust. "We're gonna start a life together in Russia."

"Zee, you can't live with him!" ZIM said. "You're not even married." Zee scratched her head.

"ZIM . . . He proposed to me just last night after the party." Zee said. "I said yes." ZIM was horrified.

"Wha-what? No! You can't- . . . but he's- . . . Mark is awful!" ZIM finally spat out. He was on the edge of hyperventilating.

"Zeiden, breath." Zee hurried over to him. Rubbing his back. "You'll aggravate your asthma." ZIM took a deep breath.

"I don't . . . have asthma." He said.

"ZIM, I know asthma when I see it-"

"Don't change the topic!" ZIM shouted. "You can't marry him! He hates me! He's said awful things about our parents! I even heard him call you, 'his little bitch' once!"

"Zeiden, he has more respect for me than that!" Zee said. "I'm leaving in a week. Nothing you say will stop me from marrying him."

"But-"

"Leave now. I need to think." Zee pushed him out her door back into the hallway. ZIM pouted as she closed the door on him.

"You didn't hear?" Tak asked.

"What?"

"That they were engaged?"

"Oh . . . No." ZIM bowed his head. "Christ, why can't she see he's awful? I mean, really?" Tak shifted a bit.

"Your brother is bringing you to the hospital for your check up." Tak said. ZIM nodded walking down the stairs to the main floor.

"Where is he?"

"He's in the basement with Les. I'm pretty sure she's forcing him to do some sort of pregnancy couple's yoga together." Tak said. ZIM scrunched his face in distaste.

"I'll text him. I don't want to walk in on them doing something else." ZIM reached for his phone in his pocket but couldn't find it. "What the . . .?" Tak smirked. "Where's my Imp?" She presented his phone to him. Tak was hiding it behind her back. "How did you get this again?"

"I took it from you when we walked into Zee's room." Tak said. ZIM narrowed his eyes at her.

"You taught yourself to pickpocket?"

"I taught myself to be sneaky." Tak answered. ZIM rolled his eyes, quickly texting his brother. "By the way, that Neilsa chick called you back."

"Did you answer?" ZIM asked.

"Yup."

"What did you say?"

"Fuck off." Tak said, smugly. ZIM gave her a disbelieving look.

"You did not."

"I did."

"Tak . . . Ugh, she's my neighbor! Don't look at her as competition. We're going back to Perth for a few weeks to get away from the city. If you can't be nice to her, I'm not letting you come along." Tak frowned.

"Fine. But she better not make any moves."

"She wont Tak." ZIM said. The two heard footsteps coming up from the basement. Red came into the living room, laughing hysterically. Leslie looked embarrassed with bright rosy cheeks. "What's so funny?"

"Les is having bowel movements- ow!" Red kept laughing even after Leslie hit him.

"Shut up, Red! Not everyone needs to know!"

"It sounded so funny!" He exclaimed. "Like a backfiring tractor riding over a bunch of geese!"

"I can't help it! It's something humans do! Get over it!" Leslie snapped.

"Man, if I were you, I'd check my underwear after that!"

"Red, stop it!" Leslie shouted over his laughter. "God, you're such a child, thinking farts are funny." ZIM cocked a brow at his brother waiting for him to calm down.

"Ahhhhh yeah . . . Oh hey we gotta go!" Red realized the time. "Come on, Zei-Zei. Get your gas mask, because Leslie is coming along too."

**Later**

"You do have asthma." The doctor verified. "Moderate persistent asthma to be exact." ZIM shook his head.

"I can't have it. I never had it before." He stated, trying to prove the doctor wrong with no avail. It was official. They diagnosed him with asthma, and now he had to live with it.

"Asthma can be developed later in life. It was laying dormant in you until you started to live in the city."

"What's the city have to do with asthma?"

"The smog irritated it making it flare up. Also, you started smoking at around the same time you moved here." The doctor said. "It's those reasons why it spiked up."

"So . . . how am are you gonna get rid of it?" ZIM asked.

"We can't. We can treat it but we can't just make it go away." The doctor explained. The doctor turned to Red to talk to him more specifically. "We can put him on medications and give him an inhaler. I'm aware he already is on a lot of meds but trust me, you'll definitely want him on asthma medications too. It'll reduce his chances of asthma attacks." Red pressed his hand to him mouth, thinking.

"Yes, it's best if he's on them." Red said. He leaned forward in his seat. Leslie rested a hand on his back for his comfort.

"I'll prescribe him with the medication and you can pick it up at the pharmacy on your way home. I also tested him with a few inhalers. I have five right here that are right for him. He may pick which one he wants." The doctor pointed to the countertop lined with the inhalers he mentioned. ZIM frowned. He'd feel like a nerd if he had to carry an inhaler around with him everywhere. It was bad enough he had to carry an epipen for his allergies. Leslie lifted him up so he could get a better view of the inhalers. He was too short to look over the counter. "These are all metered dose inhalers. I'll teach you how to use it once you've picked one out." ZIM looked at his options.

They all looked the same. They were just different colors. White, red, blue, grey, and orange. ZIM chose the orange one.

"Can I bedazzle it?" ZIM asked.

"Absolutely." The doctor answered. A pause.

"Can I put stickers on it?"

"Of course." ZIM paused again.

"Can I draw on it?"

The doctor looked to Red for help.

"ZIM stop asking stupid questions and let him teach you how to use it." Red said. ZIM inspected the object carefully in his hands. ZIM barely paid attention to the doctors instructions. Red took noticed of this and listened intently to the man because he knew ZIM wasn't.

ZIM was still taken aback that the doctor and everyone else thought he had asthma. Ten minutes went by and the doctor finally stopped talking and released them. ZIM looked at his Imp for the time.

"Red we have to get going." ZIM said. "I have to go to Irk for a meet with Jalo. And you have that press conference." Red puckered his lips. He was finally letting the media of Irk know that he was pregnant. It would no doubt be headline news for the next few weeks. Red was after all, Irk's Sexiest Man.

"We're stopping home for lunch first. You can't skip meals." Red said. ZIM frowned. He hated eating now that he was on a strict diet. Leslie drove them back home. ZIM walked into the kitchen to build himself a salad. Before ZIM could break the lettuce apart, however, Red took the head away from him and told him to eat the things he bought ZIM for his ketogenic diet.

"Red, I'm sick of fatty food. All I've been eating is red meats and sweets. I haven't even noticed a difference yet! . . . Besides the fact that I only gained half a kilogram."

"The diet isn't to help you gain weight, though that is another reason why we put you on it. The main reason was to reduce your amount of seizures. There's some baked salmon in the fridge. Just put it in the microwave to warm it a bit." ZIM bit his lip getting annoyed, mumbling to himself,

"Why must I have so many things wrong with me?"

**Later **

Red sighed heavily. Leslie stood behind him. "I'm sure all of Irk is excited to hear our news." She said, looking out to the stage with a table set up and two chairs behind it.

"I don't know how they'll take it." Red said. "I'm supposed to be Irk's sexiest man alive. What will they think when I go out there with an inflated belly?"

"You're still sexy, babe. Sexy and pregnant." Leslie kissed his temple. "Let's go. The reporters are ready for us." Red bit his lower lip, unsure about what he was about to reveal. He finally bowed his head. Leslie smiled walking out to the stage, followed by Red. As soon as he came to view on stage, everyone in the room seemed to gasp. They immediately started to take pictures of Red's smeet bump and shout questions to him. Red waved them off until he sat down next to his wife. He scooted the mic closer to him so he could speak.

"Please, one at a time. I know you're all startled at my current condition, but I need this conference to be orderly." The room got quieter but not completely silent. "Leslie and I will take your questions now." All of the people in the room raised their claws with note pads and pens in their hands. "You. Good-lookin' gal. Down in front."

"Red, you've been in hiding for a few months now. Is this pregnancy the reason for it?" She inquired.

"I didn't want to reveal it because our smeet will have many medical conditions and well . . . We don't think it'll make it." Red came out and said it. He was being blunt in order to hide feelings for the subject. It was just too sensitive of a topic to be talking about still. The reporters and photographers cooed sympathetically.

"What medical conditions are you predicting?" Another shouted. Red pursed his lips.

"It could be anything. I have a feeling that the smeet will be born possibly deaf and such." Red answered.

"Were you two planning this smeet?" Someone in the back asked. Leslie took this question.

"It was an accident. Red's fault for not taking birth control. I haven't a reason to take any, I'm barren. But no, the smeet was not planned, yet we still feel blessed with it." She responded in nearly perfect Irken.

"Have you considered abortion?" A male in front wondered. Red's bottom lip stuck out a bit. His eyes shifted down to the table's surface.

"Well . . . It was . . . I was scared and . . . It was kinda-" Leslie put a hand on his shoulder. He backed away from the mic to let her answer again.

"What he's trying to say is, he's considered it, yes, but only so he doesn't have to go through the heart break of when it dies, if it dies. He doesn't support abortion in anyway, I promise you that, but like he said, he was scared and confused. His situation is quite lethal, he understands, but his decision was made and we're for sure going with the right to life. The smeet will _not _be aborted." She said. Red looked ashamed. The reporters seemed to make a ruckus of this response.

"How could you even consider killing your own flesh and blood? Were you going to abort it without you wife knowing?" One perky, young male reporter asked. Red grit his teeth.

"I didn't want to witness my child's early demise." He muttered, rubbing his face into his palms.

"So you were being selfish? Thinking about yourself before the child?" The reporter questioned.

"No, it's just-"

"And Leslie wouldn't have known you aborted it. Doesn't she get a say? You're pregnant with her child after all." Red was getting highly irritated with the young man.

"Listen, I love my wife and I tell her everything. I kept my pregnancy a secret at first because I didn't know how she'd take it-"

"Oh, so you do keep secrets from one another? So that could mean that you're possibly still planning an abortion, unbeknownst to Leslie."

"Okay, that's enough-" The reporter cut him off again.

"What if the smeet lived? Huh? Wouldn't that make you a murderer?" Red snarled, standing up suddenly, he slammed his hands down on the table and leaned over it to look more intimidating despite the large belly.

"We're keeping the fuckin' smeet! So it doesn't matter! The thought if abortion was in the past and it'll stay in the past!" Red seethed. The man went quiet. "Any other stupid questions about abortion, keep it to yourself, or I'll make you wish you were aborted as a fetus." Red growled. Leslie grabbed him by the hem of his pants and yanked him back down to sit. She grabbed the mic.

"I'm so sorry about him! He's far in and he's cranky and sore, he has no built in censor and he just says whatever the hell he wants. Once again, I apologize." She scowled at Red. "And it _won't _happen again." Red rolled his eyes.

"No promises."

**April 1, 2001**

"You ready?" ZIM asked. His four friends all nodded. "Just play along with it, no matter how far it goes. When I cut it off then you guys must too." They nodded again. "Good, here she comes."

Tak came walking down the steps quietly to ZIM's basement's den. ZIM pretended not to see her and so did his friends.

"ZIM this is serious! You got to tell Tak! She deserves to know!" Dib said, loudly, using his acting skills to feign being upset. ZIM could tell she took a seat toward the top steps to eavesdrop.

"I can't tell her! She'll be devastated!"

"Did you tell anyone else?" Timmy asked. ZIM shook his head.

"I'm too ashamed." ZIM whined. "Only my siblings, you guys, and the doctors know. They said it was incurable."

"What did they say you had again and how did it happen?"

"Gonorrhea. I got a little drunk a few months ago at a bar where I met a guy."

"A guy? But you're not even gay!" Timmy gasped.

"I know but . . . one thing led to the next and . . . I just can't believe myself. I was able to keep it a secret from Tak but it's just tearing me up so badly now that . . . I can barely live with myself." The boys pretended to be shocked. Tak gasped. ZIM faked being startled. "Tak?" He turned in his spot on the couch to look up at her on the steps. She was holding her hands over her mouth. ZIM stood up. "Wha- . . . How much did you hear?" He asked. Tak had a single tear escape her eye. She came stomping down the rest of the stairs. She grabbed ZIM by the shoulders and shook him.

"You bastard! How dare you cheat on me! You fucking man whore!" ZIM cringed at the harsh words.

"Tak, please. I didn't know what got into me!"

"What happened to being faithful to me? Huh? What happened to, 'I only have eyes for you, babe'? God, I fucking hate you right now!" Tak screeched. ZIM thought for a moment that she was gonna lay a good one on him but it never came.

"Tak, I'm sorry! I love you more than anything!"

"You're not sorry! You would have never of done that in the first place if you loved me!" She pushed him down. His friends watched with amusement but this went unnoticed by Tak. "You're such a slut. I can never trust you again." She sobbed in her hands.

"Takayla," He said, softly. "I just want to say," Tak looked up at him. ZIM's face was serious. "April fools." Tak's face went from sadness to utter rage quickly. ZIM laughed along with his friends.

"What?" She shrieked. "God damn it all, Zeiden Macale Junior! You had me going! Jesus, how could I be so stupid! I'm so sick of your fucking antics! We're through, Zeiden! Do you hear me? We're over!" ZIM stopped laughing abruptly. He looked at her straight in the eye.

"What?" ZIM scoffed. "Huh, you don't mean that." A sharp slap was delivered across his face. He held his cheek from the stinging pain that emitted from it.

"You wanna fucking bet?" She asked. Tak grabbed the red diamond, pendant that ZIM had given her and ripped it off her neck breaking the chain in the process. She threw it to the floor. "We're over! If you can't respect me then I'm going back to London to my parents! I always knew you were too childish for me!" ZIM didn't know what to think. His heart sank. Was she serious? She couldn't be! It was just a joke! No one should take jokes so seriously! He looked to his friends who had the same look he had on his face.

"Tak . . . I didn't mean to hurt you. It was a harmless joke." ZIM explained. He snatched the pendant from the ground inspecting the damage. The diamond itself wasn't hurt. After all the diamond was one of the hardest rocks out there. The white gold chain, on the other hand, looked broken beyond repair.

"All you care about is yourself and getting a cheap laugh out of people!" Tak yelled. Tears leaked from her eyes. ZIM frowned. She was being completely serious. If she were joking she wouldn't be crying. Tak didn't say anything else. She turned around and stomped back up the steps, crying hard. ZIM closed his mouth tightly feeling a knot build up in his esophagus. He cleared his throat and turned to his friends.

"Do you think that may have went a little too far?" ZIM asked. They all looked pale, nodding slowly. "Fuck, I'm such an idiot."

**Later**

ZIM waited till he dropped all his friends off back at home before confronting Tak again. He shook with fear of what she'll say to him when he does. He walked down the hall to Gaz and Tak's shared room and rapped on the door.

"Go away, Zeiden!"

"How'd you know it was me?" He asked, gently.

"You always knock in Morse code for the letter D." Came Tak's reply. ZIM raised a brow.

"You know Morse code?"

"Go away, Zeiden!" She screamed from the other side of the door. "I don't want to talk to you! I told you we're through!"

"I have a hard time believing that, Tak." He said, looking down at the broken necklace in his hand. He leaned on the door. "We've already been through a lot. I don't think a silly prank is going to end our relationship for good." Suddenly the door swung wide open and ZIM went crashing into the room. He grunted when he hit the floor. He looked up to see Tak, looking extremely pissed. At him. He quickly stood up. "I'm sorry, Takayla. Really."

"I'm giving you one last chance to leave before I kick your ass." Tak hissed. ZIM pouted.

"Tak, please. I love you." He whispered. Tak went into a fit. She grabbed ZIM's wrist and turned him around then she literally kicked his ass. It was a strong enough kick to send him hurtling out the door and crashing into the wall across the hall. At the same time Tenn was walking down the hallway. Tak's door slammed closed again. ZIM groaned. Once again he found himself on the floor. Tenn assisted him up, scolding him as she did so.

"Zeiden, she's truly not happy with you." Tenn said. "She told me she feels like she can't trust you anymore. She knows you were joking about the sex with a man thing earlier but then she told me that you were caught dancing with other girls, kissing other girls, and calling other girls."

"All those girls are just friends!"

"Even the ones you kissed?" Tenn asked.

"Yes!"

"Last time I check, I don't kiss my male friends. And they sure as heck don't kiss me either."

"That's because Purple will kill any guy who comes in a one mile radius of you." ZIM muttered.

"Tak did the same for you, only now, she grew so sick of you wanting to be by those girls she wants you to avoid that she just gave up." Tenn said. "I'm disappointed in you, Zeiden."

"Why am I the bad guy?" ZIM raised his hands up. Now he was really torn. Has he really hurt Tak?

**11:00 PM**

ZIM laid in bed wide awake. It was official. They were over. Tak made it perfectly clear. He talked to everyone of his siblings about it. They all said they talked to Tak as well and were also convinced that Tak was done with him. It shattered ZIM's fragile heart. He went to bed at five and stayed there for the rest of the night being too upset to doing anything. He was crying.

How could he be so stupid? Tak had trust problems to begin with and then he had to go and pull a stunt like that! He was so stupid sometimes. ZIM buried his face into his pillow. He just wanted to fall asleep and forget about today. Who knows, maybe it was all a bad dream . . . No it couldn't be. Otherwise he wouldn't of have been able to feel that slap earlier.

ZIM shook with anger at himself, digging his claws into his mattress. He already swallowed his pride and apologized profusely. That didn't help. She finally blew. She really didn't want anything to do with him anymore.

**11:58 PM**

"Are you ready?" Someone asked. Snickers were the only reply. "When the clock strikes fifty-nine." They waited. A minute later the clock did strike the time they were aiming for. As soon as it did they flicked on the lights and screamed,

"April Fools, you jerk!"

ZIM let out a girlish shriek of terror, flipping off his giant bed taking all his blankets and pillows with him. He moaned, laying flat on his back. On the floor . . . again! He opened his eyes, squinting at the bright light flooding his room. He gazed up seeing a smirking Tak and two hysterical sisters. He wasn't sure whether he should be angry at Tak or relieved. He decided to be relieved.

"Yeah, you got me." ZIM admitted, not getting up. "Now give me a good night's kiss, sweetie." Tak kneeled down, looking victorious.

"By the way, your friends were in on this the whole time too. They're really good actors." She kissed his lips. ZIM scowled.

"I'm going to kill them." ZIM muttered. "And what about the necklace?"

"The chain wasn't the real one. Don't worry about it. We were in on your little prank from the very start." Tak craned her neck to his sisters. She winked at them and they waved back, leaving the room. Tak directed her attention back to her little man, resting his head on her lap. Kissing him feverishly. "I must say, it was hard for me to go all day without kissing you." Tak said, breaking the kiss for just a second, then she went back to shoving her tongue down his throat rather roughly. He didn't mind. All he could do was sigh in bliss.

**April 3, 2001**

"So, uh . . . We have some good news and bad." Steve Russell announced to the cast and crew members of _Invader ZIM_. "Critics absolutely loved the first episode! They are nominating it for a few awards even." The cast and crew all praised themselves for the accomplishment. "Unfortunately . . ." Steve butted in, silencing the crowd. "A Christian community shot it down, claiming the themes were too dark and had immoral values. _Fairly Odd Parents _had the same thing with the C.C." The cast went silent. An angry vibe washed over them.

"Who stuck the cross up their ass?" One of the back-ups asked. ZIM frowned.

"Excuse me, that was uncalled for." ZIM said. He stood up to stand by Steve. "So we got a little bad criticism. Shit happens! Get over yourselves and move on. I get bad reviews all the time on Irk but I'm still making songs and movies." ZIM said. "By the way, who was it that said that the Christians should stick the cross up their asses?" ZIM asked, scanning the crowd. Fingers pointed to Torque. The biggest kid on set. "I'll have you know, dork-"

"It's Torque."

"It's dork now. I'll have you know that I like them Christians. My girl is a C, my OBFAM is a C-H and a few people here are C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N-S. I myself is one of them Jewish-Christians sorts. So you sir, need to show a little bit more R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Then you can go and find out what it means to me." The kid cocked a brow. "Yeah, what ya gonna do now that I went all Aretha Franklin on yo ass? You can't touch this! . . . MC Hammer." ZIM did a cocky hand gesture to the boy, earning laughter from the people listening. "Thanks for the update, Stevie. I gotta go make the morning announcements as you guys try to figure out all the song references I made."

"Uh, yeah. Thanks for that little pep talk, ZIM. Can always count on you to make them laugh this early in the morning." ZIM gave him a grin and started down the hall to the front office. Spongebob wasn't there, but the paper with the announcements were on the desk. ZIM sat down picking up the phone receiver.

"Gooooood morning, Nick studiooooo! I'm Zei-Zei Junior bringing you your morning announcements!" ZIM glanced to the door. Dib had just entered the office. "Hey! Hey! Dillon Baker in the house! He is here to assist me in announcing the announcements that are soon to be announced!" Dib looked shocked. ZIM put the phone down and put it on speaker. "Why don't you tell the fine folk what's on the menu for today." ZIM said. Dib shook his head.

"Uhhh, okay." He took a seat next to ZIM and meekly started to talk, reading the paper. "The Nick Café is serving a pickle tray and sub sandwiches with the always open salad bar."

"You hear that, folks? A pickle tray! Just make sure if you have any trash you pickle olive it up!" ZIM snorted and giggled like a girl. It took Dib a bit of processing before he got the pun.

"I see what you did there."

"Sweet Bay-Bay Jesus, I'm on a role today." ZIM chuckled. "In other news! Two new shows, _Fairly Odd Parents _and _Inavder ZIM _both premiered on Friday night! You were probably there at the party. If you were, thank y'all for coming! Both shows got positive reviews . . . with only a handful of bad. Oh! Spongebob, went on vacation to Tucson, Arizona! Pray for him for safe travels if you're religious. If you're not, give him your best wishes. This next thing isn't relevant to the studio in anyway but I'm excited about it! Major league baseball started on March thirty-first! That means, if you want to watch the Dodgers or Angels or Giants game in the lounge, that's too bad! Cuz I'll already be there watching the Tigers cream all your lousy Californian teams! Mwahaha! Detroit represent!"

"Uh . . . What ZIM meant to say was, may the best team win." Dib cut in.

"No I didn't-"

"Shut up. Um, that's all for today's announcements. I'm Dillon Baker."

"And I'm the self appointed, undisputed ruler of earth, Invader ZIM. May the good lord take a liking to you all. Cheerio!" ZIM ended the announcements. Dib looked at ZIM and rolled his eyes, being used to his friends antics by now. "What?"

"You are so odd."

**April 5, 2001**

ZIM crossed his arms, none to pleased at all. Zee brought Mark to the studio to watch the rehearsal of the new _Invader ZIM_ episode. Luckily for ZIM, he wasn't alone with the awful Vortian this time.

"What planet is your sister's boyfriend from again?" A.J. asked.

"Vort. A close ally to Irk. Not as advanced though." ZIM said.

"Huh, he looks like a mountain goat." Dib pointed out. ZIM snorted and laughed.

"Yeah, all Vortians kind of look like that." ZIM raised his glass to his lips and took a drink of water. The studio was on lunch break and the table where ZIM and his friends sat at was full with other back ups from their shows. "I wrote a song about him." Everyone at the table looked at ZIM.

"Why would you do that?" Timmy asked.

"To express my feelings toward him. It's about him but I'm singing to Zee." ZIM explained.

"Well,"

"Well what?"

"Lets hear it!" Dib said, smiling. Everyone at the table nodded.

"Yeah!"

"I wanna hear it!"

"Sing your song!" Everyone agreed. ZIM smirked at the temptation.

"I don't knoooow . . . Okay! Hold on!" ZIM bounced up and left the cafeteria to retrieve a few things. In ZIM's mind he figured that singing this song would be the perfect way to humiliate Mark enough to get him to leave him alone.

ZIM returned to the cafeteria holding his acoustic guitar from his dressing room, a microphone, and an amp. When the little Irken arrived again with the instruments he seemed to gather the attention of many toons and humans. ZIM plugged in the amp into his mic and turned it up loud and stood on the table.

"Greetings, friends!" ZIM chirped, grabbing everyones attention. The whole studio body staring at him. "Y'all wanna hear an unauthorized song?" The mass of people cheered their approval. ZIM caught a glimpse of his siblings at another table. Their faces were pale. What was their insane little brother going to do now? "Dib, go get me a mic stand. There's one just outside the café." Dib nodded, bolting out of the room as ZIM strummed a few chords to warm up. Dib came back a moment later. ZIM mounted the microphone on the stand that he also set on the table. He used the table as a makeshift stage. "This is a new one dedicated to my big sister, Zee." ZIM mentioned as he continued to warm up. "It's called, _That Jerk You're Dating_." ZIM saw Zee's eyes widened so he immediately jumped right into the song.

"_It's not easy being me. Don't say it is because it's not! Why is that, the way it is? It's because I'm so damn hot! Your boy could only agree, that is only agree with me! It's so hard to be alive, at this time I wanna die. Can't you see, in humility, there's none left, so adios to me. I'm goin' home, out of bounds, when I die bury me six feet underground. If don't get this now, you wont understand. That the man, whom you date, wants to give me a rape!_" The cafeteria full of people shook with laughter as ZIM strummed the musical intermission. "_He's bipolar, and a cock. You deserve a better jock! Can't you see, he's after me? If you don't, then I'm outta luck. Because I'm the one he wants to fuck! I'd rather die than be his bro-in-law! Trust me, he's the guy to make this family fall! 'Help me, Zee!' I cry to thee, don't close your mind, I need to be inside. To tell you the God forsaken truth. The guy you date, he's a sucky mate and he's still hellbent to give me a rape!_" ZIM finished his song strongly. When he ceased in his strumming the cafeteria erupted with applause. ZIM smiled and nodded to them, happy they liked the song.

"Uh, Zeiden." He looked down at Dib.

"What?" ZIM's eyes shifted over to where Dib was pointing. Standing before him was a furious-looking Zee. "Oooh."

**Later**

Unbelievable! Why? Why did they leave him alone with that jerk again! After all he's complained about Mark and they just ignore it and trust him! Zee was leaving tomorrow. She was nearly all packed up and Mark was giving him a bunch of shit about how he was going to marry her.

"You look so dumb." ZIM scowled, ignoring Mark's childish comments. He was texting Tak. "Who ya talking to anyway? Your girlfriend?"

"Yes. Shut up."

"Don't tell me to shut up you whiny, little bastard." Mark said.

"Don't call me a bastard, asshole." ZIM murmured.

"I'll slap you if you call me that again." Mark threatened. ZIM bit down in his lip, highly irritated. He was about to head up stairs so he didn't have to be bothered by the man. "Where are you going?"

"Away from you." ZIM said.

"No you're not. You're staying right here. Sit your scrawny ass down." Mark told ZIM.

"Why?"

"Because I'm supposed to be watching your asthma symptoms. That's what your brother told me to do and I want to stay on his good side, now sit!" ZIM huffed. Instead of listening to Mark he started up the steps anyway. "Hey! You want your ass beaten?" ZIM stopped mid step. He knew Mark wasn't afraid to hit him. "Get your filthy cunt back down here!" ZIM growled.

"What do you have against me?" ZIM demanded to know. "I never even fucking talked to you before you started dating Zee!" Out of the corner of his eye, ZIM saw Zee's car pull into the driveway. She was getting back from taking Red to the hospital for the update and conditions on the smeet. This sprung an idea in ZIM's head. ZIM flew back down the steps and got in Mark's face. "You're a good for nothing, lying, bastard. You do not deserve my sister. You're way below her league and she will find that out very soon." Mark's face twisted with anger.

"Why you little-" Mark grabbed ZIM's shoulders and rammed him into the wall. ZIM looked behind Mark just in time to see the front door open. It was all part of his plan. Mark pulled a fist back then punched ZIM's jaw hard. ZIM's lip busted open and he bit his tongue. He didn't care, it was worth it.

"Mark! Oh my God! What have you done?" Zee shouted running in the house. Red stood dumbfounded in the foyer. Mark's eyes went wider than dinner plates. He dropped ZIM. The boy landed on the ground with a soft thud. Zee pushed Mark away from her little brother. "Zeiden, are you alright?" ZIM looked up at her clutching his sore face.

"Now do you believe me?" ZIM sputtered blood out of his mouth, staining the white carpet. Zee was shocked. She whirled around to face Mark and slapped him hard across the face.

"You lied to me and my family!" She screamed. "Get out!"

"But babe-"

"Out!" Zee raised her leg and kicked him brutally hard in his gut. He gasped and darted to the door. Red stopped him before he could leave.

"Hey, Mark?" Red said. The Vortian looked at the slightly taller Irken. Red made a fist and punched the Vortians sternum hard, knocking the wind out of him. "Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out." With that Red pushed the Vortian out. Mark landed on the cement, scrapping up his hands. Red smirked, when Tyson came to the entry doorway. Curious to see what the ruckus was about. "Sic 'em, boy!" He pointed out the the Vortian on their drive. The Samoyed looked from Red to the Vortian. Tyson obeyed the command and darted out, snarling and chasing the Mark away from their home. After the dog was sure Mark was a safe distance away, he returned home, walking proudly through the doorway. Red slammed the door behind him, grumbling under his breath. He saw Zee tending to ZIM, practically crying as she did.

"ZIM, I'm so sorry! I'm so stupid for believing that jerk before you! Can you forgive me?"

"I forgave you as soon as you smacked that lowlife." ZIM said.

"I feel awful! I said so many awful things to you." Zee tilted ZIM's head back to inspect the damage. His lip was bleeding badly. "Red, can you go get the first aid kit and a hand towel?" Red nodded leaving to get what she needed.

"So does this mean you ain't going to Russia?" ZIM slurred. Zee scoffed.

"After what he's done to you, Hell no! I'd much rather be here with you guys." Zee gently caressed his face. ZIM nearly fell back with relief. Yup, a punch to the face was definitely worth it. It was worth keeping his sister. ZIM hugged Zee around her waist.

"Did that dick even get you an engagement ring?" ZIM asked. Zee chuckled.

"Yeah and a cheap one at that." Zee presented the ring to ZIM. Thin band and a small diamond on top.

"Huh, I almost mistook that diamond for a piece of glitter."

"That's a diamond?" Zee asked, jokingly. ZIM smiled as she took the ring off her finger and put it on their coffee table.

"I'm sorry about Mark, Zannah." ZIM said.

"It's fine, Zimmy. I now realize that the whole time I've been dating him you were looking out for me." Zee said. Red came back with the kit and gave it to his little sister.

"How are ya, ZIM?" He asked.

"Sore. It hurts." ZIM said.

"I'll go get you an ice pack, bud. Let Zee take care of you." Red left again for the kitchen. Zee pressed the towel to his bleeding mouth.

"What did you do to make him punch you like that anyway?"

"Same thing I do when he punched me all the other times." ZIM said, voice muffles by the towel. "Call him names."

"Poopy-head and stinky-butt?"

"They were a bit more vulgar than that." Zee giggled then came to a horrible realization.

"Did he rape you, ZIM?" She asked, seriously. "It was in your song."

"No. He did threaten me though several times. I'm pretty sure he was about to carry through with the threat once but you guys came home on time." ZIM admitted. Zee pouted.

"Aww, I can't believe myself! Letting him get away with shit like that for so long!" ZIM just gave her a smile of reassurance.

"I'm just glad you're not leaving." Zee returned his smile.

"Let me pour some hydrogen peroxide on you lip and tongue. That'll clean it." Zee said, unscrewing the brown bottle full of the chemical. "I just can't believe I trusted him more than you. I'm so stupid. And to think I was going to move to Russia with him tomorrow! You showed me the light just in time, Zei-Zei."

"Glad I did."

"How many times has he hurt you like this?" ZIM thought back to all the slaps, threats, punches, kicks, and jabs made by the violent Vortian.

"Fourteen." ZIM said.

"Fourteen? God, kid!" Zee poured the peroxide in his mouth. He immediately spat it out. "Zeiden, you were supposed to swish it around!" Zee started wiping the now wet carpet.

"It stung." ZIM said, innocently.

"It did not, you big wuss." Zee poured more into ZIM's mouth. He did as he was instructed to do then spat it into a cup. "You always take such a beating." She accepted the ice pack Red offered and pressed it to ZIM's jaw. "Sometimes I think you don't have a prayer but I always get proven wrong." ZIM smirked.

"I'm quite resilient."

**April 6, 2001**

"_So this is the first day of filming. What we're going to do is just introductions and we're going to work on the opening credits. Then that'll be the first episode. Then we'll go right into filming the next episode. The episodes will be broken into either two fifteen minutes episodes. Or thirty minutes._" ZIM listened carefully to the director of his reality show. He was explaining how the Irken camera crew's day would pan out. As soon as he was done talking to ZIM's family they'd go about their business while being filmed.

"_ZIM has a question._" ZIM announced.

"_Yes, Zeiden?_"

"_We normally speak English to each other. You want us to change that?_"

"_Yes, please speak Irken so we and the viewers can understand._" The director said. "_If you have earthen friends visit you may speak English but keep it to a minimum. We'll translate what you say into Irken then._" The pink-eyed Irken director explained. "_And I do believe you had nothing planned today so you may go about the house doing whatever you guys do. Don't be surprised if we follow you around. We have five cameras here. We're gonna have Zeiden give us a tour of the house for the show right now. The rest of you can do what you want._" ZIM stood up.

"_Right this way, Mr. Kugar._" ZIM started walking backwards looking at the crew as he spoke. They started to film right away. "_We'll start upstairs then we'll move down from there._" ZIM turned around and walked straight into a wall, falling back.

"_ZIM, look out for that wall._" Red said, nonchalantly, being used to ZIM's carelessness. The crew all shared a laugh. ZIM blushed, hurriedly getting back up to his feet.

"_You got that on tape?_" ZIM asked, embarrassed. One of the cameramen nodded. "_Uh . . . That doesn't need to be on public T.V._" ZIM set his mind back to his task of showing the crew around. "_Let's carry on now that's behind us._" The crew followed ZIM up the fifteen steps to the top level of the home. "_We have an attic but nothing is up there._" ZIM got to the landing and opened the first door they came to. "_This is Gaz and Tak's room._" A cameraman walked inside the whole view of the bedroom on camera. The walls had a purple and silver color scheme.

"_Tak is your girlfriend, correct?_" Mr. Kugar, the director, asked.

"_Yeah, she's my pretty._" ZIM walked further down the hall to the next room over. "_Mine! If you're gonna walk in their don't touch anything._"

"_Why is that?_" Kugar questioned.

"_'Cuz I just cleaned it. Red made me when he found out you guys were coming today._" ZIM said. Another cameraman walked in to get every angle of the room. The room had dark blue and orange walls with many Tiger's players, logos, and other baseball posters.

"_You are a fan of this sport?_" Kugar asked.

"_Baseball is amazing. You won't know till I show you._" ZIM said. Kugar looked all around the room looking at ZIM's MLB merchandise and gloves, bats, and autographs from his baseball heroes.

"_Get a good shot of everything in his room, Char._" The director said to one of the cameramen. ZIM led the rest of the guys to the black and white room over.

"_This is the first master bedroom. We have two._" ZIM opened the door to his brother's room. "_He has a lot of breakable things in here._" ZIM said. He walked to the middle of the room and jumped on the grand king sized bed. "_I once broke one of Leslie's priceless junk things. She weren't too happy . . . She gave me a spankin'. It was on accident though! She put it where I could reach it!_"

"_Do you still get punished like that now?_"

"_No. My brother promised he wouldn't do corporal punishment when I turned thirteen. Now I just yelled at and grounded . . . I still get timeouts sometimes. Sometimes he takes my credit and debit cards and my car keys! I hate when he does that._" ZIM gasped remembering something. "_Oh! Once . . . One time, th-this one time he said I couldn't play baseball for a week! . . . In the middle of the season! Can you believe that? I could only practice with him!_" ZIM continued on his rant. The crew filming the whole thing. _"Then he made me hit fifty balls straight. All of them had to be line drivers. After every ten balls I hit, he forced me to hug him!_" ZIM finished the story then looked at the digital clock on Leslie's dresser. "_Is it really that time already? Geez._" ZIM hopped off the bed and left the room and to the next room with a neutral colored theme. "_This is my OBFAM's room! Soon to be Peder and Tenn's shared room._"

"_When are they getting hitched?_" Kugar wondered.

"_This summer. We're going to Quebec, Canada for the ceremony. After that we're gonna all go mudding at the reception! I'm using my truck and dirt bike!_"

"_That sounds . . . fancy._" Kugar said.

"_In a redneck sort of way, it is._" ZIM said, proudly.

"_You look at yourself as redneck?_"

"_I gotta be. My siblings were raised on a ranch. It was an extremely wealthy ranch but they were still considered bogans. I, myself, was raised out in the boonies. I don't care. Screw the city._" ZIM said. "_Peder is sort of a city boy though. You know my brother, Red, rides bulls? His first job was being a bull rider . . . Well it wasn't a job, but he did make half a million a year from it. He's pretty good at it._" ZIM continued to talk about nothing in particular, showing them the rest of the rooms and then the shower rooms. He led the way back down stairs and showed the Red's office where he was working diligently with Purple. The two ignored the camera crew that walked through as they were told to. Then the living room, the dining room, and kitchen where ZIM snuck to get a V8.

"_And what is that substance you're drinking?_" Kugar asked.

"_It's liquified vegetables and fruits. I'm only really supposed to be drinking pop right now because my blood sugar is low but I'm getting sick of sweet stuff. If I do have any veggies and fruits they have to be fibrosis._" ZIM led them out of the kitchen. He opened the door next to Red's office. "_This is the human's bathroom. Only Gaz and Leslie use it_."

"_I think I've only seen a handful of seat with holes at the top like that. I believe it was when I went to Vort._"

"_It's called a toilet. It's what the humans use to defecate and urinate._" ZIM said. He looked at the crew who seemed to look sick at the thought of poop. "_I know it sounds nasty, but it smells worst. Humans are the most disgusting species you'll come into contact with._" ZIM pointed to the stair case across from the living room. "_To the basement!_" He led them down to the colder floor of the house. "_This is where our media, recreation, and theater room is. We have a underground Jacuzzi down here as well. We don't use it often. We prefer surfing over relaxing._"

"_You guys surf?_"

"_Of course! I've been surfing since I was three._" ZIM said bounding back up the stairs. He brought the guys out to the backyard and showed them his growing crocodiles. They'd seemed extremely fascinated with the reptiles ZIM had as pets.

"_What do you feed them?_"

"_Fish normally. Sometimes I'd have to go to an auction and buy a whole steer._" ZIM said.

"_They seem vicious. Are they friendly?_" The director wondered. ZIM hopped over the fence to be with his crocs.

"_Only to me and a few other people. They know me best. I've been training them since they were hatchlings._" ZIM sat on one fat, female crocodile. "_This is Handbag. She's my favorite._"

"_So could I sit on one like you're doing?_" ZIM shook his head.

"_No, you'd find yourself caught in a death roll real quick._" ZIM said. "_Red, hates when I play with them. He banned me from being in the pen with them so I have to come in here in secret._" ZIM ran his hand down the scaly back of another croc. "_This one is about to die. Got in a fight with his sister. She bit off his foot and it's infected to the point it's untreatable. I'm planning on killing him next week with my brother's gun. Put him out of his misery._" ZIM said. "_It would also be one less croc to feed._" ZIM laid back on Handbag. "_I should hose these guys off soon. They need water._" ZIM slid off the female and walked back to the fence, nearly tripping over one of their tails in the process. He jumped back over again. "_Did you guys see my doggy yet?_"

"_No. You have another pet?_"

"_Uh, actually there's ten more pets you did not see yet._"

"_Why so many?_" Kugar eyed the crocodiles warily.

"_Peder has a dog sled team. I'm letting him use my doggy._" ZIM said. The little Irken showed the older Irkens around the rest of the place. The garage, his truck, the dogs.

"_Thank you for showing us around. Now you may be free. We're going to roam around and observe. We will be filming you and everyone else._"

"_Alright . . . I was actually gonna go take nap. I like to sleep._" ZIM said.

"_Go ahead. We'll interview your siblings._" Kugar said. ZIM smiled, going into the house again. He wondered how well the T.V. show will do on Irk. He was excited for it. He hopped in his bed, still fully clothed in his jeans and blue hoodie and fell into a light sleep.

**Later**

"_Where's ZIM?_" Red asked.

"_He's still asleep._" One of the sound men reported.

"_Ugh, that boy will never get to sleep tonight. _Tak, will you go wake him up?" Red asked. The violet-eyed girl nodded, making her way up the steps. A cameraman and sound man followed her up. She turned to them.

"_He's super cute when he's asleep. I know this sounds creepy but sometimes I sneak into his room at night to watch him. He never wakes up, he's a heavy sleeper._" Tak said, opening ZIM's door and walking to his bed. The man with the camera zoomed in on the sleeping ZIM. His mouth was open, a steady stream of drool dripping down his cheek. He was laying on his side facing them, curled up in a loose ball. He was snoring softly, making a squeaking noise every now and then. Tak knelt by the bed to look at his face. "_Zei-Zei. Red wants you up now._" No response. "Zeiden!" ZIM jumped a bit at the loud noise.

"God, Tak! Scare me half way to hell, why don't ya?"

"_Get over yourself and get up. It's three o'clock and The fam was gonna go to a Dodgers game._"

"_Nuh uh. Dodgers suck._" ZIM said, remembering to speak Irken.

"_They're playing Detroit._" Tak said. ZIM's antenna perked up.

"_No! I have the Tiger's schedule on my phone! They're home tonight!_" ZIM said. "_Umm, hold on._" ZIM took out his phone to double check. "_Oh! My phone is late to update the calendar. Now it's in sync. Yeah, you were right._" ZIM slid out of bed. "_I'll be down in a minute._"

"_M'kay. We'll be waiting for you._" Tak gave him a quick kiss in his head and left. The sound and camera guy stayed.

"_Uhhh . . . I have to get dressed now._" The two nodded. "_Could I get privacy?_" The two Irkens awed with realization.

"_Ohhh. Okay._" The man with the boom mic said. He and his pal left ZIM's room. ZIM rolled his eyes. They might start getting annoying after awhile.

**Dodger's Stadium**

"I feel like we're the only Tiger's fans here." ZIM observed.

"Detroit is a thousand miles away, ZIM. We probably are." Purple said. "And truth be told. I'm not a big Tiger's fan. I like the Tampa Bay Rays."

"I like the Cincinnati Reds." Red said. ZIM rolled his eyes.

"No you don't. You only say that because you think they named their team after you." ZIM said.

"It's such an honor." Red feigned being touched by his false assumed information. ZIM folded his arms across his chest. He was decked out in a Detroit athletic jacket, Detroit t-shirt underneath, and a Tiger's ball cap, visor turned back.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the singing of our national anthem._"

"Sing 'O Canada in your head." Red told Purple. "ZIM and I will sing Advance Australia Fair in our's." ZIM and Purple stood. Red, who was sitting in between, struggled to get to his feet. Purple helped pull him up. ZIM removed his hat and placed it over his heart. He scowled when out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the cameramen get up in his face to catch his feelings toward the song. Kugar made one of the men go to the game with them as the rest stayed back to edit and get the opener situated.

When the anthem was finished the family sat back down, or for Red, flopped down. ZIM glanced at his brother. He had his phone out and he was gazing at a picture of him, Purple and ZIM.

"What are you doing?" ZIM asked. Red's bottom lip quivered.

"Look. This was back when I was thin." Red whined. ZIM snorted.

"Such a whiner." ZIM muttered as the Dodgers took the field first. ZIM beamed. This was the first time he's been to a Tiger's game in two years. He was too busy to go any other times. ZIM sat on the edge of his seat as he watched the Tigers bat first.

"_Who are you rooting for?_" The camera man asked in Irken. ZIM looked at the camera.

"_Tigers. They came from across the country._" ZIM responded in the same language.

"_Why the Tigers?_"

"_They hail from Detroit. That's the first major city I've ever been to when I came to America._" ZIM explained. "_So I've always liked baseball, right? So when I saw their banners and stadium when I was visiting I instantly fell in love._"

"_So it's a region thing? Let's say you didn't visit . . . Detroit first. Then what?_"

"_I'd root for whatever team they had in that state._" ZIM explained. "_But now, even if I moved out of state after I went to Detroit, I'd still love the Tigers._"

"_I see._" Throughout the inning the cameraman kept asking all sorts of questions from the rules and fundamentals of the game to who ZIM's favorite player is. ZIM would answer all the questions patiently, knowing that the people of Irk would like to know about the kind of culture ZIM grew up in. Every now and then ZIM would stand on his seat and cheer for his team. He flipped once the Tiger's batted two home runs in the same inning. Then got really pissed when the Dodgers batted in a solo homer right after. The whole time the camera was either in him, his siblings or the game. ZIM wondered if this game would even be in the episode. If it was then his fans would definitely be seeing him fanboying and raging over a sport they never even heard about.

ZIM heard a loud sigh. He leaned forward and turned his head to see Red laying back in his chair. He was balancing a cup of beer in his now rounded stomach. He was wiping his forehead to rid the sweat droplets. He wasn't feeling well.

"Hey that's cool." ZIM watched the cup on his brother's stomach stay perfectly still. "Maybe I should get Tak to knock me up just so I can do that." Red shot a glare at ZIM.

"If you do I'm forbidding you from ever seeing her again." Red warned.

". . . Well it's a good thing I was just kidding." ZIM smirked as Red rolled his eyes.

"Don't be such a dork." Red muttered. ZIM grabbed the beer off Red's swollen belly.

"Where is Leslie? She needs to watch you." ZIM said. "You know you're not supposed to drink right now." Red groaned. "Chill you only have like two and a half months left."

"I can't last another two months! My back hurts and my crotch hurts." Red whined.

"Dude, you're such a smeet." Purple said.

"Where is Leslie? I want her." Red moaned.

"She went to the bathroom." Purple answered. "I can see her coming." Red sat up in his seat.

"Good." Red huffed. Leslie sat back down in her seat next to Red and turned her attention back to the game. "Hug meeee." Red leaned up against her. Leslie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Red, get off. We're in public."

"Give me attention!" Red said loudly.

"Be quiet." Leslie said.

"No! Don't ignore me!"

"Red, knock it off." Leslie was getting irritated. ZIM and Purple watched their argument, highly amused.

"I'm sore!" Red continued in his whining.

"Do you need a spanking?" Leslie asked. Red abruptly stopped in his complaining. A long pause between the two ensued. Moments later Red spoke up again.

"I'm pregnant. You're not allowed to hit me." Red tested.

"You wanna bet?" Leslie asked.

"I'm an adult. Adults don't spank adults." Red rose his head off Leslie's shoulder with a coy smile playing on his lips. "Unless your kinky thinking just kicked in." He growled. Leslie glared deeply at him, a frown pressed her lips. She crossed her arms.

"I need a better punishment for you." She grumbled. "One that you won't enjoy."

"It's sad when you have to discipline your own husband." Tenn said from the seat by Leslie.

"If he acts like a child, he'll be punished like a child." Leslie said simply. Red scowled.

"I don't act like a child. I just know how to have fun." Red said, snootily. "Whoever doesn't like it can suck my cunt." ZIM snorted on the beer he took from Red and laughed. Leslie grew furious. She smacked Red so hard upside the head a started to tear up. "Ow! What the fuck-" Another slap to the back of his head was delivered.

"This is the last time we're taking you out in public until you give birth." Leslie said. "That's final." Red pouted. ZIM smirked. The cameraman got all of that on video. Now ZIM hoped the game would be aired on the first episode.

**April 7, 2001**

"Why don't you join in, instead of just taking pictures of us?" Dib craned his head back to look at ZIM. He stood up from his crouching position away from Tyson.

"I like taking pictures of your dog. He stays still so I can get good shots." ZIM walked to his friend.

"Can I see that?" ZIM asked. Dib cocked a brow.

"My . . . camera?"

"Yeah! I wanna take a picture of a thing."

"What thing, ZIM?" Dib asked.

"I don't know yet." ZIM snatched the camera from Dib. He examined it carefully. "Where . . . How the hell do you use one of these?" Dib took the device back from him.

"I don't expect you to know how to use one of these. You're used to being in front of the camera, not behind it."

"What are these pictures for, anyway?" ZIM asked, squatting and beckoning Tyson over to him. Dib went on to take more pictures.

"The studio's journalism class. I landed a spot on the team. I had my own column now for a month." Dib said. He looked to ZIM. "You would've known that if you bother to read the studio's newspaper. They're only fifty cents." ZIM pursed his lips.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." He said. "I'll be sure to get the paper from now on." ZIM stood, brushing himself off. "What kinds of things do you write about? You must have a theme, right?"

"My theme is _Invader ZIM_. I write about our show, how it's doing, what _we're_ doing, etcetera." Dib snapped another picture of ZIM and Tyson. ZIM raised a brow. "I write about us a lot."

"'Bout what?" ZIM asked.

"Just our little adventures with the cast and what not. I get a lot of reviews." ZIM smiled.

"That's awesome." He said. "Awesome that you found a hobby you're no doubt amazing at." Dib grinned, modestly.

"Well . . . yeah, I am." The human boy said. ZIM chuckled.

"Do you need a humbler now?" Dib shook his head.

"No thank you. I'm good." ZIM threw Tyson's baseball. The dog bolted to retrieve it. Dib took more pictures of the two at play.

"You gonna write about this adventure to the park too?"

"I may." Dib said. ZIM watched him a bit as he took more photos of Tyson running around.

"Hey, I know this is like your thing now and everything but . . . come and play with me? Tyson isn't exactly the best person to play catch with. Besides, you need practice." ZIM tossed the ball to Dib while he was still holding the camera. Dib gasped when he used both hands to receive the white ball and it hit his camera. Dib dropped the baseball to inspect it for damages.

"You idiot! You cracked the lens!" Dib snapped. ZIM put his hands up in innocence.

"Well now that it's broke you can play with me."

"This was a five hundred dollar camera, Zeiden!" ZIM rolled his eyes.

"Dib, I make five hundred monies in an hour. I'll buy you a new one. I'll buy you two new cameras even. Hell, do you want me to buy you an entire Nikon store?" Dib overhanded the ball back to ZIM. The baseball hit him squarely in the sternum. He crumpled over, groaning. ZIM grunted in pain as he spoke. "Ugh! . . . Good throw, D . . . Very good."

**April 8, 2001**

Tenn smiled when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind. She was fixing one of her student's flutes in her room when someone decided to pay her a little visit. A pair of soft lips kissed her neck. "Thanks Peder, but I need to work."

"Stop working then. I miss you throughout the day. I'm always on Irk and you're always at the school."

"You're so clingy." Tenn turned to face her fiancé. She threw her arms over his shoulders, pressing their bodies together.

"I'm not clingy. I just don't like not being by you." Purple said. Tenn noticed how exhausted he looked. His eyes were only half open, his voice sounded weak, even his embrace wasn't as strong as it was normally.

"What time have you been getting up lately?"

"Four. I'd go to the Research Bio lab and work my ass off till quitting time. Otherwise, Red and I take shifts. But he can't work right now because of the toxins and dangers in the lab. I've been working fourteen hour days."

"When have you been getting to bed?"

"Twelve." Purple admitted.

"Oh, honey! You're only running on four hours of sleep? You can't do that!" Tenn exclaimed. "How long have you been doing this?"

"A few weeks now. Today is probably the worst I've ever felt." Purple said. Tenn put her hands on his cheeks and made him look at her.

"Get some sleep. Now." She said. He shook his head.

"I have to go back to the lab at eight and check up on some files and documents." Purple said.

"Red can do that. I'll go to the lab and get the paperwork and I can bring it back here."

"He can't work right now-"

"He just told me he felt bad that he was making you work both shifts." Tenn said. "He won't mind doing some filing."

"He can't have any stress. It's not good for him." Purple said. "Besides, there's a retina scan to get to the documents. It only recognizes mine and Red's signature." Purple looked at the time. "I have to leave soon-" Purple tried to go but Tenn grabbed his arm.

"Sleep. I mean it. I'm taking Red to the lab. He'll be fine. We'll just get the papers then leave. You just go to bed."

"Tenn, Red isn't updated on what we're doing in the facility. He might not know what to do-"

"Sleep!" Tenn pushed him to her bed.

". . . I have my own room you know." Purple pointed out.

"I'm fully aware. It's just that, my bed was the closest and I just had to get my point across that you need sleep. So sleep." Tenn instructed. Purple stood there just staring at her. "Is something wrong?" She asked. Purple gazed at the ground, shifting his weight left and right.

"No . . ." He whispered. Tenn squinted slightly. Her face had concern written all over it.

"Babe?" She rested a hand on his shoulder. "What's going on?" Purple took in a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, what?" Tenn furrowed her brows.

"Yeah. You're way too tired to do anything tonight." Tenn pushed the taller Irken down on the bed. Purple sat on the edge.

"Teeeenn."

"I will smack you if you keep whining." Tenn threatened. Purple closed his mouth. "That's what I thought. Now, get some sleep. I'll be back in an hour." Tenn was about to turn to leave when Purple caught her wrist and pulled her into his lap. He made her turn to face him. Each one of her knees on either side of his hips.

"Don't leave me without a goodbye kiss." He whispered. Their faces had to be at least an inch apart. Tenn smirked, closing the gape.

"You're a dork." Was the last thing she said before slipping her tongue in his mouth to greet his.

**April 9, 2001**

"Dib, cover first! Chester, hold the bat the correct way! ZIM . . . Stop being so aggressive!"

"I don't take orders from ten year olds, Timothy!" ZIM shouted back. "Guys, come on. We're gonna be late for tryouts." ZIM said. "Pack up your things and head to my truck. I got to tell my brother we're leaving." His four friends did as he told them to as ZIM made his way back to through the main office doors of the studio. Today was the first out of two days of baseball tryouts. ZIM managed to convince Dib and A.J. to at least try for the team. ZIM knew they wouldn't care if they got cut. The little Irken quickly ran to his brother who was on the couch surrounded by several Nicktoon stars. They seemed to be pestering him with questions. "Red, we're going to tryouts. We'll be back in two hours or so." The older Irken looked to the younger.

"Don't be a show off. Impress the coaches with your charm and wit. Not cockiness." Red warned. "And if they cut you-"

"They're not gonna cut me." ZIM rolled his eyes. Red frowned a bit.

"That's what you said a few years back when you were going to the Junior major leagues." Red reminded ZIM.

"The coach knew I was an excellent player! He was just 'concerned' because I had a lot of medical conditions and previous injuries."

"And the fact that you were only three foot tall whereas the rest of the boys were five plus." Red added. ZIM crossed his arms.

"Goodbye." ZIM huffed.

"Have fun." Red said. ZIM waved as he went back to his truck. He hopped in and saw that Dib and A.J. took the passengers seat making the less than bright boys sit in the back. It took them ten minutes to get to the Toluca Baseball park just north of the studio. When they got there the boys filed out of the truck and headed to the diamond already full of boys ages ten through fourteen. All heads turned when they exited the truck. Even the coaches seemed to be highly interested.

"Hey! I seen those guys on T.V.!" A kid pointed out.

"Hey, yeah! And that green one is an alien!" Another added. ZIM smirked. They were already being recognized. The coaches would definitely be watching them for sure. ZIM confidently took the field as if he owned the place. Timmy followed him not really caring. Dib and A.J. seemed a bit more timid being that they weren't too good at the sport. Chester just hoped nobody recognized him as the MLB's worst player's son.

"G'day, coach!" ZIM greeted warmly. He held out a dainty hand. The coach eyed ZIM and his friends then snatched ZIM's hand in his big, burly hand.

"What can I do ya for?"

"I'd like to try out for the team, sir." ZIM beamed.

"Me too." Timmy said.

"And me." Chester raised his hand. Dib and A.J. nodded.

"Hmm. Nice to see some new faces. I mean, I've seen you guys before on the T.V. but real life is a bit different." The coach said. "My name is Coach Tom. The two other coaches over there are John and Kurt." ZIM scanned the field.

"Damn, how many boys are here?"

"Fifty-six. Not including you five."

"Sixty-one." A.J. added up in his head. The coach nodded.

"How many will get cut?" Dib asked, shyly.

"Can't tell just yet, son." Coach Tom said. "There are three teams in this league in all so I'd imagine about . . . Twenty-five, thirty. It all depends on how they play." ZIM folded his arms. "You seem like a smug lad. What position are you looking at?"

"Oh you know, pitch, catch, short, third. Hell, you name it, I'll play it, except outfield. I tend to get black eyes from playing outfield." ZIM said.

"You got spunk, kid." The coach smirked. "How many years have you been playing?"

"Nearly ten years, sir. Played on several traveling American teams and quite a few Aussie teams." ZIM told the man.

"Hmm . . . and you said you pitch and catch?" The coach looked at him skeptically.

"You don't believe me?" ZIM challenged.

"I'll be keeping am close eye in you, boy." The coach said then turned to Dib. "How 'bout you? What position?"

"Umm . . . I don't know." Dib said, looking at his feet. "I can hit okay I guess."

"Designated hitter." The coach and Dib glanced at ZIM. The Irken shrugged. "Just a suggestion."

"What about for-"

"Or a pinch runner. He's pretty quick." ZIM butted in. ZIM noticed the glare the coach casted him then zipped his lips again.

"What about for fielding?" Coach Tom asked.

"Uhh . . . outfield?"

"Is that a question?"

"Outfield." Dib changed his tone.

"You ain't never played baseball have you?"

"No, I haven't." Dib admitted. The coach gave the boy a curt nod.

"Well, who else in this group wants to be pitch or catch?" The coach asked. Chester raised his hand.

"Pitch sir."

"Alright, hold on." The coach said. He then looked up and blew his whistle. This grabbed all the boys' attention. "All who want to pitch or catch come with me to the infield! The rest, follow Coach Kurt and John to the outfield!" The coach announced. The boys broke off into the two groups. About twenty boys left for the pitching and catching spots. ZIM rolled his eyes. Those boys were getting their hopes up. He was without a doubt the best of them all. He'd show them up and they'd go crying to their parents by the time the tryout was done. "Pitchers, where ya at?" Quite a few boys raised their hands, including ZIM. "Catchers, go find a pitcher to work with." ZIM sighed. He decided he'd catch for Chester.

"Come on, bud. I'll catch for you." ZIM said, going to his bag and getting his catchers gear.

"Who here does not have catchers equipment?" The coach asked. About five boys spoke up. ZIM rolled his eyes again. Nice, they were trying out for one of the most important positions in baseball and they weren't even prepared for it! They probably didn't even have the proper gloves! ZIM strapped himself into the silver and black gear. The coach noticed ZIM and Chester already ready to start.

"You boys! I don't think I ever caught your names."

"Zeiden, I'd prefer you call me, 'The best damn athlete you've ever seen', however." The coach raised a brow at that. "Just kidding. Call me ZIM."

"I'm Chester." The blond said.

"Okay, you head to the mound. ZIM, get behind the plate. I wanna see you two work." ZIM nodded an put on the protective helmet and face mask. He squatted behind the plate, waiting for the pitch. Chester stood on the mound a bit nervous for having so many people staring at him at once. ZIM placed his hands between his thighs and made a number one with his left hand. He was practicing the symbols with Chester so the boy was prepared. Chester nodded and wound up for the pitch. The boy threw a fastball right to ZIM.

"Nice one, mate! More power this time! Make my hand hurt!" ZIM called, throwing the ball back. ZIM gave him the same call again. This time Chester threw a much too low ball. It was a fast rolling ball so ZIM dropped to his knees doing a drop block then popping back up fast and hurling it back to Chester. Chester caught the ball and cried out in pain when it made contact in his glove. "More power!" ZIM yelled. Chester glared at ZIM. The coach watch, rather impressed with ZIM's demands. The next pitch Chester threw was a way outside rolling in the dirt. The ball was coming in fast so ZIM dove to catch the ball in time. ZIM grunted when he landed scooping up the ball. Suddenly the coach shouted to ZIM.

"Runner is stealing second!" ZIM scrambled to his feet and with all his might threw down the ball to second where the coach was standing. The ball popped directly into his glove from the well-aimed throw. This throw also hurt his hand.

"Geez!" The coach pulled his hand out from the glove and flexed it a bit. "You got quite the arm on ya boy!" ZIM smiled. "Was that left-handed . . . You're left-handed?"

"I'm ambidextrous, sir!" ZIM called to him. "I can be your switch hitter if you want me to." ZIM shared a grin with the coach. He was off to a good start.

**April 10, 2001**

"No, no. You're supposed to be sitting up."

"I am."

"Not far enough. Forty-five degrees, Hun." Leslie placed another pillow behind her husband so he could lean on it. They were at a clinic for a birthing simulation. The instructor with them was next to Red.

"Good. You two seem to have things sorted out." She said. Leslie scoffed.

"Huh, not really." Leslie looked at her. "What now, Mrs. Peters?"

"Next I want you to hold Red's hand tight. He'll be in a lot of pain and will want as much comfort as possible."

"I won't be in too much pain. I'll have an epidural." Red stated.

"No you're not! I already told you, no!" Leslie said. Mrs. Peters shushed the couple. She shifted over to Red's legs and held on to one of them. She lifted his leg up holding his ankle with one hand as the other wrapped around his thigh and pulled his leg away from his other leg.

"You'll have two nurses holding your legs up like this so the baby-"

"Smeet." Leslie interrupted knowing that Red got offended when you called the fetus a baby.

"Right, smeet can be pushed out. Les, will you mirror my actions on the other leg?" Red watched as his wife picked up his free leg and do as Mrs. Peters was doing.

"This is awkward." He said.

"Pfft, honey, if you think this is awkward, wait till we do it again when you don't have any pants on." Leslie said. Red blushed madly.

"When you have your contractions you must push as hard as you can to get that bab- . . . I mean smeet out." Mrs. Peters said. "Shall we go over those breathing exercises?"

"No. Those exercises are so stupid! I'm not gonna use them during labor anyway." Red said. Leslie frowned.

"Stop acting like a child, Red."

"I'm not! I just don't find those damn breathing exercises really worth my-" Red cut himself off, grunting at a pain in his abdomen. "God damn . . ." He whimpered. Leslie ran her hand over his lower stomach right above his pants line.

"It's your last month of pregnancy, Red. You'll be in a lot more pain." Mrs. Peters said. Leslie overlooked Red's inflated stomach noticing movement.

"Red, babe, look. The smeet is kicking." Leslie rested her hand over his belly, feeling the restless child inside. "Oo, she's feisty like her father." Leslie bent down lifting his shirt and kissing his stomach. "Hi, little one." Leslie whispered. "Don't worry. You'll be out soon." She gave Red's stomach another kiss.

"Leslie, stop kissing me. You're making me horny."

"You're always horny, pooky." Leslie gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Would you two like to come back tomorrow for another lesson?" Mrs. Peters asked.

"Thanks but we'll pass. We'd like to spend some time alone together tomorrow." Leslie said. Red nodded being helped up by his wife.

"Okay then. You two have a good day." The old woman said allowing them to leave. Leslie brought Red to the truck and drove away.

"Ugh! I hurt! My fucking vagina hurts! Worst than the time you fisted me that one night on our honey moon." Red groaned. Leslie sighed.

"You are always so charming when you talk, Red." She said, sarcastically. Red gazed out the window.

"Where are you taking us?" He asked.

"ZIM's tryouts. Today is the day we find out who gets cut and who has what position." Leslie reminded her forgetful husband. "He's been talking about it all last night."

"Woman, I can't even remember where we're coming from." Red said, crossing his arms. "I'm driving on the way back."

"No you're not. Your belly doesn't fit behind the steering wheel."

"Are you calling me fat?" Red questioned.

"Yes. You're a fat ass. I thought you knew that by now." Leslie said, exasperatedly.

"You like to hurt feelings, you know that?" Leslie didn't say anything. No more than ten minutes later they got to their destination. The Toluca Baseball fields. Leslie hopped out of the big truck and escorted Red out to the field with her. There they saw the sixty kids listening to the coaches with undivided attention. Well, ZIM was probably drawing pictures in the gravel, but the other kids were certainly listening. Red raised a suspicious brow when he saw the coaches pull ZIM off the side to talk to him. Red bit his lip. They usually only pulled players off to the side to tell them they got cut. Red's heart sank when he remembered last time ZIM got cut. Poor boy was going to be devastated. But there was a lot of kids there. There were probably a lot of them better than ZIM.

Red half sat on the bleachers watching ZIM's movement. At first his little brother was stiff, then he shook his head. Then he . . . was jumping? Jumping for joy even. Red heard a familiar squeal of happiness. High pitched, ear-splitting, and unique squeal. ZIM's squeal. Only ZIM. Red smiled as ZIM threw his short arms around the big man that was talking to him. The coach just nodded and pointed to the rest of the boys. After a few more moments of talking ZIM led the man out of the diamond to where Red and Leslie were.

"Hello. You must be ZIM's father-"

"Brother." Red corrected, immediately.

"Right, sorry." The coach apologized. He glanced down at Red' stomach. "Well, my oh my! Looks like you got a little one baking in the oven! Congratulations!" Red smiled.

"Yes, thank you. I'm due next month."

"I find it fascinating that the roles are different on Irk than here on earth. Is it a boy or girl?"

"She'll be a girl." Red responded.

"Wow. That's very sweet." Coach Tom said. "Now, I'd like to talk with you guys about an opportunity for ZIM." Red perked his antenna.

"Yes?"

"Well . . . Quite frankly, I don't think I've ever seen a better player at his age than him. I had him pitch fifty times. Out of all fifty, only five of them were balls. Then I had him catch fifty balls. Not one of them got passed him. Then I had him hit thirty balls. Smacked them all to the outfield. He's good. He's real good. So good that I'm cutting him from this team and sending him to the junior national tournament! He's going to play for a state that'll wish to recruit him." Red jaw dropped. Such an honor! But that'd make ZIM even more busy than he already was. "There's already one taker and several more states on the waiting list."

"What states are looking to sign him?"

"California, of course, then Nevada, Washington, Florida, Wyoming, Kansas, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York and Texas. I recommend that he signs with New York. They have one of the best junior baseball teams in the country." Red looked from the coach to an ecstatic-looking ZIM. "Most boys don't have that many offers but man, they all seem to want a little piece if Zeiden, don't they?"

"Seems so." Red said. "Listen, I'd love for ZIM to be recruited by one of those states . . . except Wyoming, but he's really busy with other things. We have a reality T.V. show-"

"They can travel with me." ZIM said, desperately.

"He has a T.V. show here."

"Hiatus." ZIM said.

"He has a contract and record deal on Irk."

"I sang enough songs already."

"He hates New York."

"Not the state! Just the Yankees!" ZIM got in Red's face to beg, annoyingly. "Red, please! This is my chance! Baseball is everything to me! I got to play! Screw L.A.! Send me to New York!" Red stared at ZIM in the eye.

"You make too many commitments, ZIM. You're going to blow up from stress."

"Please! Don't make me use this!" ZIM pointed to his face. When Red didn't respond ZIM widened his eyes, making them large and glossy. His bottom lip stuck out in an adorable pout, making it quiver ever so slightly. He then slicked back his antenna in a passive way. "Pwease, big brovver? I wuv you." ZIM whimpered. Red looked away.

"God, why'd you have to be so damn cute? Why couldn't I have an ugly brother?" Red groaned. "Fine. Get signed by whoever . . . except for Wyoming. Don't come crying to me when you get overworked." ZIM fist pumped and ran back out onto the field. His coach caught up with him shortly after.

"Umm . . . What's up with him and Wyoming?" Coach Tom asked.

"Huh? Oh! He had an awful spat with a guy from Wyoming at a rodeo he was competing in. Red almost got ejected from his next ride. Now he thinks everyone from Wyoming are jerks." ZIM said. The coach looked offended. ". . . You're from Wyoming aren't you?" The man nodded. "Heh . . . Awkward."

**April 13, 2001**

"Man, I can't believe New York asked you to be their starting pitcher! That's like- Wow! It's so cool!" Dib exclaimed, walking to the set with his friend. ZIM chuckled. Dib doesn't normally get excited easily.

"Yeah, it's awesome." ZIM said. "I'm happy they chose me."

"I'm happy I didn't get cut from the team!" Dib said. "I'm terrible! I think it's for publicity though. Since I'm on T.V. and everything."

"Auh, whatever! I trained you myself! You're obviously good enough for that team!" ZIM said. "What position did you say the coach assigned you to?"

"I got outfield."

"Which side?"

"Umm . . . The right one?" ZIM nodded. No balls really go to the right outfield unless you batted lefty. This was Dib's first year playing so it wasn't a big surprise. "So when are you going to New York to get drafted?"

"Next week." ZIM said. "There's actually five New York teams. I got asked to be on the best team. The Bronx."

"What's the order from best team to least then?" Dib asked.

"Well that'd be Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and then Staten Island."

"That's insane!"

"Yeah. The Bronx gets the most funding. It's an expensive team. We travel all across the United States and if we're good enough, we can travel the world."

"Dude, you're my inspiration." Dib said. "Look at you! You have a chance to be the first alien ever to play major league baseball!" ZIM bowed his head.

"Dillon, they don't accept aliens in the MLB. They barely accept toons. I have no chance . . . I could, however, revolutionize the sport on Irk . . . Yeah. That's what I'll do. When my reality T.V. show premiers, I'll introduce baseball to all of Irk." Dib smiled.

"Everyone likes you, ZIM. You're so popular and talented. I wish I were more like you." ZIM nearly choked on his breath.

"Dib, I'm a dumb ass! Ask me a trivia question that you'd find easy." ZIM ordered. Dib shifted his eyes.

"Uh, okay." Dib thought for a long moment. "What happens when sodium mixes with water?"

"Come one, mate! That's an easy one! I live with two scientists! Of course I know it explodes!"

"Alright, alright, um . . . What is January's birthstone?" Dib asked.

"I was born in January. Seriously Dib! Give me a hard one."

". . . Answer the question first."

"Garnet."

"Okay, how about . . . What country gave the U.S. the Statue of Liberty?" Dib quizzed. This one made ZIM droop a bit.

"It's um . . . The English? No! The Portuguese! Spain? France?"

"The French."

"Hah! See? Told ya I was stupid!"

"First of all that was an unfair question. You're Australian, not American. Second, you did get the answer right eventually." Dib said. ZIM frowned.

"Can't you just settle for the fact that you're smarter than me?" ZIM asked.

"Oh, I know I'm smarter than you." Dib said. ZIM gave Dib a confused look. "Uh, I meant that in the nicest possible way." The two boys stared at each other for a while then grinned at the other.

**Later**

ZIM was tiring of their jokes. He knew they meant well but they were offensive.

"Okay, okay. I got one! What's the difference between a blond and Zeiden?" Timmy asked.

"What?" Chester nearly jumped out of his seat in anticipation to hear the punchline.

"One's an idiot the other is a blond!" The boys roared with laughter. ZIM just rolled his eyes. "What do we call an Aussie with half a brain?" Timmy asked.

"I don't know!"

"Zeiden Macale!" More laughter. ZIM sighed, putting his head down on the cafeteria table. He didn't feel like eating. He didn't care that his blood pressure was currently out of whack. He just wanted to sleep through the playful jibes and mockery. ZIM held his breath as Timmy started to rattle off another joke he just came up with. "How do you get Zeiden Macale to make you a milkshake?" Chester waited patiently for the answer. "Wait till he has a seizure then put a glass of milk in his hand!"

"That was a low blow." ZIM muttered. Timmy apparently didn't hear him and went off to tell another joke. ZIM sighed. Maybe he should eat now since they were making fun of the fact that he was epileptic. Especially since he felt an episode coming on. ZIM was about to get up to get a snack then decided to make them feel bad by having the seizure. It was probably gonna be a mild one anyway. ZIM faced to the outside of the table so that way when he fell he wouldn't hit his head on the edge.

"Guys, stop with the jokes. I think ZIM has and enough." Dib said. The boy scowled when Chester and Timmy started to overdramatize ZIM when he had a seizure. They started to twitch and drool. ZIM shook from both anger and the pending seizure. They'd regret making fun of him. Especially after he scares them half way to hell. ZIM suddenly gasped, holding his heart. That's weird. He thought. His heart doesn't hurt when he has his fits. ZIM quickly stood up. His lungs felt like they were closing. He looked around the cafeteria to the workers and toons around. He didn't know what was going on but he didn't want them to see whatever was happening to him. ZIM went into a raging coughing fit as he weakly walked to the exit that seemed so far away.

"ZIM, are you okay?" It was Patrick that spoke to him. "Your lips are blue." ZIM wheezed, not being able to talk. He felt his esophagus tightening. He coughed again. Droplets of blood spewed out of his mouth from the allergies he's been having lately. Soon he had everyone in the cafeterias attention. He could not for the life of him, catch his breath. Why was this happening? Was he dying? A few adults rushed to ZIM trying to comfort him. ZIM broke away from them and walked, coughing as he went along, in search for his brother to help him. He didn't make it far till his head started spinning and he stopped breathing altogether. ZIM let out a few last coughs before collapsing to the ground in front of everyone. ZIM moaned, gazing up at the ceiling lights. The world was spinning. His heart was beating faster and faster until . . . Nothing.

* * *

><p><strong>The song ZIM sang was a more suicidal side of him. Don't read it in black and white. Try to get a deeper comprehension of what the lyrics could mean both symbolically and literally. They may foreshadow the future.<strong>

**Two questions! Are you glad Mark is gone? What was your reaction to the last scene?**

**Fun Fact! This chapter was cut in half so I could leave you guys with a cliffhanger! (You're welcome.) **

**Check out my profile to visit my Tumblr and Instagram! My Tumblr is still pretty bare so go ahead and ask any questions. Just click on 'Ask Mikki' and inquire away! You can be anonymous or make yourself known! I don't care!**


	21. Recovery

**To an anonymous reviewer whom calls there self, FF. Yes, hello, hi. How are you? Are you good? Great. First of all, I want you to know this isn't a letter of hate, but rather a letter of opinion. Thank you for your review (I'll just get that out if the way first). You were in fact kind when you wrote it, however, I feel as though I must address something. A few things, actually. First of all, the Mpreg. I'm sorry if it makes you squeamish. (Quite frankly, I don't care.) But let us not forget our seahorse friends. Not only them but the pipefish and sea dragons too. Each of those species reproduce by male pregnancy. And let us not forget that it was Cosmo who was pregnant with Poof in one of the season finales of Fairly Odd Parents. In short, what I'm trying to say is, there WILL be more male pregnancies (as well as female). If you don't like it, go ahead and skip over it. I won't blame you. But you will be missing a lot. **

**Second, the swearing. Please, faithful reader, keep in mind that this fic is indeed rated T-M. You must expect some vulgar language and sketchy scenes. I'm sorry if you don't like it. It's okay that you don't. I completely understand. But, Hun, this is my story. This is how the characters express themselves. Swearing and crudeness is a fact of life. I know, it sucks, but that's the way the world is. **

**Third point. Sex in the story. Yes, I have an understanding that some of you may not like it. Some of you may like it. Like I said before, I'm neutral to it. And there isn't even a lot of sex in this story. Leslie and Red only did it twice in this story. (Well, more than twice, but I only wrote about it two times... So far.) People, sex is how we all got here (may not have been through male pregnancy, but still ;) Did you guys know that sex is a gift from God? Used to be treated as a gift for married couples? That's part of the reason why I write in a little erotica. The other reason is because that's what this fandom wants. Some of the more 'crazy' fangirls/boys feed off that smut. They love it. And it's all part of my business to give the readers what they want. Make sense? It should. **

**Fourth thing. I'm glad that this story reminds you of a diary, though it is not written as such. I write in this way so that I can capture the point of view of everyone in the story. It's also an effective way to show the time gone by without creating confusion. Also, this story is in fact, not a diary. I'm just saying.**

**Fifth. The majority of Irkens are Jewish or of Jewish variants. (My headcanon, I suppose.) Tak is some sort of Catholic I think, I dunno. The point is, I know you don't like it when ZIM and Tak are all laying all over each other getting a little carried away. But they love each other. So can you blame them for being a little naughty? I couldn't. ZIM isn't always a good little Messianic Jewish boy and Tak isn't always a perfect Anglican or Catholic girl. Besides, ZaTr fans eat that stuff up!**

**In a nutshell! Here's what I'm trying to say, my dear, **

**Please don't let what you'd call 'flaws' in my story put you down. Ignore those 'flaws' and carry on! Not everything in this story is entirely sick or vulgar. There's plenty of family fun, drama, and comedy in here too! **

**Thank you for your kind cooperation, anonymous reviewer! And I'm glad you spoke your opinion! If you have anymore complaints or comments to share with me, go ahead and shoot me another review. Or if you decide to be a little braver, maybe you can send a PM my way. Don't be shy! I know you're probably a user here that was just a bit nervous to speak up. And that's fine! I understand! **

**Anyway . . . Yeah, guys. Let's see what became of last chapter's ordeal.**

* * *

><p><em>I'm floating. Why am I floating? . . . And it's warm. Pleasantly warm. That's weird. I wasn't warm just a . . . Wait. How long has it been since I fell asleep? <em>

ZIM looked around and saw nothing. He reached out and felt nothing. He was in a void of naught. A black abyss with no end. He found himself unable to move his legs.

_What dream is this? I feel so peaceful. I don't feel any discomfort. At all . . ._

It was then ZIM realized he was holding his breath. He exhaled but didn't feel it was necessary. So he continued to not breathe.

_Where am I? _

He was blinded by a light from above. He squinted and looked up. The light gave him a calm sensation that coursed through every fiber of his being. ZIM saw a silhouette descending from the light. When the figure got closer he did not see it's face, a light engulfed it. But it was wearing robes, he knew that. A pure white robe with a blue sash wrapped it's body. A serene, sweet and feminine voice spoke to him. A voice that reminded ZIM of his sister's.

"It's not yet your time, my child."

ZIM's eyes widened. The next thing he knew, he was falling. He tried to scream but found no breath. And then, he hit reality.

**...**

"Get the AED! Someone call EMS!" A stage hand shouted orders. "He needs a shock! Get the fucking AED!" Dib couldn't believe it. What was going on? ZIM wasn't breathing and he had no pulse. Was he dead?

"Let's get Red! He used to be a lifeguard!" Timmy shouted. Dib nodded running out of the café with him. They met Red and Purple in the lounge just outside the cafeteria. "Red! Your brother is dead!" Timmy shouted, hysterically. Red tilted his head. Dib growled and smacked the brown-haired boy hard.

"Zeiden needs your help." Dib said as calmly as possible. He was scared, but he mustn't opt to panic.

"What's wrong?" Red questioned, not fully understanding why he was needed.

"Your little brother, you know, Zeiden? He just went into cardiac arrest!" Dib shouted. Red was shocked.

"Where is he?" The Irken stood up. Purple stood beside him as Dib hurriedly brought them back to ZIM. Red pushed the people gathering around to get to ZIM. Purple followed suit. Red fell to his knees next to ZIM. "Where is the AED?" Red yelled. He leaned over ZIM and nearly ripped the shirt off his little brother, exposing his bare chest to the public. Red immediately started to do fifteen compressions on ZIM's chest.

"Someone is getting it." A man reported.

"What is happening?" A few people in the startled crowd asked. No one had an answer. This was a highly unusual case the small Irken had. Even for ZIM.

"Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen." Red bent down and tilted ZIM's head back, opening his mouth just a enough. Red pressed his own mouth over the young one's and gave him two ventilations. He then went back to fifteen more compressions. "It shouldn't take this fucking long to get me the AED!" Red was panicking and furious. Someone finally rushed to him with the pack. Red let out a shaky breath opening the AED and taking out the pads. He pressed one pad over ZIM's right side of his chest the other went on ZIM's left side over his ribs. "Stand clear! Analyzing." Red ordered. Toons and humans backed off watching in wonder as Red professionally worked on his brother. A flashing red light blinked on a button on the AED. Red bit his lip allowing a tear to escape from his eye. "I'm sorry, bud." Red whispered. "Preparing to shock." He then pressed the button. A sudden jolt of electricity coursed through ZIM's small body. The boy's frame jumped a bit from the shock. Purple then took over to continue CPR. He gave the compressions and the ventilations over and over again. "Preparing to deliver another shock." Red warned. He pressed the button again. ZIM's body jumped from the shock. Purple gave the compressions once more. He was about to lower himself to do the rescue breathing when ZIM arched his back and gasped for air wildly, thrashing slightly.

"Mom . . ." He heaved, breathlessly.

"Zeiden! Thank God!" Red threw his arms around ZIM. The spectators all sighed with relief. "Fuckin' EMS is late! Where are they?" Red pushed ZIM back down to lay. He was still gasping for air. Purple dug through ZIM's pants pocket and pulled out his inhaler. He put the thing in ZIM's mouth and told him to inhale. ZIM coughed again. A droplet of sweat fell from his forehead. And then, he started to cry.

**Later**

ZIM warily eyed the I.V. stuck in his arm. He hated needles! He hated them so much! Zee stuck him with it. She felt that ZIM would be more comfortable being home than at the hospital, so after spending three hours in the E.R. to ensure his stability, they released him. The Irken boy let out a long aggravated breath. He really wanted to blow off some steam. Why was his body so . . . defective?

There it was. The 'D' word no Irken wanted to be called. And he just mentally called himself that. But it was true. His body was, in a way, physically useless it seemed. ZIM heard the door to his room open. Dib's head poked in.

"Zeiden?" Dib entered his room. ZIM looked at his close friend. Dib stood in his spot just staring at the Irken. Suddenly Dib pouted and ran to ZIM. He wrapped his friend up in a tight hug. "You scared me! You scared me so much I was actually praying! I'm not religious but I knew you are and it seems to help for you and . . . I'm just so glad you're okay." Dib finished. ZIM hugged back with only one arm that was not stuck with the I.V. "What happened?"

"A severe asthma attack. I was ignoring my early symptoms and was dumb enough to not tell anyone." ZIM said. He looked at his lap. Dib nodded. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled something out and gave it to ZIM.

"Here." ZIM took the object from Dib. It was a 'Get Well Soon' card. He opened it. He was surprised to see that practically everyone from the studio had signed it. How they managed to get all their names on that small card was beyond him.

"Tell them thank you, Dill." ZIM said. "And that I'll be seeing them tomorrow." Dib nodded.

"Can I ask you a question?" ZIM gave Dib a curt nod. "Why did you let Chester and Timmy say those things about you?"

"I let immature things like that go. It doesn't bother me as much as it should." ZIM said.

"What's it like?"

"What's what like? Getting insulted?" ZIM asked.

"What's it like to have those seizures and attacks? They're scary to me so I'm assuming they're terrifying to you." Dib said. ZIM said nothing for awhile. Just contemplating on his answer.

"It is. It starts with the feeling of impending death, I feel cold, I start to sweat, I get a metallic taste in my mouth." ZIM said. "During the seizure . . . I feel hopeless. Everyone else feels hopeless too because they can't do anything. They have to let the seizure take it's course." ZIM shuddered remembering all his previous seizures. "This time . . . this time was weird. I had a dream. I had like . . . an out of body experience."

"ZIM, you went into cardiac arrest. You probably did have an out of body experience." ZIM bowed his head. Dib sighed. ZIM was silent again.

"It's hard to breath. I can't control my shaking . . . You have a right to be scared when something like that happens to someone. It's petrifying." Dib put a comforting hand on ZIM's shoulder. His friend looked close to tears. For the first time ever Dib could see something in ZIM's eyes he's never seen before. Weakness, sorrow, and grief. Dib figured it would probably be best if he left the Irken alone for the time being.

"I have to get going. My dad is waiting for me." Dib said. "I think your sister needs to take that empty I.V. out too." Dib gave ZIM one last hug then left the room.

"Thanks, Dillon." The human boy just smiled back. As soon as he left ZIM's siblings came into the room. Zee removed the needle from ZIM's arm. Red picked the boy up and set him on his lap. "Guys . . . I'm sick of it." ZIM said. Red frowned.

"Sick of what?" ZIM finally lost it. All the stress, pain, hurt, and anxiety that built up inside him. He let it all go. He balled, pressing his face in Red's shoulder. The older Irken looked down at him with compassion, rubbing the boy's back reassuringly.

"Everything! The constant medications! I'm always on drugs! The constant rehab! My hypotension! My epilepsy! My asthma! My ADD! My allergies! My idiocy! I can't take it anymore!" ZIM took in a sharp breath, looking at his brother and sisters. "I'm a hinderance to you guys and the people around me! I've been nothing but a curse since the day I got here and-and . . . I'm a fucking defect!" His sisters' eyes went wide. Red scowled.

"That is enough!" Red snapped. He grabbed ZIM's chin and forced him to look at him in the eye. "Don't you call yourself that ever again!"

"You guys don't know what it's like. You don't have my medical conditions! You don't know!" ZIM cried. "You guys don't know . . ."

"We may not know what it's like to have what you have, ZIM, but that does not mean it doesn't hurt us to see you like this." Tenn said.

"I'm tired if it. I hate living this way. My diet and meds and all the precautions I have to take! It's just too much." ZIM whined. "Trust me, I'd be better off dead."

"Don't you say crazy shit like that." Red growled. ZIM pushed away from him and stood in front of his brother and sisters getting angrier by the second.

"You guys don't understand! I can't take it anymore! I need relief from this fuckin' hell! I don't need someone or something else to kill me! I can do it myself!" ZIM shouted.

"ZIM, you are not suicidal!" Zee said.

"You wanna bet? I'll fuckin' take my life tonight! You don't think I have it in me? It's easy! All I need is a rope!" ZIM wailed. "I'll do it! I'll do it without hesitation!"

"Zeiden, knock it off! Your life isn't all that bad!" Red tried talking sense into ZIM. No such luck. ZIM was having a mental breakdown and was inconsolable.

"Easy for you to say! You're not defective like your little brother! I shouldn't even be alive!" Red knelt by his brother and grabbed ZIM's wrists and forced the boy closer to him. Red glared into ZIM's eyes.

"If you weren't supposed to be alive don't you think Yahweh would've taken your life already? You have a purpose, ZIM. Everyone has a purpose." Red hissed. Tears streamed down ZIM's face.

"Don't you get it?" ZIM asked, shaking his head. "Earlier today Yahweh was taking me." The words haunted Red. Zeiden wasn't exactly the smartest kid but he was wise. He always knew what to say as a retort or comeback to anything anyone says.

"But I saved you. He obviously wanted me to save you."

"How can you know? You can't! You foiled his plan. I was supposed to die today! You fuckin' idiot! I was supposed to die!" ZIM screeched trying to pull away from the vice-like grip. Red winced at the bellows of ZIM. "He was about to take all my pain away! He was about to give me a new perfect life and you stopped him! I needed to die!" ZIM crossed the line. He was simply out of his mind now. And in desperate times, desperate measures are indeed called for. Red regretfully pulled back a clenched fist and slammed it into the younger's temple. ZIM's head snapped back. Red caught him as the little one sunk to the ground, only half conscious in a wild daze. Tenn and Zee gasped from behind him.

"Red!"

"It needed to be done!" He shouted. "You heard him! Don't tell me he wasn't going crazy! It was for his own good!" Red's hands were shaking out of control at what he just did. "Forgive me, Zei-Zei." The younger Irken moaned. Tenn came to ZIM's side and picked him up and rested him on his bed. "We can't let our guard down." Red said. "In his current mental state, he very well may try to kill himself. He may not be alone." ZIM whined, coming to.

"Y-you punched me."

**That Night**

Defect, defect, defect.

ZIM lay awake. That word rang in his antenna. Defect. He was a defect. A good for nothing defect! Defects don't deserve to live! They're a menace! They're troublesome!

ZIM was trapped between his brother and sister-in-law. If he tried to crawl out, he'd wake them up. Well, maybe Red would stay asleep. He hasn't been getting much rest lately. Leslie, on the other hand, was a light sleeper. They didn't trust him sleeping alone. They thought that ZIM deserved to live. ZIM almost laughed out loud.

"Idiots." He whispered to himself. "They don't understand."

The pressure was eating away at ZIM. Earlier that day when ZIM was in cardiac arrest, he discovered that he must die. He was bothersome. The last thing his siblings needed was a bothersome boy to ruin their lives. Their perfect, healthy lives. All the bad decisions he's made in the past, all the episodes he endured, everything stupid he's said and done. It all came flooding back to him.

"I'm a defect."

How dare they deny that. How dare they.

**April 14, 2001**

"Good morning, Nickelodeon Studios. I'm Zeiden Macale bringing you you're morning announcements." ZIM said, less than enthusiastic. It wasn't like him. He was always so cheery. Spongebob listened to ZIM make the morning call. He was concerned. ZIM was known for being constantly ecstatic. Of course, Spongebob was a witness to what happened the day before. It was a scary time. "Unfortunately, I'm alive and well from yesterday's incident. Sorry about that. Someone insisted on saving my life." Spongebob narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"Zeiden." He warned.

"The Nicktoons mock elections are coming up on June five. Go to the front office to pick up the mock votes and fill it out before June one." ZIM sighed flipping through the notes. "Here's on today's menu; they're serving Italian food and the salad bar will be open. Maybe I'll get lucky and I'll choke on lettuce or something-" The yellow sponge ripped the phone away from ZIM.

"Sorry about that folks! Uhh . . . We will not be having any announcements for this morning. That is all." Spongebob hung up the phone and glared at ZIM. "What gives?"

"What? I just don't want to live anymore, that's all." ZIM shrugged. Spongebob couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could the Irken be so nonchalant about something so serious?

"No wonder your brother wanted me to keep a close eye on you. Your talking crazy!"

"I'm not crazy! If I am then that'll just be another one on my list of conditions I have and then I'll definitely kill myself."

"ZIM . . . Your brother told me what went on yesterday between you and him. Let me tell you something, your life is worth more than you think. You mean a lot to people. They don't care if you have problems-"

"Well I do! I hate not being able to breath! I hate not being able to be alone! To eat whatever I want! To do what I want! No one understands me!"

"Because you've gone mad." Spongebob said, soothingly. "Zeiden, you're not staying here today. I won't allow it. You need rehabilitation and you're not gonna get it here."

"You can't tell me what to do. I have a show to film." ZIM was about to leave when Spongebob grabbed his arm. "Let me go!" ZIM demanded.

"Absolutely not. I'm bringing you home. You've snapped." Spongebob said. ZIM grunted trying to pry away from the man that was only a foot taller.

"Come on! Let me go!" ZIM was able to rip his wrist away from his friend. The Irken then bolted the other way. Spongebob sighed, following him but not running. As soon as he turned the corner Spongebob saw a supply closet door slam shut.

"Zeiden, this is ridiculous. Come out now." Spongebob begged. He tried the door knob but found that ZIM had locked it. "Ugh, ya know, I'm pretty tight with the custodians here. They'll give me a key."

"Robert?" Came the muffled voice from behind the door.

"Yeah, bud?"

"I'm not your concern."

"Oh but you are. Trust me." Spongebob said. "I told your brother I'd watch you today . . . What are you doing in there, ZIM?"

"Waiting till you leave . . ." The sponge sighed.

"I've dealt with many stubborn kids in my past but you, you're by far the most persistent. But I can out wait you." Spongebob heard a groan come from the other side of the door, followed by shuffling. ZIM cracked open the door to peak at his adult friend.

"You don't know me." ZIM hissed. "No one gets me. What I have to suffer through. I take eight different medications everyday for different things. I have to eat gross food at a certain time. I'm not allowed to be alone, ever. I have to go through five tests just to play one sport. I'm a broken body. I'm small, weak, and without my meds I'd have been dead a long time ago."

"You're just a sickly child, Zeiden. You're not worthless." Spongebob reached a hand through the door and grabbed the front of ZIM's shirt and pulled him out from behind the door. "Come on. I'll bring you home."

"Why are you defying me? I'd think I'd know about myself better than you."

"I know, ZIM. But . . . Hold on. Let me show you something." Spongebob brought ZIM to the cafeteria where a few workers and stars were having breakfast. Spongebob stopped in one of the door ways with ZIM. They stood there for a second until someone noticed them.

"Hey! Zeiden!" It was Reggie Rocket.

"We missed you, dude!" That time it was that Arnold kid from his show.

"You scared us all!" A member from ZIM's show exclaimed. Quite a few people came up to greet him.

"You see? You may have more medical problems than all these guys combined but they still love you. You mean a lot to these guys, Zeiden. I know it's hard but you need to pull through." ZIM didn't know what to think.

On one hand he was just flat out tired of all his problems. On the other, he knew his friends would help him through it. He was torn.

"We got you something, ZIM." A few more Nicktoons gathered around him. Eliza was speaking to him. He looked up at her the the people surrounding him. Eliza nodded to Otto Rocket. He pulled something from behind his back. It was a full-faced dirt bike helmet. ZIM cocked a brow.

"Umm . . . I have like five of those." ZIM said.

"It's not so much to helmet as it is the symbolism of the helmet." Otto said.

". . . What?"

"We realize that you faint a lot and well . . . We don't always catch you all the time. This is kind of our way of saying, 'Be careful'." Arnold stated. ZIM went quiet as the other kids anxiously waited for his response. The Irken gave them a small smile.

"Thanks you guys." ZIM looked at the helmet. "Here." He handed the helmet back to Otto.

"It's for you, Zeiden. Please. You need it. It only costed us a few bucks each to get it." Otto insisted.

"Well at least now I won't get a concussion from riding my dirt bike any time soon." ZIM tucked the helmet under his arm.

"Lets get you home, Zimmy. I can still tell you're a bit stressed." Spongebob put a hand on ZIM's back and led him to his car. ZIM took the passengers seat and sat quietly. "You just need to take a few days off. You have way too many things going on. You have any school work you need to catch up on?" ZIM nodded.

"I'm failing all my classes." ZIM muttered.

"Like actually failing or just not doing well?"

"I have an F in trigonometry. An F in geophysics. I have an C in world history and C plus in linguistics . . . and an A in acoustics."

"See? Those are all your core classes and you're not failing all of them."

"I compared my grades to my friends'. They all seem to be straight A students."

"Well . . . With someone like you, ZIM, you don't need brains. You have talent. Lots of it." Spongebob said.

"I'm going to drop out of school." ZIM muttered.

"Your brother would never allow that."

"I don't care what he says." ZIM said. The rest of the ride was quiet. Spongebob finally pulled into ZIM's driveway when sudden realization hit him. "I didn't know you had your license." Spongebob chuckled.

"A lot of people didn't know. I've gotten it when I turned nineteen. The running gag that my character is a terrible driver in the show was based off me in real life. I failed my drivers test five times. Failed my written eight times." Spongebob looked at his steering wheel. "How about you?"

"Passed when I was ten. First try. My family has always been good with any kind of motorized vehicle." ZIM said. "The only problem when I took my test that could of failed me was my height. Couldn't see over the steering wheel." Spongebob smiled.

"Well if that's the only problem, I'd think you're in good condition."

"Huh. That's an overstatement." ZIM muttered. Spongebob's smile disappeared.

"You get some rest. Get your mind off things." ZIM nodded exiting the car. "I'll see you around, Zeiden." ZIM didn't say anything. He closed the door and walked into his beach house without a second glance. ZIM wasn't shocked to see that Red and Leslie were home.

"Hey. You left Gaz at the studio?" Red asked.

"Yeah. She's fine." ZIM mumbled. Leslie and Red shared a look. The Irken man then looked at the table. "ZIM, we should talk."

"What's to talk about?"

"About . . . you and the things you've been saying. They scare me. And I want to be ensured you're fine." Red said.

"Well I am fine so stop worrying. For once in my life just . . . stop." ZIM wouldn't make eye contact. His gaze was glued to the kitchen's hardwood floor.

"Sit."

"I have things to do and a song to look over-"

"Sit!" ZIM glared at Red. He had a stern look on his face.

"You hit me."

"I had to. You were speaking way out of line. It was necessary."

"When is child abuse necessary?" ZIM questioned, his features dark.

"What I did was called, 'sedation', and trust me, it was very necessary. Now I'm going to tell you once more, sit."

"Or what?" ZIM asked, pushing his luck. When he saw Red raise from his chair a bit ZIM took a seat across from him. Red relaxed once more.

"Your niece is going to have spina bifida occulta and a few mental disabilities." Red started. ZIM perked his antenna a bit.

"Refresh me on what that is."

"Zeiden, she may never walk like you do." Leslie cut in. "You can walk without canes or a wheelchair." ZIM lowered his antenna. He knew where this was going. "She'll never be able to play baseball. She won't be able to kick a soccer ball. She won't be able to run, jump and play like you can. She'll have to get everywhere via wheelchair or slowly waddling. That is if she even makes it to the age where she could walk."

"You have a lot of medical conditions, ZIM. But you'll always be able to do something she can't." Red said. ZIM pouted, feeling like a jerk all of a sudden. "You're more blessed than you think." ZIM closed his eyes, bowing his head.

"I'm sorry." ZIM whispered. "I . . . I need to go."

"Whatever you think you have to do, forget it. You're not to be alone." Red said. ZIM frowned.

"Don't you trust me?" Red gave his brother a hard look.

"After what you said yesterday. No. I don't trust you by yourself." Red said. ZIM groaned, rubbing his arm. "C'mere." ZIM stood from his chair and approached Red.

"What?" The boy asked. Red pulled ZIM into his lap.

"I have a question for you."

"Okay." ZIM said. Red looked to Leslie. She smiled.

"Would you like to be in the delivery room when she is born?" ZIM went quiet. Deep in thought.

"Is Purple?"

"He doesn't know yet."

"Well then, add me to that waiting list. I have to think about it." Red nodded, kissing ZIM's head.

"You look tired, Zei. So am I." Red said. Leslie rose up from her chair, picking ZIM up and giving him a tight squeeze.

"Why don't you two get some rest then? Supper will be ready when you wake up."

**April 17, 2001**

ZIM yawned looking out the window of first class to the clouds. He was flying across the country to New York. He'd gotten a few days off from the studio for the drafting into the New York Bronx little league baseball team. He'd only stay there for two days then he'd have to go back to L.A. He looked to Purple beside him.

"What state did they say we were flying over?" ZIM asked. He was still in a sour mood from the incident that happened awhile ago, but he was slowly recovering from his mental breakdown. Purple was busy typing things into his laptop.

"We just crossed the boarder from Ohio. We're in Pennsylvania now. We'll be in New York shortly." Purple said, not really paying attention. "You excited? Today will be the day you sign that contract if you think you're really committed."

"I need to get a physical exam first." ZIM said. "Tomorrow we're having a team meeting . . . and yes, I'm excited."

"Do you think you'll like New York?" Purple asked.

"I don't know. In L.A. they have chicks in bikinis and short-shorts. Who knows what they have in N.Y.C." Purple rolled his eyes.

"ZIM, you have a girlfriend. You shouldn't be looking at other women."

"Tak's not here now. What she doesn't know, won't hurt her." ZIM said. "Besides, who was it that was hitting on the flight attendant just a minute ago?"

"I wasn't hitting on her!" ZIM crossed his arms then started to mock him.

"Hey good lookin'. How are you this _fine_ afternoon?" ZIM repeated what his OBFAM said earlier. "You're an engaged man! You're such a hypocrite." Purple scoffed.

"Whatever. You know I'm a ladies man." ZIM snorted at his comment.

"Riiight." ZIM drawled.

"Attention passengers, we will be landing at LaGaurdia Airport in an hour." One of the attendants said over the intercom. ZIM leaned back in his chair. An hour didn't seem too long now that he's been sitting on the jet for nearly the whole day. ZIM relaxed his jaw and closed his eyes . . .

"ZIM, wake up. We're here." ZIM cracked open an eye and saw Purple hovering over him. The plane has landed and the passengers were starting to file out. ZIM shook the sleepiness out and stood up trudging out of the aircraft. They went into the airport to retrieve their luggage then to search for their ride. They hired a chauffeur to bring them to places since they didn't know the city too well. "Look for a man in a suit holding a Kinley sign."

"Why is a cab driver well dressed?" ZIM asked.

"Who said we're taking a cab?" Purple smirked finally finding the man. He was wearing a pressed, dry-cleaned suit and he was leaning up against silver A1 Luxury Limousine. ZIM scowled.

"We better have more passengers in there than just us." ZIM growled. Purple chuckled.

"It's just us. If you're gonna visit the fabulous New York city, you must travel in style." Purple walked to the man and shook his hand. ZIM rolled his eyes. He didn't want to look like some sort of celebrity . . . even though he was one. It didn't matter. He just hoped the other boys at the baseball meeting don't see him roll up in the Hummer-like stretch limo.

**Meanwhile**

Red threw down the paper ZIM received in the mail in disgust. "Sick humans! How dare they write something like that!" Leslie peaked over Red's shoulder.

"What is it? Don't you get weird fan mail all the time?"

"Yes but this is one of ZIM's first fan mails sent in by a human." Red grumbled, shaking slightly. "This fifteen year old girl wrote a short story about ZIM and thought he'd might like to read it." Leslie picked up the paper Red threw down.

"Let me see it." Leslie skimmed through the typed words. Her eyes narrowing. She scowled deeply. "What the hell? Does this girl think ZIM getting raped is sexy? How horrifying!"

"I swear to God if he gets another story about him getting raped in the mail I'm going to take our family and leave earth and never come back. The human race is twisted and disgusting."

"Hey, _I_ resent that comment." Leslie snapped.

"Not _all_ humans . . . Just a few."

"I have a feeling this story is just gonna be the beginning of many, however. I just hope the stories don't come to life. He's gotten fan mail before where girls and guys claim they want to get intimate with ZIM. It makes me paranoid and angry." Red said.

"They just . . . I dunno. They just find him attractive, I guess. Maybe Dib got a few inappropriate fan mail already too."

"The show just begun." Red hissed. "I'm sure there's gonna be lots more of mail like this."

"Just don't worry about it now, Hun. You have enough things on your mind." Leslie kissed his temple running a hand over his big, rounded belly. "Who knows. These people are probably so jacked up in the head that they think rape is okay but male pregnancy is just wrong." Red frowned.

"But . . . Male pregnancy is a fact of Irken life."

"I know it is, sweetie." Leslie kissed him again. "Just be calm, alright? I can't have you on edge."

"I just can't trust anyone in this world, can I?" Red asked. Leslie shook her head. "And ZIM is in New York right now. Full of strange, murderous, filthy humans. And rapists and pedophiles and-"

"Peder will kick anyone's sorry ass, that dares touch ZIM. He is stronger than you after all, and you're pretty strong so that's saying a lot."

"He is not stronger than me!" Red defended himself.

"Honey, he whooped your ass in wrestling more than five times." Leslie pointed out.

"Well . . . I demand a re-match . . . as soon as I have the smeet. Then you'll see who's stronger!"

"I'm leaning heavily towards Purple." Leslie said, smugly. She grinned when she saw her husband start to get irritated. "It's fine, Red. He's stronger, you have more flexibility."

"Meh." Red grunted. He started to rub his inner thighs. "My God, I'm so sore."

"Just one more month, babe." Leslie said. Red sucked in some air through his mouth then moaned.

"I need new maternity clothes. Will you go to Irk for me and get some? Last time I went there I had several people ask if they could feel my stomach. It was kind of creepy."

"Nah. How about for the next month you just wear oversized T-shirts?"

"They don't flatter my shapely body."

"Red, you're pregnant." Leslie said.

"Fine. I'll go shirtless. They don't really require that out in public just so you know." Red groaned. "Shit, man. Contractions."

"They hurt?"

"They're starting to intensify, that's for damn sure." Red grunted. Leslie walked behind his chair and rubbed his shoulders.

"What do you think about C-section?"

"No." Red said, simply. "That's not happening. I don't want to get cut open."

"Red, our daughter has spina bifida. It's encouraged that you have a C-section done." Leslie pointed out.

"I'd rather have the episiotomy done." Red shuddered. "Actually . . . I don't want any of it done. I don't want this child."

"Well you're gonna have to suck it up."

"Les, this child wasn't planned!"

"I know she wasn't. But here she is." Leslie moved her hand down to his stomach. "In your tummy." Leslie pressed her lips to his abdomen.

"Hey, my lips are up here." Red said. Leslie chuckled, raising her head and kissing her husband. He pulled the woman onto his lap, forcing her to straddle his wide hips. Leslie cupped his face with her hands. Red smiled through the kiss, wrapping his arms around her. He snuck one hand up her shirt and snaked it's way to her breasts.

"Red, no." Leslie said, pulling away. "You're gonna get horny and I'm going to decline and you're gonna be whiny for the rest of the day."

"But . . . We haven't done it in months!" Red complained. Leslie sighed.

"See? I told you you'd be whiny."

"I'm noooot."

"Every time you talk, Red, you keep contradicting yourself." Leslie sighed. "Let's just . . . take this to the bedroom." She caved. Red's eyes lit up.

"Really?" He asked, hopefully.

"Yes." Leslie grunted. Red nearly shook with happiness. He stood up and led her to their room.

"Let's go!"

**April 18, 2001**

"Gentlemen, after a long night of discussion, the coaches and I finally found out your starting positions. If you don't like the results, keep it to yourself. We observed you boys yesterday and we believe what we picked out is for the best." The head coach, Jonathan, had said. ZIM leaned back in his chair by the conference table his teammates were surrounding. The Irken glanced at all the boys. There was thirteen in all. A small team, but very elite. "I have also prepared the batting line up for the first game. The line up is based off of the MLB's lineup, so our first batter would be the fastest base runner. Jacob, you're the first as well as the center outfielder."

"Yes, Coach." The preppy boy said. ZIM rolled his eyes. Most of the boys on the team were kiss up, city slickers always trying to impress everyone.

"The second batter is the best bunter. Quay, you'll be batting second and your position is first." The coach looked at his list on a clipboard. "The third in the line up is the best overall hitter and base runner. I gave that spot to Zeiden. Zeiden you are starting catcher, back up pitcher." ZIM cocked a brow at being the primary catcher but decided to go with it. Catchers were normally small in stature. At least the other boys knew who the best batter was by far. ZIM tuned out for the rest of what the coach said. He knew that the fourth batter is the power hitter and that the fifth is the second best power hitter. Then the batters six through nine were the ones who could definitely improve their hitting skills. "Zeiden." ZIM snapped out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" He asked. All the boys were staring at him. Coach Jonathan was probably calling him for awhile.

"May I talk to you in private?" ZIM nodded. "Good, Coach Jeff will take over the meeting boys. I'm gonna talk to ZIM here." The head coach escorted ZIM out of the conference room and into a small office next door to it. He sat ZIM down on a chair in front of a desk then he himself took a seat in an office chair behind the desk.

"What's up Coach?" ZIM asked. The man was smiling from ear to ear. "Uhh . . ."

"I want you to be team captain." The coach said quickly. "This level of little league baseball usually has a team captain. You stick out, you're a good player, and you have pep and spunk."

"Thank you?" ZIM said, not really knowing what else to say.

"Will you take the spot?"

"As team captain?"

"Yes."

"Er, won't the other boys get jealous? I mean, I'm pretty short compared to them and I don't want to get beaten up for just being higher ranked than them."

"If anyone even threatens you, I'll kick them off the team. Send them home and replace them." Coach Jonathan said. "What do you say?"

"Well . . ." ZIM thought for a moment. "What types of liabilities do I have and what's my level of authority?"

"It's good to have a peer as a team leader. It teaches kids to work better together."

"I'm the leader?" ZIM asked.

"Yes. You'd be the organizer, you enforce positive thinking, you step up when needed, you recognize skills and abilities of your teammates. Team captain isn't a chore, it's an honor. Keep peace between teammates, and mentor them when they need it."

"And my authority?"

"We have three coaches. The head coach, the fielding coach, and the batting coach. You'd be below the coaches but above the teammates. So what do you say?"

"Uhh . . . Alright. I'll give it a try. I feel as if I must warn you however that I'm not really in the best of moods lately." The coach shrugged it off.

"I heard about your near death experience earlier this week." He said. "I'd love for you to recoup before anything else, take as much time as you need, Zeiden. Your wellbeing is more important than team captain." ZIM bowed his head, feeling awful for being so down on everything lately.

"Okay."

"Good. Don't let this team captain position get to your head, though. I can easily remove you from power." Coach Jonathan said. ZIM nodded.

"I'll treat it well." ZIM forced a smile at the man.

"Good. I believe that's all for now. I understand that you are currently living in Perth, Australia-"

"I'm actually temporarily residing in L.A. for my show."

"Still, either way it's thousands of miles away and the conditioning and practice is here in New York. I know you're busy so I'm gonna let you go back to L.A. while the rest of the boys stay here for practice. I'm gonna send you back to Los Angeles with a personal trainer so you can get your practice hours in. The first game is in two weeks. It's an away game held on neutral ground. Ironically, it's in Los Angeles." ZIM nodded again.

"Who are we playing?" ZIM asked.

"Wyoming."

"Oh . . . Red will love that." ZIM snickered. "Okay, so who's my trainer?" The head coach smirked.

"I'm sure you're familiar with her."

"Her?" ZIM questioned. He could feel his heart beat accelerate. ZIM had a funny feeling he already knew who, 'her' was. "Her who?"

"Samantha Coi."

**April 20, 2001**

"I can't believe what you guys were saying about him . . . When he was sitting right next to you!"

"Hey! We feel bad enough as it is about it! You don't need to make it worse, Brainiac!" The four boys sat in Timmy's dressing room all discussing what happened to their extraterrestrial friend just days ago. Timmy sighed. "I'll admit, I was being a jerk. I shouldn't have made fun of him. I had no idea in doing that it would've caused his blood pressure to rise dramatically." Dib looked at the carpet in the room.

"ZIM's brother told me that . . . he's been having suicidal thoughts. It scares me guys. That's why ZIM hasn't been here, lately."

"I thought it was because he was in New York." Chester said.

"Well that, and the fact that ZIM may need to go to rehab. Possibly even a mental hospital!"

"A psycho ward? For real? That's a bit much, isn't it?" Timmy asked.

"A bit much? It's a bit much for sending someone to the crazy house for wanting to kill themselves? Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that it may be necessary. If ZIM is at the ward, there's no way he can hurt himself there." Dib said. "Red wants us to come over later today for some group therapy. He's hoping ZIM seeing his friends will make him feel better." Timmy bit his lip.

"I don't think that's such a good idea. I mean . . . I was being awful to him that day. I don't think ZIM will even want to see me."

"ZIM is too forgiving, Tim. In fact, I don't even think he was mad in the first place." A.J. said.

"A.J.'s right. I talked to him a few hours after he'd left the hospital. He wasn't mad. Just upset at himself. He wants to be able to live a healthy life but he can't." Dib said. "I often envy him for the things he does. It's weird because he doesn't seem to know why people envy him. All because of his illnesses."

"Well . . . How are we getting to him? We can't exactly walk thirty minutes away to Santa Monica." Chester asked.

"Tak and Gaz are here. Tak is bringing us." Dib said. "Guys, we have to be as supportive as possible. No jokes, no puns. No anything that'd make ZIM feel worse about himself than he already does. We're trying to save his life here." The boys stayed silent for some time. Eventually Dib spoke up once more. "A few days ago, once I left ZIM's house, Red told me he snapped and went berserk with self hatred and anger. And then just this morning when ZIM got home from N.Y. he had another mental breakdown. I don't know how long it'll take for ZIM to start feeling better. It's up to us to help in any way possible. He is our friend after all."

"Dib is right. Let's all be mature for once, huh?" A.J. said. The boys nodded in agreement.

"We'll meet Tak and Gaz in the west lounge at four. Be prepared. I don't know how emotional this will get." Dib warned. "And it very well could get ugly too."

**Later**

ZIM shook his head at what he was watching on his room's T.V. The Irken media was going ballistic over ZIM's near death experience. Every Irken news channel he changed to, late night talk shows, and even a few stand up comedians were all covering ZIM's accident just days earlier. He could do nothing but sulk as one after another reporter talked about how ZIM was technically 'dead' for half a minute. Everyone on Irk knew he was a defect. His body didn't work the way it should have.

ZIM's grip on the remote tightened when he changed to a comedian talking about ZIM's incident and exaggerating the story to make it more 'funny'. "Fuckin' asshole." ZIM muttered to himself. Did no one know that ZIM was hurting? That he wanted relief? No. They obviously didn't. ZIM heard the door to his room open.

"Zeiden,"

"I want to be alone, Red."

"Well, I'm sorry to say this but, you won't be able to be alone for the next hour or so." Red walked in and snatched the remote from ZIM and turned off the T.V. "I told you not to watch the news." His older brother said, sternly. Red grabbed ZIM's hand and pulled him off his bed. ZIM yanked his hand away. Red sighed. "Zeiden . . . I don't want to worry about you more than I already have to. Please, come down to the den and let's talk. All your friends are here and-"

"Who?" Red gazed down at the stubborn child.

"Dib, A.J., Chester, Timmy, a few others." ZIM's head snapped up.

"They're not my friends!" ZIM snapped. "If they were they'd never of had made fun of my disabilities! They probably would have danced over my grave if you'd of let me die that day!" ZIM ran a hand over his antenna, smoothing it over his head in frustration. "Timmy makes fun, Chester laughs along with him, and Dib and A.J. do nothing but ignore it! If I killed myself right now they wouldn't care! Timmy and Chester would just continue to joke and laugh!" ZIM started to hyperventilate. Red took ZIM's inhaler off his dresser and handed it to the boy. ZIM shook his head. "I'm . . . not using . . . that damn thing." ZIM gasped. Red's brow furrowed. He forcefully pushed the end into ZIM's mouth and pressed the button to spray the medicine in. ZIM coughed, trying to resist it.

"ZIM, they're here because they do care. Now please just . . ." Red bit his bottom lip hard, bowing his head. "You're scaring me." Red whimpered. ZIM tilted his head. Red looked back up to his brother. His eyes half lidded. Tears started to form in the corners. "I want you to be happy again." ZIM adverted his eyes.

"Fine, I'll go talk to them."

"ZIM, this isn't just talking. It's therapy." ZIM scowled.

"Therapy? I don't _need _therapy, Red!" ZIM snarled. "I'm not crazy!"

"I never said you were-" Red cut himself off. "Come on. Let's go down now." Red stood and took ZIM's hand and led him out. They descended the stairs. ZIM looked at the family room full of people. All his family members that lived with him, his friends Red had mentioned and Jalokia, Mevlo, and Skoodge. ZIM glared bitterly.

"Damn, it's as if someone died . . . Or should have died." ZIM heard Red sigh heavily. Once at the bottom Red told ZIM to take a seat. The boy frowned feeling that this was just going to be a cheesy support group meeting. ZIM flopped, moodily down on the couch in between Leslie and Purple. He crossed his arms. That's when he noticed someone he never seen before. The stranger Irken was holding a clipboard and taking notes on ZIM's current behavior. "You hired a therapist?" ZIM growled at Red. Red didn't say anything. He allowed the man to take over.

"Zeiden, my name is Dr. Al Chany. I bet you know why everyone is here today." The Irken's voice was extremely calm and gentle. ZIM just scoffed.

"Because they don't think a defect like me deserves to die." ZIM mumbled. The Irkens in the room went as still as death at the 'D' word mentioned. The doctor cleared his throat.

"Why do you think you're a . . . defect, ZIM?" ZIM sat up straight, clawing the couch underneath him.

"How can I not? My body doesn't work! It's totaled!" ZIM shouted. He was already on the brink of going nuts. "Do people try to fix a totaled voot? No! They take it to the scrap yard!"

"Why do you compare yourself to a cruiser?" Chany asked.

"It's an analogy, dumbass." The doctor just nodded slowly. He then looked at the people sitting around.

"I want to go around in a circle and have every one of you guys say something about ZIM that you think doesn't make him a broken voot or better yet, say something about him that makes him so special or what you love about him." The doctor looked to Red. "Let's start with his guardian." Red looked at his lap, pondering on something to say that would hopefully move ZIM in an emotional way. He then gazed up and looked ZIM in the eye.

"I see a lot of our mom inside of you, Zeiden." Red said. ZIM's hard glare softened a bit. The boy knew that even mentioning their mom was hard for the oldest Macale sibling. He rarely spoke of her and when he did, he usually got incredibly emotional.

"Mom . . ." ZIM whispered, remembering the dream he had about her. He wasn't entirely sure if it was even a dream, though. Next to Red was Tenn.

"You're our silly, smeet brother." She smiled, warmly.

"You're a 'go-getter' with lots of enthusiasm." Zee added.

"You're incredibly talented." Jalokia said.

"You're so understanding." Mevlo chimed. Timmy was next. ZIM leaned forward anticipating what the boy had to say. ZIM wasn't even sure if Timmy would take this meeting seriously. The boy wasn't making eye contact with anyone. Moments of silence passed waiting for Timmy.

"As much as I hate to admit this . . . You're way better at baseball than I could ever be." Timmy grinned. ZIM cracked a smile.

"You make a great leader." A.J. said.

"A wonderful role model." Chester piped up. ZIM's eyes shifted to Dib. His face was buried in his hands. He was breathing heavily.

"A great friend." The boy whined, his voice muffled by his hands. "One of my closest." Dib looked up at ZIM with tears streaking down his face. "One of my only friends. If you leave now, I would be lonely again, Zeiden. I need you." ZIM's jaw went agape slightly. Dib was upset. Very upset that one of his only friends wanted to leave him behind. ZIM felt awful and even a little swayed. Tak was next to him. She out a hand on his back.

"I love that we have such a fantastic relationship. And I love how you can get along with anyone." She said. Purple cleared his throat, putting an arm around ZIM.

"You're the little brother I've always wanted." He said.

"You're so funny and adorable." Leslie cooed.

"You include everyone. You make sure no one is left behind." Gaz said.

"You don't let fame and fortune get to your head like any other celebrity diva. You're down to earth and I love that about you." After Skoodge they were back to the doctor.

"What do you have to say about that, ZIM?" He asked. ZIM sucked in as much air as his lungs could hold.

"I-I . . . I don't want to hurt you guys." ZIM said. He then regretfully added, "But I also don't want to be hurting anymore."

**The Next Day**

"Don't do this to me! You'll just be making it worse!" ZIM screeched, holding on to Red's pant legs for dear life.

"Zeiden, please." Red hushed him. "You need this, it's only for the weekend. It'll do you good . . . I promise."

"I don't want to be here! They can't help me! No one can! Please, Red!" Red crouched to ZIM's height, holding the boys upper arms, making him look him in the eye.

"This is for your own good." He hissed. "I want you to be happy again, ZIM."

"I won't find happiness in this hellhole!" ZIM yelled. He wrapped his arms around Red's neck. "I want to go home! I don't want to be here! I'm not crazy!"

"ZIM, I know you're not crazy." Red embraced the boy back. "You're not crazy, you just need help. That's why I brought you to this hospital."

"You brought me to a psych ward!" ZIM shouted. "You're throwing me away with the loonies!" Red shook his head. A male nurse approached them.

"Dr. Macale, visiting hours are done now. We'll take good care of ZIM up until you come back on Sunday." Red nodded. He looked at ZIM.

"I'm leaving now, ZIM. Please behave, don't do anything to hurt yourself." Red said. ZIM latched onto Red again.

"I'm not staying here! I'm not! I'm not crazy!" Red tried to pry ZIM off. "No! I'm not gonna stay here!" Red looked pleadingly over to the two male nurses watching. They nodded and walked over to assist. They forcefully pulled ZIM away from Red. ZIM started to cry and scream curses in all the languages he knew. Red stood up again and observed the nurses handle his kid brother.

"Red! Don't let them take me!" ZIM kicked and thrashed in his manual restraints. The nurses held him without a sweat. "Reeed! Please! I can't stay here! I can't! Please! Don't let them take me away!" ZIM swiftly kicked one of the nurses in the shin. He grunted but his grip did not loosen even a bit. The other nurse physically picked the fretting boy up and bear hugged him to prevent him from lashing out again. A lump started to develop in Red's throat at the sickening sight before him. Never before had he thought he'd have to see his brother getting dragged away by two men wearing white. It made him ill almost. Red's head echoed with ZIM's cries for help as he was being carried out. He shuddered.

"I'm sorry, ZIM." He muttered. "I'm so sorry."

**April 22, 2001**

ZIM stared off into space at the plain white wall above him. He's been like that for the last few hours now. Staring to the point of hurting his eyes. But he was in deep thought. How could his brother just dump him off at a place like this? With a bunch of crazies! He wasn't crazy! He just wanted to be perfect in heaven!

He spent the night here and hated it. Screams of other patients kept him up at night. Red was over exaggerating the whole situation. He didn't need to be put in a mental hospital, wearing white pajama-like pants and a plain white T-shirt with no shoes. Only crazy people wore those outfits. And ZIM was not crazy! Just . . . angry and sad.

"Zeiden? Have you finished your food yet?" ZIM heard the voice but did not bother to give the owner the courtesy of eye contact.

"I'm not eating that shit." ZIM grumbled. The door to his room cell opened and three different people walked in. A doctor and two nurses.

"ZIM, you know if you refuse to eat, we're obligated to force feed you." ZIM groaned. "Listen, we've forced you to do enough things in the past twelve hours. Will you please just do something willingly for us just this once?" The doctor asked. ZIM said nothing. An entire minute silence passed.

"I want to go home." ZIM whined.

"We know you do, but you need help first, Zeiden." The doctor said. "Eat and then we'll take you to a one-on-one therapy session." The doctor turned to one of the nurses and told her to watch ZIM eat the food. She nodded and walked further into the room and sat on ZIM's bed. She pointed to the plate of food on the night stand by ZIM's temporary bed.

"Eat up, then you can see the doctor." She said. ZIM shot her a glare. "You cannot starve yourself here, so don't even try."

"I don't plan on leaving this world by malnutrition." ZIM mumbled. "Though if I don't eat I may have a seizure." The nurse thrusted the plate into ZIM's hands.

"Eat. Now." ZIM stared down at the plate. Nothing more than a piece of toast and a slice of ham.

"Wow. A feast fit for a king." ZIM said, sarcastically. He picked up the toast and bit into it, lips curling down in distaste. "It makes me nervous when people watch me eat."

"Well I'm afraid you have no choice in what you want." ZIM was getting irritated. Red would be getting an antenna-full for making ZIM endure this treatment.

"Can I make a phone call before I see the doctor?"

"You only get one phone call your whole visit here. Are you sure you want to use it now?" ZIM nodded. The two let a moment of quiet pass.

"Very well." The nurse waited till he ate everything before leading him down the hall of the hospital. ZIM looked at the rooms they passed. Every now and then he'd be able to see one of the patients occupying that room, either laughing hysterically or staring off into space. The two reached the end of the hall. The nurse scanned her badge to allow herself access out of the patient hall. She brought ZIM to a phone on the far wall. ZIM stood before the phone just pondering on what he was going to say to his 'loving' brother.

ZIM picked up the phone off the receiver and dialed Red's cell number in hopes he had it with him wherever he was. Probably at the studio updating the cast and crew of his current condition. The phone rung three times until Red finally picked up.

"_Yes?_" Came ZIM's older brother's voice. Anger washed over ZIM at how nonchalant he sounded.

"I want to go home." ZIM stated. There was a pause on the other end.

"_ZIM?_"

"Yes, ZIM! Who else would it be?" ZIM growled. Red went quiet again.

"_ZIM, it's just one more night. You can last one more night. And please, just try to heal-_"

"I'm not sick, you idiot! I'm not hurt! I'm most certainly not crazy! Why can't you understand that? I want to go home! This place just makes me want to kill myself even more!" ZIM roared. He knew he startled a few members of the faculty at his outburst but he was infuriated. He did not deserve this. Red sighed.

"_Zeiden, I'm going to hang up now._"

"No you're not! You're going to talk to me!" ZIM shouted.

"_I love you, child. Please be good._"

"Red, don't hang up! Don't do it! I need to-" ZIM heard the dial tone before he could finish his sentence. This made ZIM get even angrier, if that was even possible. The little Irken felt his tiny body shake from fury. His fists clenching and unclenching. "Fuck it!" ZIM ripped the phone and it's cord out of the dock. In a fit of anger, ZIM threw the phone across the room then swung his arm out punched the brick wall . . . hard. He felt the bones in his hand pop and crunch as his knuckles made contact with the cinderblock wall but the pain was overseen by rage.

The nurse with ZIM frantically called for security to get ZIM and place him in his room again until he calmed down. All the while ZIM was blinded by pure hatred toward the situation, his brother, and himself. He kicked the phone booth, watching it topple to the ground. Taking deep breaths, ZIM threw himself on the ground, curling up in fetal position. He started to sob. "Fuck. Fuck. I'm in trouble. Fuck." He whimpered. The now scared ZIM heard foot steps running in his direction making him cry louder in fear of what they'll do to him. He felt strong arms grab him and hoist him in the air. "Don't let them take me! Red, I'll behave! Don't let them take me!" ZIM cried out. "Reeeed!"

The security ignored ZIM's screams of protest and continued down the hall. When they got to his room they gently set ZIM down on his bed to let him know that they would not hurt him. As soon as ZIM was released, he went back into his curled position. "I want my brother. I want Red." ZIM sobbed. One of the guards put a hand on ZIM's head.

"It's okay, kid. Your brother will be here tomorrow to get you. Right now, the doctor will come see you." He said. And with that note he left the room with the other guards. ZIM laid on the bed, shoulders shuddering from every breath he took. If any one of his siblings saw him in this state, they'd wrap him up in a nice big hug, hold him close, kiss his head and tell him everything was alright. But his siblings weren't there right now. They dropped him off at this ward because they didn't want him. He knew it! He knew he was a hinderance to them! They didn't want him. They didn't want his broken body. No one did.

**Later **

"And why do you think your siblings hate you?" ZIM gave the doctor a cruel look.

"They brought me here." ZIM muttered. "They don't want a defective living with them." The doctor nodded, jotting down notes.

"Tell me, on the day that you had your out of body experience, did you see anyone?" ZIM didn't say anything for a long time. He dreamt that he saw his mother. But how could he have dreamed of her when he's never seen her before. Red didn't keep pictures of her anywhere. And all the pictures they had of her were back at the ranch where Red, Zee, and Tenn grew up. Besides, her face was covered by a bright light.

"A lady."

"What did she look like?" Another moment of silence. He saw her athletic yet petite body build, not her face. Her voice was familiar.

"Like my sister and I, but older." ZIM said.

"Did she say anything to you?" ZIM racked his brain for the information.

"She said something . . . I . . . I don't remember what exactly."

"Well, just tell me what you think she said."

"She said . . . It's not your time, my child."

"Is there any possibilities that the lady you saw was maybe your deceased mother?" The doctor asked. ZIM craned his head to the side, away from the doctor.

"I think it was my mum." ZIM admitted. The doctor leaned forward.

"ZIM, why do you think she said what she said?" ZIM turned his attention back to the doctor.

"I-I don't know." ZIM whispered.

"Because you still have a purpose here. You're not done here. Your life wasn't supposed to be over. You're religious, right?"

"I am." He answered.

"Have you ever considered the fact that this might be God's way of challenging you, child? Giving you that near death experience so you can learn something from it. You mayn't know what it is he wanted you to learn just yet, but you will. You just have to over come this challenge. He didn't want you dead, Zeiden, he wanted you to open your eyes and believe. His challenge that you're struggling right now with, is a test of faith. Faith for him, your friends, your family, and faith in yourself." ZIM bowed his head. "You need to realize, that he kept you alive for a reason. You're going to make a difference in this universe, ZIM. You're going to change the universe."

**April 23, 2001**

"ZIM, please talk to me." No answer. Red sighed, exasperatedly. "The doctor said you have came a little ways. He'd still like to talk more with you to see you get back to you normal self, but I must say, I'm glad you progressed a bit." Red waited to see if ZIM would talk to him. He did not say a thing since the phone call ZIM made yesterday. "ZIM, speak to me."

"You scared me." ZIM's voice was airy and quiet. Red's antenna perked up. "When you dropped me off there. I was scared. I didn't want to be there and I didn't know if you were coming back because I'm so defective-"

"Stop!" Red snapped. ZIM looked at Red, his eyes were still on the road ahead of them. "Just . . . stop. I can't stand it when you think you're defective. You're not! Even if you were, I'd love you anyway." Red pulled into their driveway. "I want nothing more from you, ZIM, than to just see you happy." Red turned off the truck and unbuckled ZIM from his seat, pulling the boy over to him. "Your friends miss you. They love you. We all love you. And you're the best damn thing that's ever happened to me, even if you came around when mom died. I'll admit, I was a little suicidal too when that happened, but then I realized that Yahweh was testing me." ZIM froze. "And I overcame that adversity and grew up to be mature and responsible. That's what he wanted from me. I was such an awful kid growing up always getting in trouble and lipping off, he gave me the challenge to raise you and it changed me for the better." ZIM rested his head on his brother's chest.

"That . . . makes sense." ZIM whispered. He looked up to Red with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I never meant to scare you. I just wanted not be a problem anymore." Red shook his head, kissing the boy between the eyes.

"Zeiden, you were never a problem."

**April 25, 2001**

"I apologize for any scares that I made you guys endure. You didn't deserve it and I was out of control. I was just so grieve stricken that I could have died that day and I didn't know how to handle it."

"It's alright, ZIM. We understand. And we're glad you're fine now. I mean, it's been nearly a whole two weeks without seeing you smile! I started to feel depressed myself." Dib said.

"Yes, well. Thanks to _my_ depression, our show is behind schedule. We got to get back on track." ZIM said. His friends sat and stared at him for while.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to throw yourself back into your work so soon, ZIM? I mean, you still have time to recoup." A.J. told him. ZIM shook his head.

"It's been two weeks. I'll be fine." ZIM walked out of the lounge, asking Dib to follow him to talk in private. "So I couldn't help but think about you. Ever since you said that you were lonely before I came along." Dib lowered his head, rubbing his arm in shame.

"It's true. I wish I could be as outgoing and easygoing as you, but I'm not. I'm just not and I hate it. Everyone expects me to have a lot of friends because I hang out with you but that's false. It's just you, Tim, A.J., and Chester. The rest a acquaintances." ZIM opened the door to his dressing room.

"I'm sorry, D." ZIM said. "But I must say, you're quite the ladies man here. You have tons of girls throwing themselves at you everyday." Dib shuddered.

"Yeah. And I don't like it." Dib mumbled. ZIM chuckled.

"Ahh yes. I sometimes forget that you're still at the, 'girls have cooties' stage." Dib just grunted in reply. He gave ZIM a big grin.

"I'm glad you're better. You seem to be a repellant against cooties. That's why I stick around you at the studio dances." ZIM snorted.

"Nah! I'm not a cooties repellant. I'm immune. Hell, I have to be. Tak and I kiss a least once an hour everyday." Dib laughed.

"Yes, and I'm sure she missed kissing you over the weekend. What did she say once you got back?"

"She told me she misses me and we snuggled . . . for an entire hour. I got so bored but I couldn't tell her that. She'd get upset." ZIM said. He then looked at the clock. "We should get changed. I'll see you on set in ten minutes." Dib nodded and headed off to his own dressing room.

**April 27, 2001**

"Okay people, let's try to get this in one shot." Steve Russell said. "Can someone please fix Dib's hair?" ZIM uncrossed his legs from his chair with his name on it and turned to Dib.

"So how's baseball treating you?"

"The first practice was pretty vigorous." Dib said, allowing hair stylist to work on his do.

"Best get used to that." ZIM said. "They'll only get tougher."

"Thank god, it's the last day of filming, right?" Dib asked.

"Yes! I can't stand Keef! He's so . . . happy, if you know what I mean." ZIM said. Dib furrowed a brow.

"Yeah, I know what you mean . . . Can I ask you a question?" Dib crossed his arms. ZIM nodded.

"Shoot, mate."

"Why are you so homophobic?" This question caught ZIM off guard.

"I'm not homophobic!" ZIM defended himself. "Keef and I just have a difference in opinion."

"But you still hate homosexuals."

"I do not!"

"You hate Keef!"

"Because he's annoying! I don't hate gays, I don't fear gays. I love mankind equally. I just believe homosexuality is wrong. That's how I was brought up."

"Why?"

"The Torah says it's to'evah, an abomination. Marriage is between man and woman." ZIM stated. Dib looked like he was getting angry. "Listen, I know you're not religious, but I am so you need to respect my stance on this and I will yours."

"Whatever, ZIM." Dib grumbled looking down at his lap. ZIM felt like he touched a nerve.

"What's wrong, D?"

"Nothing."

"That's bull shit. Tell me."

"Zeiden, my dad is bisexual and I have several gay cousins too." Dib told ZIM. The Irken shrugged.

"So?"

"So . . . You should apologize for calling them abominations."

"I didn't call them abominations. Those were the words of the Torah. It's Yahweh's words not mine. And he wasn't talking about the people themselves, but rather their acts."

"Well Yahweh doesn't exist so you should stop wasting your time on worshipping a false god and join the real world." ZIM was hurt by the words Dib had said to him but he wouldn't let him know that.

"Where do you think you go after death, Dillon?"

"No where. Once you're dead, you're dead. There is no afterlife in some holy place. It's all made up propaganda to get fools like you to believe in stupid stuff like that so you can feel better about yourself." Dib muttered. ZIM scowled.

"I thought you were mature and respectful of other people's beliefs, Dillon. Guess I was wrong." ZIM got out of his chair to avoid another hurtful conversation. ZIM's mind was reeling. Dib never talked so offensively before. Maybe something was wrong with him. Maybe he was sad and confused and just needed to blow off some steam. Either way, disrespecting ZIM's opinion was uncalled for. The Irken groaned. He'd talk to his friend later about it. Now he just had to bare another day with the stupid ginger.

**Later**

Dib heard a knock at his dressing rooms door. Before he could welcome his guest in, the door opened and whoever it was decided to barge in and make themselves at home.

"What do you want, Zeiden?" Dib hissed, sitting on his couch. The Irken had a stern look on his face. ZIM plopped down on the couch.

"Let's talk." The green-skinned boy said, seriously. "I know us, as friends, well enough to understand that the conversation we had earlier _was_ supposed to happen." Dib raised a brow. ZIM's facial features went from dark to prideful. "Congratulations to us! We made it to the second stage of friendship! We just had out first fight!" ZIM hugged the shocked boy tightly. "But you need to tell me, what's bothering you. You don't say out of line things unless you're truly upset about something." Dib frowned.

"Well . . . First of all, I'm sorry. What I said was definitely inappropriate. Second, I've been miserable lately. I'm having people come up to me and do some crazy things that only you can do. They think we're alike but we're not. I'm just . . . sick of being your shadow. You're multitalented and I'm not talented."

"Tell those people who think you are lesser than me to back the fuck off. I don't care if you can't do a backflip or hit a home run. You don't deserve to be treated as a loser."

"People just have such high expectations for me though. Like I'm you in a human form." Dib said.

"Like I said, tell them to fuck off. You're a whole hell of a lot smarter than me. You're better looking-"

"Oh shut up, Zeiden. I seen your concert. You had girls throwing their panties at you and screaming your name over and over again. I could never amount to you. I don't have crazy fans-"

"You don't _want_ crazy fans."

"I'm not a multimillionaire."

"Don't talk about my wealth. You know I hate that."

"But-"

"Dillon, just stop comparing yourself to me. Trust me. I'm not all that great. Talent doesn't make a difference in this world. Intelligent people, like you, do. You could friggin' . . . find the cure to . . . guh . . . Um . . . HIV."

"There is no cure to AIDS, Zeiden." Dib stated.

"You see? You're smarter than me." ZIM said.

"Well . . . I feel like we had this conversation before." Dib said.

"Because we did, and you still don't seemed convinced."

"I just don't want to get looked down upon anymore." Dib sighed.

"Don't let people look down on you then." ZIM said. "Be yourself and people will realize that you have a total different personality from me." Dib nodded. "Better?"

"Yeah, I guess." Dib said. A knock was heard coming from Dib's door. "Will you get that?" Dib asked. "I have to gather my things, my dad is picking me up soon." ZIM nodded walking to the door and opening it. Tak was standing outside the door.

"Well, how is ya, mate?" ZIM greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

"I was looking for you. I searched your room but couldn't find you."

"I've been here. What do you need?" ZIM asked.

"Red told me to tell you that we're not going to Australia until the smeet is born." ZIM groaned.

"But I hate L.A."

"Is New York any better?"

"Kind of . . . Not really. They're both cities." ZIM muttered. He turned to Dib. "I'm gonna leave, Dillon. Remember what I told ya, mate." The human boy nodded.

"I'll see you around, Zeiden." The Irken couple waved a goodbye and left the room, making their ways down the hall into the lobby and out the front door.

"The camera crew is at home again." Tak reported.

"Oh yeah? What are they filming this time?"

"They're just bothering Purple with a bunch of hockey questions and Red with rodeo questions. They want to ask you about baseball." Tak said.

"Of course they do." ZIM sighed.

**April 28, 2001**

Finally the second episode was about to broadcast on T.V. They were a bit behind schedule, mostly because of ZIM's temporary clinical depression and Dib's sprained wrist during the filming of _NanoZIM. _But now that they were done with that episode they could get new material. And best of all, ZIM didn't have to deal with Keef anymore.

"Damn it!" ZIM jumped at the loud curse nearly dropping his phone in the process. He turned in his seat in the basement den to the stairs. Red was walking, painfully down the steps. The man was cringing and panting.

"Uhh . . . Do you need help?" ZIM asked.

"No, no. Just got God damn contractions."

"Yeah well . . . You're entering the last month of pregnancy. It's gonna be hell for you."

"Oh you just wait till you get pregnant, bud!" Red wobbled to the coffee bar to make himself a drink.

"Who said I was the one getting pregnant?" ZIM asked. "Tak is perfectly capable of baring smeets too."

"Who said you were marrying, Tak?" Red raised a brow. ZIM opened his mouth to respond then closed it again when nothing came to him. "Your other croc is dead. Go dispose of the body." ZIM grunted.

"Nah, I'll let Handbag eat him. I'm getting sick of going the the store every fricken week and ordering fifty pounds of fish meat."

"ZIM, that's gross. Besides, the other croc died of infection. If she eats her brother, she's gonna die too." The Irken boy moaned.

"Fine. But I'm doing it grudgingly." ZIM said.

"I don't care what kind of emotion you have when you do it. Just do it." Red said. ZIM let out an exasperated breath. ZIM was just about to leave when he heard his brother groan then curse again.

"Red, you don't seem well."

"I am fine. I need to-" He cut himself off when a massive headache overcame him. "Aspirin."

"Been having migraines?"

"Horrible ones. I can't sleep, I'm always hungry. I'm nauseous. I'm sore. I'm irritable. My wife doesn't seem to love me."

"Red, I'm sorry to say this but," ZIM switched his voice to sound like a doctor from some sort of cheesy soap opera. "I'm diagnosing you with a severe case of pregnant brain. It's only temporary. I'm sure it'll go away in a month."

"Oh doctor. Is there anything I can do to make my symptoms less unbearable?" Red asked, playing along as the patient.

"I'm sorry, son." ZIM put a hand on Red's shoulder. "There is nothing I can do. You're just gonna have to wait it out." Red smiled at his brother.

"I can try."

"I guess there is one medication I could prescribe you with." ZIM said, thoughtfully.

"Oh really? What is that?" Red asked. ZIM stretched out his arms and wrapped them around Red, giving him a big hug.

"The medicine of love!" ZIM chirped. Red put a hand over his heart.

"Oh I feel so much better! Thank you doctor! You're the best!" Red returned the hug to his little brother, kissing his antenna. The two laughed together. "Ahhh . . . We are dorks."

"We arrrre." ZIM drawled in agreement.

**May 5, 2001**

It was very nostalgic to be working with her again. He missed practicing with her but it was a bit awkward considering that her and Purple broke up months ago. After he was done running the laps at the high school Tenn worked at, their conditioning for the day would be done and he'd take her home back to his house. That's when Purple will tell her the news that he was engaged.

"Alright. You ready, Zimmy?" ZIM's trainer asked.

"Ready, Sam." The Irken said. "I'm glad you'll be helping me for awhile. I couldn't train in New York because I have a contract here. This is very convenient this way."

"It is, isn't it?" Sam said. "I kind of missed L.A."

"But you missed me mostly, right?" ZIM asked. Sam smiled warmly down at him and ruffled his antenna as the two made their way to their cars.

"Of course, bud." ZIM opened his truck door and hopped in.

"Just follow me. I don't live too far from here." ZIM told her. Sam gave him a thumbs up. In no time at all they made it back home. ZIM got out of his truck and escorted Sam into his home.

"Say, Uh, ZIM . . ."

"Yes?"

"How are Peder and Tenn doing?" ZIM froze. He didn't know what to say.

"Ehhh . . . I'll let Purple answer that. Peder! Peder, C'mere!" ZIM shouted up to the bed rooms. A thud was heard coming from up stairs.

"What do you want?" Came Purple's voice.

"Get over here!" ZIM practically screeched. Moments later Purple descended from the steps. He stopped midway down when he saw Sam. He was thinking about turning around and heading back up. But he didn't want to be rude, did he?

"Hello . . . Sam." He welcomed her, climbing down the rest of the way. ZIM winked at him and headed up to the second level. Purple sat on the sofa with Sam. "How has life been treating you?"

"Good, good. You?" She asked.

"Fine. Things have been fine." He responded, not meeting her eye. "Uh, there is something I should tell you, I guess . . . Since you're here and all."

"Yeah me too." Sam admitted.

"Okay then. You go first." Purple said.

"No, no. You go ahead."

"Nah, I insist. Ladies always are first."

"I don't know if I should say it."

"Just go ahead and speak your mind. You always used to." Purple said.

"But this seems a bit . . . crazy." Sam said, fidgeting badly.

"I don't care. I live with a house full of crazies. I'm used to it."

"I'm not sure."

"Just say it-" Purple was stopped short by Sam pressing her lips to his. His eyes widened and his heart pounded hard.

"I love you." Sam blurted out when she released him. Purple was taken aback.

"S-Sam . . . I-I, we can't . . . Huh?" Purple was dumbfounded. Maybe he should of said what he needed to say before her.

"Remember why I left you? Because I didn't want you to face future heartbreak when I die and you stay alive? I was just being unselfish but . . . When I left to go back home I missed you so much and . . . I truly do love you." Purple's face flushed.

"Samantha, we can't do this." He whispered. "I'm sorry but-" Sam put a finger to his lips, quieting him.

"I just want you back." She said. "I want you." Sam leaned in for another kiss but Purple pulled back.

"Sam, no. You don't understand. I'm engaged." Purple said. Sam stopped, sitting back in disbelief.

"You . . . You're marrying Tenn?" Purple nodded.

"Yes. I'm sorry. I should of told you." The man said. Sam put a hand over her mouth.

"I'm sorry I kissed you. I shouldn't have done that. I-" Sam bit her lip. "I got to go." She stood up bolting to the door.

"Samantha wait. You don't have to leave so quick. I understand why you're upset!" The front door slammed shut and she was gone. The man groaned. "Shit. That was awkward."

**May 15, 2001**

Red bit his lip to prevent any profanities from slipping past his tongue. It felt so weird and Leslie's hand were cold. His face was flushed from his current awkward state. At least their bedroom door was locked. Red gasped when he felt some tugging on his lower half. Maybe getting this perineal massage wasn't worth it.

"Ehm, are we almost done?" Red asked, staring at the ceiling trying to concentrate on the lights instead of the sensation in his groin. His legs were bent upward and open. He wasn't wearing anything below his waist. Leslie peaked over the blanket that covered his nude lower section.

"Honey, we just started." She said, calmly. Red sighed, not taking his eyes off the ceiling. "Does it hurt?" Red nodded. "I'm sorry, babe. Let me just stretch you out a little further then we can be done." Red shivered when her cold hands went back to touching him. Minutes passed with absolute silence lingering in the air. When Leslie did try to talk to her husband however he would usually just respond with a grunt. The woman finally spoke again. "You can relax now, Hun. I'm done." She said, wiping her hands on her pants. Red sigh with relief and closed his legs.

"Thank God." He said. "My legs were numbing." Leslie smiled, helping him sit up.

"I'll go get your pants." Leslie said. "And since you've been such a good boy this time, I'll let you cuddle with me for a few minutes." Red's eyes lit up.

"Really?" He asked. His wife nodded. "Aw yay!" He watched her as she moved from the bed to the floor and picked up Red's maternity jeans from Irk. He took them from her and quickly slipped them on not bothering with underwear. He jumped back on the bed next to Leslie and laid himself over her lap, belly up as if he were a kitten. Leslie absentmindedly started to fiddle with his antenna.

"Think of any names for her yet?" Leslie asked.

"No. I want it to be Irken though." Red said. "Or a hybrid name of earthen and Irken. That'll be unique."

"Mmkay. That sounds good to me." Leslie looked out their window. "It's been a long few months hasn't it?" Red nodded.

"Especially since you won't let me drink or smoke." Red pouted.

"Don't you dare get started on that, Red Macale." Leslie scowled. Red closed his mouth. His brow furrowed when he had a weird feeling in his stomach.

"She's kicking again. She likes to kick me. Tell her to stop kicking me." Red whined. Leslie chuckled, leaning over his stomach.

"Hey, baby girl. Are you restless?" Leslie whispered.

"Don't be nice to her! She's kicking me!" Leslie covered Red's mouth with her hand.

"Shhh, we're having mother/daughter bonding time."

"Immf fiff hmm." Red tried to say from behind her hand.

"What?" Leslie picked up her hand.

"I'm still here so technically it's mother/daughter plus daddy bonding time. So hah!" Leslie rolled her eyes then whispered to her husband's stomach again.

"Kick your da again." Leslie said. Red huffed.

"What are you teaching our daughter. Some role model you are." Red snickered at Leslie's unamused face.

"You think you're so funny and cute." She said.

"I don't think that . . . It's true and everyone _knows_ it." Red said.

"Oh! By the way . . ." Leslie reached to her nightstand to her purse. "Sandy gave this to me yesterday. It's your check from the rodeo. Got lost in the mail." Leslie handed the paper to Red. He looked at the white envelope inspecting it carefully. He opened it and looked at his total income.

"Hoo, five grand for those two nights." Red said. "What charity should I donate this to?"

"Put it towards feeding starving children or something, I dunno . . . You're not thinking of riding again are you?" When Red didn't answer, she knew what he was thinking. "I told you before that you're not. Now that we're having a daughter you're definitely not." Red glared at Leslie, sitting up. He remained quiet. "And don't you even think about sneaking out like last time. I'll install a damn tracker chip in you just so I can hunt you down and drag your sorry ass back home." Red's eyes softened.

"You . . . You sound exactly like my mum." Red said. "She was quite protective of me and my sisters."

"Well . . . I guess since she's not here anymore someone needs to tell you 'no'. Apparently that's my job now." Leslie said. "I'm serious though. No way in hell are you getting on another bull. I don't care for how long you've been doing it. You went a decade without riding after ZIM was born. I think you can last the rest of your life time."

"Meh, the only reason I went so long with out riding was because I was busy with school, ZIM, the girls, my mom's passing, my dad's MIA, and all that fun shit." Red said. He looked back to Leslie. "I've had a rather eventful life."

"I know you have." Leslie said. "Some events were a little frightening for you considering that you have night terrors often."

"Those night terrors are based off-"

"Horrible memories, Red." Leslie finished for him. "I once heard you whimpering, 'You gotta stay, ma' one night. You woke up crying, remember?" Red bowed his head. His mind was fuzzy.

"It's just . . . So many accomplishments and failures and heartbreak."

"What would you say your biggest accomplishment was?" Leslie asked. Red looked her straight in the eye. A serious look on his face.

"Getting married."

**May 26, 2001**

"Okay, we're just gonna do a quick rehearsal. Uhh . . . We need someone to pretend to be Gir and two other's to be robomom and dad." Jhonen said. The young man looked amongst the cast and even the crew. He pointed at Dib. "Pretend to be Gir." His finger moved to Red and Purple next. "And you two are ZIM's parents. We'll use you guys for practice until we animate them in later." ZIM smiled at Dib as he approached him.

"Ya best get yer crazy on, mate!" ZIM said, bumping his hip into Dib's. The boy rubbed his arm.

"Mm yeah. I should." Dib said.

"Alright, since everyone is here we are starting on page six." Every cast member started to flip through their scripts. "Start from where ZIM introduces his '_parents_' to Miss. Bitters." ZIM scanned the page to the correct spot then looked behind him to Red and Purple. The elderly woman stood before him.

"Err 'kay." ZIM mumbled. He cleared his throat. "These are my parents. I love them with all my heart." The old woman look at Purple portraying to be dad and Red as mom. Purple gave her a wide smile whereas Red tilted his head to the side in confusion. "I must have punch now!" ZIM announced walking off. He saunters off with his brothers following behind him.

"I think we make a cute couple!" Purple exclaimed to Red as they walked off. Miss. Bitters growled and said her next line. ZIM walked to a table they had set up to be the pretend punch table. Dib was standing by it.

"Hello, ZIM." Dib sneered. ZIM narrowed his eyes not turning to the boy.

"Dib." ZIM hissed back.

"Oo, tension."

"Peder, shut up." ZIM said.

"Dad, there's someone I want you to meet. This is ZIM. You know, the alien?" Dib's dad looked down at ZIM intrigued.

"And what country is the little, green boy from?" Mr. Baker asked.

"Wait, wait! Don't tell him, ZIM!" Purple interrupted. "It's Greenland! Right? No! Austria!"

"Australia!" Red chirped. "I know this . . . I know this, I know this because, um, because he's my brovver." Red said as if he were a toddler trying to tell a story.

"Oooh! I was close!" Purple said mimicking the tone.

"You two, stow it!" ZIM snapped. The two Irken men went quiet then looked at each other.

"That wasn't very kind." Purple whispered.

"Not very at all." Red agreed. "You're not . . . in our club anymore, ZIM. You're a meanie."

"What club?" ZIM asked.

"The club of . . ."

"Brohood!" Purple said, finishing for Red.

"We never had a club-"

"We do now. And you were never apart of it and never will be." Red said.

"But you just said I was out of the club-"

"ZIM, you are now a member of our club." Purple said. ZIM cocked a brow. "And now you're not. Dillon, would you like to join our club of Brohood?" The boy was speechless. He didn't know what to say.

"Just ignore them, D. One has a serious case of pregnant brain the other is just stupid." ZIM said.

"Hey, ZIM said you have a pregnant brain!" Red told Purple.

"And you just indirectly called yourself stupid." Purple pointed out. Red scratched his head in thought.

". . . When?"

"Will you two please get back on track?" Jhonen asked, exasperatedly.

"Right then, carry on." Purple said to the others.

"Mr. Baker could you repeat you line?"

"Of course." Dib's father said. "And what country is the little, green boy from?"

"Yes, yes, that's fascinating." ZIM said, not really paying attention. He then bolted off in another direction. He came up to a boy by the name of Billy Slunchy. "Sooo, what's goin' on?"

"My mom won't shut up about me. It's really embarrassing." The boy said, angrily. His older brother Mongo looked at him.

"At least she's not showing the pictures." He said. The mother of the two reached into her purse and grabbed a wallet.

"Oh, and you've just got to see these pictures!" She said to Red and Purple. The woman started to show them to Red. "Now here's Billy cryin' for getting kicked off the soccer team for cryin' too much." The boy started to fake crying. Red snorted.

"Hah! Wuss." Red said. "I never cried in soccer. Not even when I broke my freakin' ankle . . . Actually, I do think I started crying then." The mother looked at Red with a raised eyebrow. "Wha- Oh! Um . . . Grass stains sure are tough to get out of those soccer uniforms."

"Sports aren't everything. I'm sure your boy will find something he's good at." Purple said. "Daw, who am I kidding? Sports are everything! Your boy needs to play hockey."

"Stick to the script." ZIM growled. "Geez! Sometimes I feel like I'm babysitting you two dumbasses."

"Aww. He's so rude today. It's hurting my feelings." Purple said.

"Amish shun. He'll start crying sooner or later." Red said.

"No! No one is shunning everyone. Let's get this rehearsal over with now." Jhonen groaned. "Please?"

"Mr. Vasquez we should break for lunch soon anyway. We got a late start." A stage hand said.

"Guh, damn it. I really wanted to run the whole thing through. Uh, okay, break for lunch. You might want to get there before Red eats everything in sight." Jhonen said.

"I'm not fat!"

"And when you're done come back and we'll go through the next script." Jhonen said ignoring Red's statement. "Be back in an hour." The cast and crew broke up and went off to do their own thing.

"We're going out for dinner, D. Wanna join?" ZIM asked.

"With who?"

"Red, Peder, Gaz and I."

"Oh, sure. I'll go. Timmy, Chester and A.J.'s cast already had lunch. I don't want to eat alone." Dib said. "Let me get some money from my dad first."

"Forget about it. I'll pay." ZIM grabbed Dib's wrist and pulled him along following his brothers and Gaz.

"Why is he coming?" Gaz asked, pointing at Dib.

"I invited him. Problem?" ZIM crossed his arms, looking at her. Gaz frowned but said nothing more. The five walked out to Red's Avalanche having Purple drive, Red in the passengers seat, Gaz sitting in between the two men and Dib and ZIM chilling in the back. "Where're we goin'?"

"Benihana Japanese Steakhouse. The one we live by." Purple said.

"That sounds like yum." ZIM said.

"That's a five star restaurant." Dib informed. ZIM leaned back in his seat.

"What can we say? We're classy bogans."

"Hah! There is no such thing. I'd prefer to call us country folk . . . with a small tinge of bogan." Red said. He looked to Purple. "And you're just a Canadian idiot." Purple pouted.

"Offensive."

"Get over it."

"You're being a jerk too. You're out if the club."

"Nuh Uh! I founded the club! You're out!" Red snapped. ZIM rolled his eyes as the two men got into a playful argument.

"Cletus! You're always yelling at me!" Purple yelled at Red in a poor southern American accent.

"That's because you're a fool, Jennifer!" Red shouted back, mocking the accent too.

"Cletus! That was rude!"

"Shut up! I'm a god!"

"Cleeeetuuuusss!"

"Guys, shut up!" ZIM screamed from the backseat. The two older Irkens went quiet, looking at each other. An awkward silence lingered for a long moment.

"Cletus, your little brother sure is snarky today." Purple said after awhile. Dib was stifling his laughter as ZIM rolled his eyes.

"I live with that everyday, Dib. Everyday."

**May 29, 2001 **

**(Explicit Detail Warning) **

"Alright guys, we're doing the same thing today. Let's run through the _Parent Teacher Night _script then we'll break, then move on to the next script." Jhonen told his cast. "And here's an idea. Maybe if we don't goof off this time we can go home sooner? Huh? How about that?" The cast stared at him blankly. "Just get into your spots." The actors and actresses immediately took the set and positioned themselves as what was written on their script outlines. Red and Purple would be the parents again as well as Dib being Gir.

ZIM sat on the chair of his desk in the classroom setting and waited to start. Soon Miss. Bitters rattled off her lines and ZIM acted bored until he was instructed to get on the edge of his seat and pretend to be anxious for school to get out. Once the 'bell' rung he sighed with relief and hopped out of his chair and was about to walk out with the other kids.

"Don't forget that tonight is parent-teacher night. Everyone is required to bring their parents to the cafeteria." Miss. Bitters snarled at the students. ZIM stopped dead in his tracks and whirled around to face her.

"I never agreed to attend this parent-teacher night." ZIM challenged.

"Yes you did." Miss. Bitters said.

"No. You lie! You liiiieee!" ZIM screamed. "Ehm. I don't like that line. Hurts my throat."

"Then don't speak so hoarsely." Steve said.

"I can't help it. I have allergies." ZIM said.

"Okay just . . . Go from your line. Skip the video portion and go right to your next line, ZIM." ZIM scanned his paper.

"Why would you tape that?" ZIM asked.

"Putting up a lot of fight for something as simple as parent-teacher night, Zim. I bet he doesn't even know what parents are!" Dib sneered getting in ZIM's face. The Irken looked as if he were reminiscing.

"Of course I do . . . sorta." ZIM said, sadly.

"Getting raised by your brother doesn't count as parents." Dib pointed out. ZIM scowled.

"You're just a jerk today." ZIM crossed his arms.

"Boys, script!" Steve snapped the boys back into what they were supposed to be doing.

"Oh yeah!" ZIM said. "Of course I dooo."

"Actually, ZIM, I want to start-" Steve stopped mid sentence to look at the other two Irkens on set. Purple seemed to be rubbing Red's back trying to comfort the man as much as possible. He was doubled over in pain with a flustered expression. "Red, you don't look so good. We can have someone else act as robomom if you want to go home." Steve said. Red shook his head.

"No, no. I'm fine. Just really bad contractions."

"Aren't you due any day now?" Steve questioned.

"Yes."

"You should probably sit." Purple said to his best friend. "You look flushed." Red sighed heavily.

"I know I do. The contractions have been getting bad lately. Especially since this morning." Red said. Zee pursed her lips tightly.

"Where are your contractions, Red?" Zee asked. She and Tenn went to the set that morning just in case Red needed them.

"Umm . . ."

"Just tell me."

"My . . . cervix." Red admitted. Zee's eyes widened. She looked to her sister who had the same reaction.

"Red, you're in labor." Everyone on set went deathly quiet. All heads turned to them.

"I-I know." Red said.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Tenn asked. Red said nothing. "How long?"

"My water broke this morning at five."

"That was nearly ten hours ago!" Zee screeched. "We have to get you checked in to the hospital!" Red bit his lip, cringing in immense pain.

"Just call, Leslie." He whined, nearly falling to his knees. His only support was Purple holding on to him.

"Male Irken labors only last for ten hours! What were you thinking? Did you _want_ to have the smeet here?" Purple asked.

"Of course not! I just . . . didn't want to draw attention to myself."

"Well you're definitely drawing attention right now." Purple said. Red suddenly cried out in pain holding his pelvis.

"God, it hurts!"

"What do we do?" Steve asked.

"Get the studio nurse. Red is in the final stage of labor. He can't be transported to the hospital anymore otherwise he runs the risk of having the smeet in traffic." Zee said. "Tenn, did you call Leslie?" Tenn nodded. "Good. Someone get us towels! We need towels." A stagehand immediately did just that.

"Can we get some privacy here?" ZIM asked the curious crowd. The cast and crew all looked to one another then slowly filed out of the room so only Red his siblings, Purple and a few female stagehands were on the scene.

"Leslie was already on her way here. She should arrive in three minutes." Tenn said. "ZIM will you go meet her outside?" The young boy nodded and hurried out of the soundstage. When he left he noticed tons of toons from lots of different shows already flocking to the scene just outside the exit of the soundstage.

"What's going on, ZIM?" The sea star, Patrick, asked.

"My brother is having his smeet here. I need to go get Leslie."

"Is he alright?" Debbie Thornberry concerned.

"He's fine-" ZIM was cut off by a scream of pain on the other side of the door. "Ya know . . . It's birth and all. He's gonna be in a bit of pain." ZIM dashed away from the crowd and to the parking lot. Just as he burst through the exit door Leslie was getting out of her car. She ran to the building.

"Where is he? He didn't have her yet, did he?" ZIM shook his head.

"No. He doesn't even have his pants off yet." Leslie sighed with relief. "Follow me." ZIM led her down the halls to soundstage five. Now practically everyone from the studio was crunching up by the door. ZIM and Leslie had to push their way through the dense crowd to get back in. ZIM caught a glimpse of Dib, Timmy, Chester, and A.J. The four all gave ZIM a thumbs up. He smiled at them in return before going back into the stage.

When the two got into the room they found Red with several others near the right wall. Red was leaning up against the wall panting hard as the studio nurse rid him of his pants and boxers. His face burned bright red from the humiliation of the thought of being naked from the waist down in front of so many people. The man looked to Leslie with teary eyes.

"Leslie . . ." He whimpered then went into a flying rage. "Get over here!" His wife rushed to his side.

"Why didn't you tell me you went into labor?" She asked.

"Don't ask me questions! Just make this pain end!" Red yelled. The nurse finished tugging off his pants and underwear. She quickly threw a towel under his legs so there was no big mess to clean.

"Okay get him away from the wall." She instructed. Leslie helped Red painfully scoot across the floor till they were at least two yards away for more room. Leslie went behind Red and got on her knees sitting on her feet. She told Red to lean his back on her lap as he got ready for what was next. ZIM got on Red's left side smiling warmly at his brother, holding his hand.

"Lookin' good there, Red."

"Sh-shut up." Red panted. Tenn got on the other side of her brother, mirroring ZIM's actions by taking Red's right hand into her own. The nurse was at the foot of Red, inspecting his lower region.

"Les, would you like a mirror down here so you can see the baby come out?" She asked. Leslie shook her head.

"I can see it from here." She said, unbuttoning Red's shirt, so he could be cool.

"Alright then, Purple and Zee if you would please pick up Red's legs and spread them far apart." The Zee did just that, Purple was a little more hesitant. Picking his legs up by wrapping on arm around his thigh the other supporting the heel of his small, bare feet. "Great. Red, honey, you're already dilated at eight centimeters. Two more centimeters and you'll be ready to get that baby out."

"Smeet." Leslie corrected, putting her hands on her husband's cheeks and looking down in love. Red gritted his teeth. He gasped when he felt a finger touch him where the smeet would be exiting. The nurse pushed into him and pulled down.

"I need you to push, Red. Can you push for me? Right where my finger is?" The nurse asked. Red shook his head, trying to catch his breath again. His contraction came back and he had a nasty urge to suddenly push. A few tears slipped from his eyes.

"Gah! I don't want to do this! Make it stop!" He cried.

"Push, babe. You need to be fully dilated." Leslie said.

"I'm not ready!"

"Push, Red!"

"It hurts!"

"Push!" Red finally complied. He sucked in his breath, held it and gave one tremendous push grunting as he did so. His eyes weld themselves shut.

"Great! You're at ten centimeters! Now just breath right now. Breath and relax." The nurse instructed. Red took several shallow, shaky breaths. "Good, good, now . . . Push!" Red growled.

"Bitch, I'll push when I want to!" He shouted. "Oh my God! Leslie! You did this to me!" Red clenched his hands hard making Tenn and ZIM who were still holding his hands wince in pain.

"Damn it, Red! Push!" Leslie scowled.

"I don't react well with pressure!" Red took in a deep breath biting his lip as he grunted and pushed as hard as he could. Leslie could feel him shaking hard. Sweat started to pool over his body.

"Awesome! She's crowning! Keep pushing!" The nurse said, keeping her gaze between his legs. Leslie took a peak too in order to see her baby. Even though it was slightly disturbing to look at, she couldn't help but smile as the tiny antenna started to poke out of her father's womb.

"Ugh, noooo! Please! Make it stop!" Red cried. Leslie kissed him repeatedly to calm him as much as possible.

"Only you can make it stop! Just push that smeet out! Come on! You can do it!"

"I can't!" Red sobbed. "It hurts!" He wailed in agony. "Augh! Shit! Shit! It fuckin' burns!" Red pushed again. Leslie's gaze traveled from her husband's nether regions to Purple who started to look woozy.

"Pur, hang in there-" Before she could finish the Irken holding one of her husband's legs up, collapsed backwards.

"Coward!" Red screeched, his leg dropping with his friend. Another female stagehand took the now downed Purple's place and held his leg up instead. Red grunted pushing again, he screamed out from the horrible pain.

"The head is out. Give me three more massive pushes!" The nurse chirped.

"You're way to peppy! You're not allowed to be happy when I'm in pain!" Red yelled at her, angrily. He braced himself as he prepared to force the child out of him again. He clenched every single muscle in his body till he couldn't push no more. He exhaled deeply, trying to relax.

"Yes! Yes! The shoulders are out! Two more pushes! This is the easy part!" Red was now determined to get it done with. He braced himself then pushed. The smeet was half way out now. He waited for a moment before giving his grand finale push. His shouts and screams of pain were replaced by the sound of a squealing newborn. Red sighed loudly, slumping back against Leslie, crying hard. His scrunched his face up in both relief and soreness. His body still quivered from the excitement. Leslie let out a nervous chuckle.

"Oh shit." He looked down at his stomach. "No more tummy! . . . Too bad. I was getting really good at balancing stuff on it." Leslie couldn't help but laugh, in mostly joy. The nurse had the bundle of smeet wrapped up in one of the towels. Zee was cleaning Red. "How'd I do?" He slurred, exhaustedly.

"You were amazing, Hun." Leslie chuckled. She leaned down and pressed her lips to his. "Simply amazing." The nurse inched her way to the proud couple. She offered the bundle to Red. His eyes soften as he reached for it. He took the smeet, swaddled in the towel, cradling her in his arm. He raised the towel from over her face and started to ball with joy at what he saw.

Beautiful, big, cobalt colored eyes like her mother. Dark brownish-red, fuzzy baby hair on her head along with two tiny sharply kinked, curled antenna. Her skin was a pale-green color.

"Wow." Red said. He then started to laugh. "Hey! Hey guys! Look what I made!" ZIM peaked over Red's shoulder to see her. ZIM beamed at the sight of his new niece.

"Can I . . . name her?" ZIM wondered. "Taniqua Macale Strud. It rolls off the tongue. I like it-"

"We're not naming our smeet, Taniqua." Leslie said, putting a blanket over Red's lower half to cover his private area. "Besides, Red and I already decided. Her name is Sapphira. Sapphira Lynn. It's an Irken-Israeli name so she fits with both human and Irken race. She really meets to her name's standards with those big, blue eyes."

"Sapphira? . . . Sounds exotic. Wasn't she a lady in the Bible who died randomly for sinning along with her husband?" ZIM asked.

"Yes . . . We still like the name, though." Red said, not taking his eyes off his daughter. "It means, jewel, ya know?" Tenn and Zee crowded around him too.

"A lovely and elegant name. Something tells me Les picked it out." Tenn said. Leslie smiled and nodded.

"Red wanted to name her 'Mini-Red'. I couldn't let that happen." Leslie chuckled. She then looked at Purple, who was now sitting up right. The studio nurse checking him out to see if he was alright.

"Couldn't handle the sight of my vagina?" Red asked. Purple was deathly pale. He gazed at Red then at the smeet and gagged, turning around and dry heaving. Red rolled his eyes. "What a great uncle you are."

"While you wait for the ambo, why don't we let the others see her?" Zee suggested. Red grinned.

"Sure." He said.

"We're gonna move you to the couch first. Okay, sweets?" Leslie said. He nodded, snuggling the smeet to his face. She was sleeping peacefully. He handed his smeet to Leslie then was helped up by Purple and Zee. They put him on the couch that they pushed closer to him so he didn't have to walk. They made sure a towel was wrapped around his bare bottom. He sat on the sofa, very sore yet.

"Uuhhh. I feel so light." He said, tiredly. Leslie sat next to Red, giving Sapphira back to him. ZIM smiled then walked to the door where the crowd was waiting. He opened the double doors with a wide grin.

"You guys may see her now if you wish." ZIM announced. The toons and workers of the studio all beamed entering the room. ZIM spotted Gaz. She was actually smiling! The purple-haired girl ran up to ZIM and hugged him tightly. "Congratulations! You're now a big sister!" Gaz laughed, happily. ZIM brought her to her mom so she could see her little sister. Gaz looked down at the face of the smeet.

"She's gorgeous, mom." Gaz said to Leslie. She sat on her mother's lap. ZIM took a spot on the couch as well. A line formed for all the people to give their congrats to the couple before going on their merry way. It wasn't long before the ambulance would arrive and whisk both Red and Sapphira away to the hospital to do any necessary tests. Before they left however, Red leaned over to his beloved wife and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you, Les." He whispered.

"For what, sweetie?"

"For preventing me from making a big mistake." Leslie kissed him back.

"No problem, Red." She said. "I love you."

"I love you too, babe."

**May 31, 2001**

"Red has been sleeping all day. Can you go wake him? He'll never get to sleep tonight." Leslie asked ZIM. The boy nodded.

"I'll be right back, Dib." ZIM said to his friend before leaving the table and going upstairs to his brother's room. ZIM opened the door to the room, peaking inside. Red was finally catching up on some much needed rest. ZIM made his way to the edge of the bed and saw Red sleeping soundly. Sapphira was cuddled up along side him. ZIM put a hand on Red's shoulder. The man cracked open an eye. "Les said you should wake up. It's two in the after noon." ZIM pointed out. Red yawned looking from his brother to his newborn daughter.

"I'll be down in a few minutes. Will you take Saph and feed her?" ZIM nodded picking up the smeet and cradling her in his arms. "Careful with her." ZIM left the room, carrying his niece down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Aww, How's my lovely baby today?" Leslie cooed when she saw Sapphira.

"I'm great!" ZIM chirped. Leslie rolled her eyes taking the smeet from him.

"I'll feed her. You and Dib can continue to play or whatever." ZIM sat again by the table.

"She sure is cute." Dib said about Sapphira. ZIM nodded.

"Just like her uncle."

"You are so full of yourself." Dib said, never taking his eyes off the newborn. "Did she have her surgery?"

"She did. Her spina bifida is mild but she still runs the risk of not being able to walk. They also found out she may have mental disabilities. But they can't diagnose her until she's old enough to be tested." Leslie said. "The doctors said she's not in good health. Red was right when he said the smeet would be sickly." ZIM's antenna wilted.

"Also like her uncle." He muttered. Leslie nuzzled her daughter lovingly.

"Is Red coming down?"

"Yeah, in a few minutes." ZIM said.

"How is Red doing?" Dib asked.

"He's a bit sore between the legs, but his back doesn't hurt anymore." Leslie said. "Soon he'll be able to work out and shed the pounds he's gained off." She put a bottle full of formula into the microwave to nuke it.

"May I hold her?" Dib asked. Leslie smiled at the boy.

"Sure." Leslie carefully put the smeet into Dib's arms. The boy's face lit up as he looked at the sleeping child's face. As soon as she was safely in Dib's arms, Sapphira opened her eyes. Dib was scared for a moment that she would start crying now that she wasn't by her father's side. To his surprise she made no sound. The smeet made a tiny squeaking noise, reaching her tiny hands up to Dib's face. The boy looked at Leslie.

"If you ever need a babysitter, I'm always free." He said, jokingly. Leslie chuckled.

"Thanks for the offer, Dillon." Leslie said. Red entered the kitchen wearing only solid, dark blue pajama pants. He looked groggy as he sat by the table. "You hungry, sweetie?" Red shook his head.

"This is the first time in awhile when I didn't have weird cravings." Red looked at Sapphira in Dib's arms. "You stinker, you were very premature." The infant made a gurgling noise, reaching for her dad. "No, I don't want to hold you." The smeet insisted, whining until she got her way. "Nope. Not gonna hold you." Sapphira started to tear up.

"Red, don't be an ass." Leslie scowled. Red grinned and took the balling smeet. Her crying soon resorted to nothing but soft breathing.

"I've been curious. How is Sapphira alike and different from humans?" Dib asked.

"She has mostly Irken genes as we found out. She'll have acute hearing and sense of smell like her father. Her tongue is like an Irken's. Her skin is more green than white. Like all Irkens she doesn't have a need to excrete herself. No need for diapers and changing her." Leslie said.

"And the infamous potty training that you told me all about." Red mumbled.

"She won't sweat and she won't have any natural body odor also like the Irkens."

"Irkens don't emit any odor?" Dib asked. "Is that why I can never smell ZIM after workouts?"

"Why are you smelling me?" ZIM asked in shock.

"Well it's not that . . . Like you're always complaining that you can smell us-"

"Freak."

"Obviously she doesn't have ears or a nose but she does have a pale-ish skin tone and chestnut-red-colored, wavy hair. She got that from her mommy." Leslie said proudly.

"Hopefully she doesn't develop her mom's weight." Red snickered. Leslie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Stop being an asshole!" Leslie shouted. "I'm not fat! I'm just . . . overweight." Leslie crossed her arms glaring at Red.

"I never called you fat. You have some chub and that's cute." Red said with a sly smile. Leslie growled getting ready to slap him. "Don't hit me! I'm armed!" Red put Sapphira in front of him to protect him.

"Don't use our daughter as a shield!" Leslie yelled. ZIM and Dib watched amused as the couple bickered.

"I love watching them fight." ZIM whispered to Dib.

"Me too." He agreed. Red grunted when Leslie laid a good smack to the back of his head.

"Ow! Shit!" Red rubbed the back of his head. Sapphira eyes went wide looking at Red. "Saph, she hurt daddy." Red pouted, pretending to cry. Sapphira immediately started to sob. Squealing with sadness for her 'hurt' father. Red chuckled.

"Ugh. You are such a moron." Leslie said. She thrust the bottle full of formula in Red's hand. "Feed her. Test it first." Red squished the milk on his wrist to check the temperature then stuck the nipple of the bottle into the smeet's mouth.

"Whoa! Does she have teeth already?" Dib asked.

"Irkens are born with a full set of teeth." ZIM stated as if it were an obvious fact.

"I did not know that."

"There's a lot of things you don't know, Dib." ZIM said.

"I guess so." He mumbled. Red stood from his seat holding the smeet and walking across the kitchen to his wife. He handed Sapphira to Leslie.

"I need to do something." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been doing nothing but laying around for the past few months. I need to go somewhere and do stuff." Red said.

"Oh no." Leslie warned. "No, no, no. You just had a smeet. You're not supposed to be up and about. You just birthed two days ago."

"I'm not gonna do anything strenuous. My crotch stills hurts. I'm just gonna drive somewhere, then walk around, then drive again . . . or something just as exciting." Red muttered. "Oh! Maybe I could go clubbin'! I haven't drank in awhile."

"Just stay home. You're on bed rest." Leslie said. "You can start working out again in a few weeks." Red frowned. He pointed to his stomach.

"Look at this!" He said. "I'm still fat! I have this massive pudge right in my midsection! That's not sexy!" Leslie's eyes wandered to his torso.

"Red, I can barely see the remaining fat. Look," Leslie her finger on his ribs. "You still have your four pack abs. That's sexy." Red wrinkled his nose in disgust of himself.

"I used to have a six pack." He growled. Red pointed an accusing finger at Sapphira. "You! You ruined daddy's body! Now I have to get surgery done to remove the stretch marks you've given me and I have to work out until I get my six pack again." The infant chortled, cutely, reaching for her dad. "Daaaw! I can't stay mad at you!" Red took his smeet back from Leslie. "I wov chuuu soooo muuuuch!" He drawled, pressing his face to his daughter's. Leslie rolled her eyes.

"Most bipolar father I've ever seen."

**June 2, 2001**

"Augh! It feels so good to be home!" ZIM exclaimed, barging through the door of their Western Australia home. "I hated L.A.!" The camera crew for the reality T.V. show followed him in. ZIM turned to speak to them in Irken. "_I'm not showing you guys around so you go ahead and wander the house yourself._" ZIM told the crew. "_Don't let me catch you leaving with any of our belongings though._"

"_Don't worry about it. If anyone takes anything their fired._" Kugar said.

"_Thank you._" ZIM noticed Red holding Sapphira walking into the den.

"Speaking of our belongings, this will all be out of this house by the next semester. We're movin'." Red told him.

"You can't be serious." ZIM groaned. "Why?"

"Too close to the city. So we're movin' closer to the rellies in Kununurra. We're gonna build a new home quarter of a mile away from the ranch I grew up on." Red said.

"But we're already buildin' a new home on Irk." ZIM said.

"I want to go back to where I use to live." Red shrugged. "Besides, nana, papa and the lot haven't seen Saph yet."

"Ugh! Moving sounds like work!" ZIM complained.

"Thought you'd be more stoked about this. I can hire people to do the work, ya lil whiner. But you do not get a say in where we live." ZIM crossed his arms. The camera crew was capturing their whole conversation on tape. Of course they'd need a translation because they were speaking English.

A shrill cry was heard coming from the room over. Red sighed. Leslie came into the living room with the smeet.

"She hates me." Leslie said, passing the smeet over to her husband. "It's like you two have a connection or something." Red pressed his forehead to his daughter's.

"Father's intuitive." He said. "If we're not connected after she's spent six months living in my spooch by now, then we have a problem here." The smeets crying ceased quickly when Red whispered to her in Irken, foreheads still touching. "_Hush, child. Daddy's here. Shh, shh. Good girl._" Red kissed her cheek. Her big cyan eyes looking up at him. Red smiled down at her with love. Red put two fingers on her pale green cheek. ZIM narrowed his eyes at the man.

"What a softie." The boy got up to leave for the outside. He exited the house with two cameramen following after him. ZIM sat in the front stoop enjoying the day. Looking around him, out to the desert-like land in front of their house. The Irken started to hum to himself a song that he's been working on recently.

"_You're lucky to live on such a beautiful planet_." One man said.

"_I am. But ya know, Irk is just as, if not more, beautiful than earth._" ZIM said. He felt something crawl over his foot. Not bothering to look, he reached down to swat whatever it was away, thinking it was only a gecko.

"_Master Macale, you have a creature sniffing you out._" The same man said. ZIM looked down when the scaly 'creature' started to coil itself around ZIM's ankle. The boy gasped in horror at the sight.

"Oh my Yahweh! A snake! A big mothafuckin' snake!" ZIM kicked the reptile off then ran into the house. Moments later he came back out with a sledge hammer from the garage. "Die bitch!" ZIM slammed the heavy end of the hammer down on the head of the snake, making it's skull burst and it's insides spilling out. The snake was killed instantly, but the body continued to thrash widely. "Gah!" ZIM brought the hammer down on the animal again. This time severing the spine. The snake stopped moving finally. ZIM released a shaky breath, staring at what he had just done. A minute passed. His heart still beating rapidly from the scare. "Those things make me wanna cry. They're everywhere." ZIM turned around after a few more seconds and noticed everyone who resided with him was staring at him as if he were some mad man. ZIM pointed a thumb at the bloody mess behind him. "Snake."

**Next Morning**

"Zeiden," ZIM cracked open an eye. Tak was hovering over him.

"Takayla, it's four A.M. What could you possibly want?" ZIM asked.

"I want to know how you remain asleep with all this racket." Tak said. "Just listen to them. So loud." ZIM sat up in his bed, perking his antenna. All he heard was the kookaburra.

"The kookaburra is always happy." ZIM smiled. "Constantly laughing. I love the sound. It actually helps me sleep." ZIM laid back again. "Lay by me." ZIM said. Tak hopped in his bed and took a spot next to him, resting her head on his pillow. "As their mornings are full of laughter, mine are full of restful sleep." ZIM said, closing his eyes. His antenna soaking in the sound of the bird. "This sound used to annoy me. But then I've been living in the city with sirens and gunfire. I really missed waking up to this in the morning."

"Hmm." Tak thought. "Guess it's things like this that makes you enjoy the little things in life." ZIM nodded. Tak grinned, leaning over ZIM to kiss him. "Zeiden,"

"Yeah?" ZIM asked, paying full attention to whatever she had to say. She only ever used his full name when she wanted to say something important.

"I love you so much." She said. "I think we've been dating long enough for me to realize that." ZIM opened his eyes to look into her's. He wondered where she was going with this. "We're both of age to marry. You just had your Bar Mitzvah so now in Irken-Messianic Jewish law you're a man." ZIM's heart skipped a beat. Was she proposing to him? "I know that neither of our higher authorities will let us marry yet but . . . I need to marry you." ZIM was shocked. Both flattered and unsure.

"T-Takayla, I-I don't know what to say. It's . . . I'm thirteen." ZIM stopped for a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Irk used to wed couples as young as ten."

"That was a century ago." ZIM stated. "Things have changed since then." Tak looked like she could burst into tears. He knew that it took her a lot of guts to say that. There was just no way he could break her heart. Not now. ZIM had to pull himself together. There was honestly no other girl he'd rather date or kiss than Tak. Just the thought of kissing another girl didn't feel right to him. But he was so young. _They _were so young. Why did she insist on marrying now? Did she have a trust issues with him? That if she didn't marry him now that he may leave her? ZIM had to admit. She had a good point. If that was her point in wanting to wed. "I . . . I will marry you." ZIM said accepting the proposal. He couldn't believe what he had just committed to. He really should have thought more about it. Maybe it didn't matter. Maybe Tak meant to propose to him now but they'd get married years in the future.

"Thank you, Zeiden." Tak whispered to him. "Thank you so much." Tak crawled over him. She cupped his face with her hands and kissed him deeply.

"Why, Tak?" He asked, separating from the kiss. "Why so young?"

"I don't know. Our relationship . . . It just feels so right. As if we were predestined to be together. Words cannot express how I've always felt towards you. Every time we fight and make up it seems like we realize more and more how much we complete each other. I felt as if . . . maybe if we officially tied the knot that last empty void in our lives will be filled." ZIM looked at her violet eyes, mesmerized at her words.

"Maybe you're right." He said. It still felt weird to commit at such a young age. In today's society marrying this young was just . . . something Hindus seemed to do. ZIM put a hand behind her head and pulled her back down to his lips for yet another loving kiss. "This must stay secret, Takayla. If anyone finds out, specifically my brother, they will not let us be alone."

"I understand, ZIM. It can be private. And when we feel like we're ready to tell them we can have another wedding for the family and friends to renew our vows." ZIM nodded.

"I . . . I hope we know what we're getting ourselves into." Tak rested her forehead on his.

"We're in love, ZIM. It's as simple as that."

**June 5, 2001**

ZIM groaned face down in his pillow when he heard his room's door open. Footsteps approached his bed then a weight made the edge of the bed sink down slightly. ZIM's muscles tensed when the intruders hand rest on him and slipped a hand up his shirt and rubbed his lower back.

"I had to sneak in here. Red told me that you were grounded for the rest of the day." Came Tak's voice. ZIM grunted in response. "What happened? What did you do?"

"I . . . Uh . . . swore at him. Called him an asshole." ZIM told her.

"Why? What'd he do to piss you off?"

"We just got into a stupid argument about my health."

"I see." She drawled. "You've been having more issues lately with asthma or your epilepsy?" ZIM sucked in his breath.

"I had an absent seizure just two hours ago." ZIM said. "Then Red told me to take some sort of injected medication which I refused. I hate needles."

"Aww, sweetie." Tak cooed. "And that's when you started fighting?"

"No. We started fighting when he forcefully jabbed me with the syringe. Damn, idiot. It hurt." ZIM mumbled.

"He's doing it for your own good." Tak said.

"Yes, well, when we get married I'll thank the lord he can't force me into anything anymore." ZIM said.

"Yes. Then it'll be my job." Tak said. "'Cuz when we get married, I'll be in charge." ZIM furrowed his brows. Tak just smirked.

"Let's face it, ZIM. With all your medical conditions, you're not even allowed to be independent. You'll always need a guardian."

"Huh! You act as if you own my ass."

"Because I do, Zeiden." Tak said, confidently. "You're all mine and I don't have to share with anyone once we get hitched."

"I thought I already was all yours." ZIM pulled down the neck of his shirt to reveal several hickies scattered about his skin. "These love bites prove it, no?" Tak smiled. She pressed her face into his neck, nuzzling it lovingly.

"Gotta make sure everyone knows what those marks on your neck and chest mean." Tak whispered. Her warm breath in his cool neck gave him chills. A shiver crawled up his spine. "This one is fading." She pointed to a dull, light green bite on his collarbone. She licked it with her tongue then closed her mouth around the skin and sucked it hard enough to re-break the blood vessels there. ZIM moaned at the feeling. Goosebumps covering his skin. Tak pulled away and admired her work on her boyfriend. "Perfect." ZIM grinned, leaning forward and giving her lips a quick kiss.

"You should go now. Before Red knows you're in here." Tak kissed his cheek.

"Alright, babe." She said. "I'll be back for you, though."

**June 6, 2001**

"We're going to Kununurra today to visit the family." Red reported to his siblings. "We're flying. It should only take like three hours."

"Why are we going there?" Tenn asked.

"We're gonna scope the area for any land up for sale by the ranch we used to live on. If we find property that's suitable for us we'll purchase it and build a new home."

"Is this home gonna be permanent? Because you seem to like to move a lot." Leslie asked.

"Yeah, I think we'll have a permanent home there." Red said. "We're going back to where we started, isn't that exciting?" He asked his siblings.

"It sure is." Tenn said. Zim scoffed.

"Speak for yourself. I started in Darwin."

"You only started there because dad was deployed from Darwin two weeks earlier." Zee said.

"Either way, I still started in Darwin." ZIM said. "When are we leaving and why did you give us such a late notice?"

"We're leaving in an hour in a single engine aircraft. We're only staying there for two nights." Red said.

"Can't we keep this home? We just built it." ZIM said. "And they don't have very good surfing in Kununurra."

"Is that all you think about whenever we move somewhere new? Is the surfing good? What about, is this a safe community? Or is the crime rate low?" Zee asked. ZIM shrugged.

"I like surfing." ZIM said. "And I like having a home on the beach front."

"There is a huge area by the sea that's up for sale. It's only about ten minutes away from town. And it's very private." Red said. "I was figuring on searching there first. If it's no good for building we'll have a home next to the ranch." ZIM pouted. "Get over it, Z. We already have beach houses in Los Angeles, Mears, and soon to have one on Irk as well."

"But- we always- I . . . Awww!" ZIM whined, knowing he lost.

"Besides, there are massive amounts of box jellyfish in those waters up there." Red pointed out.

"So? There's Great Whites here and you still let me surf!"

"And there's saltwater crocs there."

"I have a pet croc." ZIM pointed out.

"Sea urchins, sharp coral, crown of thorns starfish, tiger sharks, blue ringed octopus, stingrays, barracudas, eels, spiny pufferfish, and worst of all, ZIM, sea snakes."

ZIM shuddered at the mention of them. He's come into contact with one while wakeboarding one day. He lost his grip on the handle of the wakeboard rope so he was floating until Red made his way back around with the speed boat. However, as he was waiting a curious sea snake seemed to coil itself around ZIM's exposed torso. This of course threw him into frenzy of panic. Thank God he wasn't bitten. Their venom tends to be more toxic than land snakes. In fact, looking back on it now, ZIM was extremely lucky considering he was thrashing trying to get the snake off.

"Well . . . If my hero Steve Irwin isn't afraid any of those creatures, why should I be?"

"Because you're a wimp compared to Steve." Red said. ZIM frowned as his family around chuckled and agreed with Red.

"Okay if you guys are going to be mean to me then I'm not giving you the pleasantry of joining you on your traveling to Kanunurra."

**Five hours Later**

"Stop scowling, ZIM. You know you're not allowed to be left home alone." Red said, handing a duffel bag to ZIM who was waiting outside the single engine plane, arms crossed. Tyson was beside ZIM nudging his master as if pleading him to scratch his ears. They forced ZIM to go visit with the family. Now they were in Kanunurra and just about to take off to the ranch as soon as they got all their luggage loaded into their rental vehicles.

"You called me a wimp." ZIM pouted. Red rolled his eyes.

"You're such a smeet."

"I'm not a smeet!" ZIM stomped his foot. Red's eyes widened.

"Did I just see a small temper tantrum?" Red chuckled as ZIM went into a hissy fit, ranting about how rude Red could be to him. "Okay, even you got to admit that you're acting like a smeet." ZIM's face twisted in anger. Tak came up from behind ZIM and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Come with me to the car before you blow." Tak said, pulling him away from his brother. She practically shoved ZIM into the vehicle the slid in after him. ZIM's dog also jumped in staying on the floor of the car. "You moody today?"

"No! I'm fine!" ZIM snapped. Tak furrowed her brows.

"_Don't _yell at me like that, Zeiden Macale." She warned. ZIM's antenna slicked back from both irritation and mild fright of Tak's harsh tone.

"Sorry." ZIM mumbled. Tak put an arm around him.

"It's fine, babe." Tak pulled him closer to her. She let him lay his head on her shoulder. Gaz opened the other door to the back of the car and got in sitting next to ZIM. She wrinkled her nose briefly then turned her head away from the couple.

"Of course I have to be in the same car as the two love birds." She muttered. "Don't do any funny stuff while I'm back here with you two. I'm not in the mood to throw up right now."

**Later **

Red stepped out of the car he was driving and was welcomed by his extended family who all stopped what they were doing to greet him and the rest of the family. Red smiled when his nana gave him a warm hug. He bent down so he could be level with her.

"Red! How's my little _dju_?" She asked.

"I'm great, nana. How's the ranch holding up?" He asked.

"As successful as ever." Nana pointed out in the distance to all the fields and barns, milking parlors, animals, and huge, mansion-like, houses they owned. "Look at all our stockmen. We hired a few from the neighboring aboriginal clan. They really needed the jobs." Red nodded. The whole area brought back memories from his childhood. This massive hundred acre ranch was known world wide for being one of the wealthiest meat and dairy producing ranches in the world.

Red snapped out of his thoughts of nostalgia when he heard squealing coming inside the car. '_Shit_!' He thought to himself. Red eyed his nana as she approached the car and peered inside. Her dark red eyes focussing on what was making the noise inside the car.

"Red, you have a smeet in your car." Nana opened the car door and unbuckled the smeet from her booster seat. The old Irken observed the smeet for a long moment. "Who is this, _dju_?" Red bit his lip. He totally forgot about telling his nana or the rest of his family. He knew that they never kept up with Irken news let alone Earthen news so they couldn't find out through the media.

"Ehm . . . Ummm . . . that's my daughter." He whispered, cowardly. Nana raised a brow, frowning at Red.

"Adopted?"

". . . Conceived."

"You birthed a smeet?" Nana's voice raised. Red looked down at his feet ashamed that he never told them. "Oh, you bloody dolt! Why if yer mother were here she'd be reeling yer ass out right in front of us all!" Nana switched her attention to the smeet in her arms. The aunts and uncles and a few cousins gathered around to see Sapphira. Leslie nudged Red hard in the side.

"You never told them you were pregnant?" Leslie hissed. Red pouted.

"I forgot to, okay?"

"How could you forget? God, your nana is right! You are a dolt!" Leslie huffed.

"Les, dear, she's got your eyes!" The elder woman exclaimed excitedly. "What's this little one's name? She's my first great grandchild and I don't even know her name yet!"

"Her name is Sapphira Lynn." Red said.

"How old is she?"

"Eight days. I birthed her at the studio." Red said. A few of his relatives gasped at the news.

"My goodness." One of his aunts muttered. "No drugs? Shit, I couldn't do that." Red shrugged.

"Huh! Back in my day, we would birth our smeets in the fields we were working and drop them off at the end of the rows!" One older aunt said.

"Let's not forget the time when I had Dural in the kitchen. No drugs." An uncle added as if trying ti prove his toughness. Red rolled his eyes, turning to ZIM.

"Our family is nuts." ZIM mumbled. Red nodded.

"Why don't you go place your stuff in the house I grew up in." Red said. ZIM didn't say anything. He slung his bag over his shoulder and carried it to one of the two story homes that all lined up side-by-side, Tyson following him in. Since the ranch was a family business all of the entire extended family lived next to each other on a huge lot right in front of the barns and fences and pastures. ZIM walked up the driveway of a tan, bricked, coastal-styled home. He threw the luggage in the grand room looking about him as he did so. Red told him that their cousin Dural and his wife has been the only one living in his old house. Despite the largeness of the house, this home only had four rooms. There wasn't gonna be enough rooms which meant Red would probably have Tenn and Zee stay at one of their other aunts and uncles homes next door.

ZIM made his way over to the edge of the grand room to look out to the backyard, what he saw was a simple courtyard but beyond that was a wide open, grassy, pasture full of bovine of all kinds. ZIM smirked. He loved cows. They were toward the top of his list of favorite animals. Tyson barked loudly at the animals outside. ZIM suddenly got an idea. He looked mischievously out the window to the cattle grazing in the fields. Quietly as possible, ZIM snuck over to the slider door and opened it, exiting the house to go out to the pasture. He walked some distance till he reached the fence then got on his stomach and army crawled under it to get to the other side.

"Come on, Ty." ZIM called to his dog. The Samoyed mimicked ZIM's actions and crawled under the barbed fence too. ZIM looked at the cows. They were pretty far out in the field but he'd catch one eventually. ZIM picked up his pace to the hoard of cows. There had to be fifty cows all crowded in one area of the field. ZIM found that odd considering that the whole field was available. Of course, cows did only travel in a heard. As the boy got closer he was able to scan the densest part of the bovine and find the one particular animal he was looking for. "Ah hah! Found him!" ZIM grinned, completely fearless of the beast pushing it's way from the center to the edge of the heard. A snotty golden ring hung from it's nose. The creature snorted, very territorial. It stepped closer to ZIM. The short boy stayed his ground, unfazed by the bulls challenge.

Tyson yipped at the beast. ZIM hushed his dog. The Irken kept eye contact with the animal for a long time. Waiting for the perfect opportune moment.

"Today . . . I become . . . a bull rider." With that said ZIM lunged at the animal faster than it could react. With one swift, fluid moment ZIM grabbed one of it's horns and swung himself up on the back of the bull. The massive animal stood still, barely effected by ZIM's bold move. "Wow, this is . . . easy . . . Red made it look so hard." ZIM felt the bull shift and start to walk. The cows followed him. ZIM decided to ride the bull until he figured out where it was going. He was getting closer to one of the barns. It was feeding time. The bull was getting some grain to eat. ZIM caught a glimpse of a few of his cousins and siblings at the edge of the fence walking to the same barn the bull ZIM was on was heading to. "Damn!" ZIM chirped. If they saw him on the bull they'd flip! ZIM was about to slip off but it was too late.

"Zeiden Macale Junior!" ZIM cursed mentally. He swallowed a lump in his throat, trying to play it cool.

"Yeah, what's up, bro?" ZIM gave Red a slight wave. His brother looked ticked.

"Get off that bull before you fall!" Red yelled.

"Better than getting bucked off!" ZIM retorted. Not a good thing to say. Red's features darkened further. The man climbed over the iron gate of the fenced in area and stalked toward the bull ZIM was on. The bull saw Red coming and started to walk the other way. Before the bull got a chance to dash away, Red snatched ZIM off it's back. "I don't see why I can't bull ride-Oof!" Red slung ZIM over his shoulder, keeping a firm grip around his little brother's knees. "You said it was dangerous. What I know from the experience I had just now, it wasn't dangerous at all. It was like riding a horse-Ouch!" ZIM cut himself off when a sharp, spank was delivered to his rear. "Okay! I'm sorry! Geez."

"I can't trust you alone, ever, can I?" Red grumbled, mostly to himself.

"Don't get what the big rip is. The bull didn't even try anything."

"Bulls are spontaneous, Zeiden. It could have bucked you off and pulverized you at any given moment." Red warned. "Trust me . . ." The older brother plopped ZIM down in the other side of the electric fence once they got to it. After ZIM was out of the pasture Red himself squeezed between the top and bottom wire.

"Red, since you're here why don't you and your friend go and fix the fence at the northern pasture. A heifer broke loose of it one day and has never been repaired." Nana told her grandson. Red groaned. He just got there and she was already putting him to work. Just like the old days.

"Nana, I just got here and that pasture is quarter a mile away-"

"You can take Maya and Dural's horses." Nana told him. "Has Purple ever ridden a horse?" Red turned his head to his right to the horse barn and saw what appeared to be Purple talking to a Clydesdale. Red's Papa was behind him watching Purple with an amused expression on his face.

"He's really good with animals." Red finally answered. Nana nodded.

"Go fix it." Nana grabbed ZIM's hand in her's. "I'll take care of this little anklebiter." ZIM gave his grandma a cheeky smile then walked away with her. Red sighed turning his attention back to the stalls. The man made his way to where his friend and Papa was.

"G'day, Pa. Pur, and I are gonna go and fix that fence northbound of here." The old man's face lit up.

"Thank ya, Red. I'd do it myself but I'm getting too old to do jack." Papa said. The man pointed to two stalls with identical brown Australian Brumbys. "Mack and Cole are already saddled up. Take 'em there." Red opened the gate of one stall and walked in by the horse. He grabbed the reins and led it out.

"You've ridden before, right Pur?" Purple nodded.

"You taught me the first time I came here with you."

"Right. That was also the same day we got lost on the trails, didn't we?" Red smirked. He put the toe of his boot in the stirrup and hoisted himself up, mounting the horse. Purple got the other horse out and did the same.

"Leslie's not gonna like seeing you on a horse. She told you no vigorous activities." Purple said.

"My mom started to ride again just four days after birthing Zee. I think I'm good." Red countered. "Besides, it's not like my horse is goin' to buck." Purple shrugged.

"You can never know." The two commanded their horses to canter. They led their horses out to a dirt pathway and headed north, up the dirt, utility road to the problem area. As they rode, Purple looked about him fascinated. "Still can't believe your family owns all this land. It's like this place they own is a whole other town." He was right. Every family in the extended family owned a large house up the dirt road they were cantering on. Ten houses, fifteen different types of barns, and many vast pastures with all sorts of animals. "I heard that you guys used to have to go all cowboy on these cattle and actually heard them with your horses to transport them from here to the downtown area."

"We still do that sometimes." Red said. "This farm is not just a farm. It kind of doubles as a tourist attraction. This ranch gets over a million visitors a year from all over. It's five bucks per adult head, two bucks per child. They visit because we mostly do things the old fashion way despite the fact that we're multimillionaires and can afford to do it the easy way. But _noooo_, nana has to keep the tradition. It's Nana's way or the highway. Nana knows best-"

"It's sounds like you have a bit of a grudge against her." Purple pointed out. Red let out a breath of frustration.

"It's not that I have a grudge. She's the owner of the ranch after all. It's just that . . . she's been noticeably stricter since her daughter, my mother, died. Call it bitterness." Purple nodded, understandingly. Red pointed. "There. I see the break in the fence." Purple followed to where Red was pointing at with his eyes. Both top and lower wires of the fence were busted open and hanging loose. Surprisingly, there were still cows in the pasture. Red wondered why no one moved them to a different field. Red slid off the horse and opened the satchel bag on the saddle. He pulled out new wire for the fence. "Kay Pur. I need you to go to that corner post over there and turn off the fence while I put the new wire in."

"Okay," Purple got off his horse and went over to where Red instructed him to. He lifted the panel of the grey control box. "Which switch is it?" He called to Red. His friend groaned.

"The one that says, 'Power'." Purple narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, duh." He flipped the red switch off. "It's off!" Red immediately started to fix the fence. Purple went back to looking at the buttons and knobs on the panel. "Amps," He whispered to himself when his eyes noticed the knob labeled that. A meter below the knob read point zero fifteen amps. Purple twisted the knob to the left then to the right making the number of amps go up and down. Eventually the number got stuck on point zero twenty amps. Purple cocked a brow when the twist wouldn't move anymore. He shrugged it off then looked back at his friend. "You almost done?" Red grunted in response.

"Shit!" He cussed. "Cut myself on this barb."

"Don't do that. You'll hurt yourself." Red glared at Purple who grinned at him in return.

"No shit, dumbass." Purple put his hands up defensively.

"Whoa. Rude boy, here."

"Shut up." Red pulled the wire. The newly repaired fence now ready to do it's job. The old wire was at Red's feet. "Alright, turn 'er on." Purple flipped the switch on the box. As soon as he did he could here Red cry out in pain. Purple snapped his head in the direction of his brother.

"Fuck! Fuck! Help me!" Red shouted. He then suddenly went down, falling onto the electric fence pulsing with many amps. Purple ran over to him. As he got closer he noticed that the old wire was getting tangled around Red. It was touching the new one which gave him the first shock.

"God!" Purple squeaked. He grabbed Red's shirt then grunted when he felt a brutal shock. He looked at Red's face. His eyes shut tightly.

"G-get m-me out of h-here! Auuugh! Fuck!" Purple braced himself and took hold of both Red's arms and pulled him away from the fence getting shocked at the same time. Once Red was away from danger, Purple looked at his hands. They were tingling. Nothing major at all. Red on the other hand.

"Oh, fuck man!" Purple knelt by Red to examine his injuries. The wire burned through his clothes revealing burnt, bleeding skin. Lines of where the wire was streaked across Red's legs where the wire was wrapped around him. From his ankles up to his thighs. He even had a burn mark on his hands where he was holding the wire.

"God damn it!" Red cursed. "Why is the amplification up so high?" Purple's eyes widened and bit his lip.

"Uh . . . I don't know. Forever a mystery." Purple said with a spooky tone. Red moaned in pain. Purple offered a hand to help him up which he took gratefully. "Dude, your pants are ruined."

"Yeah I can see that. Don't tell Leslie what happened, okay? Her motherly instincts will kick in and she'll feel the need to baby and scold me."

"She's gonna find out anyway." Purple said. "She always does." Red sorely got on the horse again along with Purple and the two rode back to the stables, putting the horses back into their stalls. Red walked with Purple to their temporary home. Red opened the door Zee was standing in the foyer going out. When she saw her limping older brother she gasped.

"Red, what happened?" Red shushed her but it was too late. In the room over, nana and Leslie came to the scene to see what Zee was talking about. Leslie gasped when she saw her husband in his current state. His nana just rolled her eyes.

"Oh, this is just like when you were a child and you got your ass electrocuted on the fence by sitting on it like a dummy! C'mon _dju_. Let's get you cleaned up." His nana took his hand and led them to the den and laid him down on the couch. Leslie knelt beside the sofa looking at Red's wounds when his nana went to get a bowl of water and a towel.

"Oh, my poor baby, what happened?" She asked as she inspected his burnt hands.

"I don't even know." Red mumbled. Leslie pulled up his shirt to look for any more injury. Lucky there was none.

"Look at your legs! Your legs are burned too!" Nana came back with the water and towel. Leslie took it from her then knelt by him again. Leslie soaked the towel in the cold water then rung it out before pressing it to a wound on Red's thigh. He gasped.

"Don't! That hurts!" He slapped the white towel away.

"Red, don't be stupid! It needs to be cleaned!" Leslie dabbed his burns again. Red winced. His nana leaned over him, her eyes zeroing in on his chest where his button up shirt was unbuttoned and exposing his skin.

"Is that a tattoo?" She asked. Red looked at her and pulled his shirt together to hide it.

"Noooo." He drawled, pretending to be innocent. Nana ripped open the shirt to look again. Red pouted when her face grew irritated.

"Not only did you get a tattoo, but you lied to me too. Christ, _dju, _will you never grow up?"

"I'm sorry nana-"

"You better be. I thought now that you're married and have a child now you'd be more tame but nope, you're still reckless and mischievous as you were when you were a child." His nana scolded. "I'm gonna go look at that fence you just repaired. See if it's good enough."

"It should be, nana." Red grunted, sitting up. His grandma turned and left he home leaving him to his wife.

"Reckless child? She seems so nonchalant." Leslie said.

"Well as you know, I was always getting in trouble at school and around the ranch. My nana always referred to me as the troublemaker. My other cousins were such _angels._" Leslie chuckled.

"I'm assuming you spent most your childhood being punished." Red nodded.

"By either my teachers or my parents." Red smiled. "I remember a time, I was walking home from school with my bud, Lard Narr, when I saw one of my teachers drive by. Without really thinking I flipped him off."

"What? Why would you do that?" Leslie laughed.

"I don't know! It was just one of those unwarranted gestures. I don't know why I did it to this day." Red said. "Anyway, so the teacher saw that and he pulled off to the side of the road and got out of his car. At that point Lard Narr started cracking up and running away saying, 'You screwed up bad this time, mate!' and left me to face the wrath of my teacher on my own! What a jerk!"

"What did your teacher do?"

"He swatted my hand with a ruler he keep around then drove me home and told my parents."

"Wow. That was back in the day when corporal punishment wasn't banned from schools yet, huh?" Red shook his head.

"Nope. I always seemed to go home from school with bruises induced by my teachers." Red said. Leslie gave him an amused smile and went back to cleaning his abrasions and burns.

"I must say, seeing you now I would have never of guessed that you were a prick as a child."

"Hah, yeah."

"Were you popular?" Leslie asked. Red shrugged.

"Depends on your definition of 'popular'. If you mean well known in the school then, yes. I was after all, the only Irken that went to that school. My cousins were either home schooled or went to public school. I went to a very strict magnet school. Kanunurra Magnet School. I went there the longest because I was exceptionally good at science, the arts, and sports."

"You went to other schools too?" Leslie questioned.

"Throughout my entire schooling career I've been expelled four times." Red stated with a smirk. "I still remember of all those times. My parents sent me to bootcamp for a few months after my third expulsion. I was suspended thirty times, got around one hundred detentions and some form of corporal punishment every single day."

"Damn, Hun. When did you finally start learning your lessons?"

". . . I noticed an dramatic increase in good behavior from me as soon as my mom was diagnosed with cancer. That shit'll change ya." Red said.

"What kind of things would you do in class that for you in trouble?"

"Talk back, be cocky, instigate fights, be vulgar, drinking and smoking during class, doing donuts in the parking lot, swear, make rude gestures, vandalize, I'd talk all the time, not do my work, hit on girls. Got caught making out with several girls before and during classes . . . I was kind of a jack ass too. I'd pick on the people below me on the 'food chain', as you'd call it."

"I bet everyone hated you."

"Some did, most agreed and tagged along with my misconducts." Red said.

"Jesus, I hope our daughter inherits my good behavior." Leslie prayed. Red laughed.

"I will never send her to public school so you don't have to worry about that. She'll be home schooled." Red sat up.

"I have a question." Leslie said.

"Mm?"

"What does '_dju_' mean? Your grandma keeps calling you that." Red smirked.

"It's the Irken-Aboriginal word grandparents use to describe their offspring's offspring. It means 'naughty boy'. The variant is 'naughty girl' or '_dja_' in Irkenirakee, our tribes official dialect." Red said.

"Ah. Now it all makes sense. I thought it was an insult."

"It's not far from being an insult." Leslie poured some peroxide on the burns. Red clamped his jaw shut.

"Stings doesn't it? That's what you get for being stupid."

"This wasn't even my fault." Red said. "I didn't see the wire tangled around my legs."

"Your fault for failing to see that." Leslie grinned when she saw Red pout. She kissed his cheek. "I'm just kidding. You're not stupid. You're advanced." Red chuckled as she quoted the show.

"Damn right I am."

**June 7, 2001**

ZIM peaked in the closet of his brother's room where he grew up in. Nothing inside it besides a plastic box and a few old magazines. Curious, the exploring ZIM walked into the big closet to see what was in the box. He knelt by the steel thing and opened the lid. Peering inside he saw a bunch of organized papers and documents all in folders. ZIM browsed through the material until he saw something eye catching. A folder simply labeled, 'pictures'. ZIM pulled the folder out and opened it. Inside there were envelops. He took the first envelop he saw and opened it pulling out the glossy pictures inside. His eyes widened.

He never saw a picture of his brother when he was younger until now. On the back of the first picture he saw was Red's handwriting. It said, '1979'. ZIM flipped it back over and looked at the picture again. Red was ten in this shot. And he and ZIM looked almost exactly alike. What really shocked ZIM was to see just how short Red was when he was young. He had to be at least three foot tall. Red was next to a Vortian that ZIM knew as Lard Nar. A man he met at Red's wedding. They were the same height in the picture and they were in front of what looks to be a giant straw bale, smiling widely. Red with his signature 'dorky smile' that he uses to annoy people. Lard Nar with a nicer smile.

ZIM grinned. Red was going to hang out with Lard Nar today. Red often spoke of all the good times they've had together. They'd surf and wrangle all the time. But their most favorite pastime was hunting kangaroos and dear. Those pests often ate their crop. ZIM looked at all the pictures. A lot of Red and his sisters when they were younger having fun and goofing off. Pictures of Red in sports, lacrosse, water polo, bull riding, soccer, cricket, and . . . basketball. ZIM scoffed.

"I knew it!" ZIM hissed to himself. "He tells me he never played, but he did . . . I knew it." ZIM looked through the box again and pulled out a document. It was laminated and looked important so he was careful with it. ZIM inspected it thoroughly. It took him awhile to realize that it was a birth certificate. ZIM looked at the name and didn't recognize it except the last and part of the middle name. The name read, Kelly Eliasetto MaCale.

"What are you doing in here-" The owner of the voice started then gasped. ZIM turned around to see Red. The man briskly walked over to ZIM and snatched the paper from his hands. "What are you doing with this? This is confidential stuff!"

"It's a birth certificate, Red." ZIM rolled his eyes, standing up and reaching for the paper again. "It had a girl's name on it. I don't know who she is though but she has our last name . . . Only the weird thing about it is that they capitalized the 'C'." Red's cheeks burned a bright pink. "Who is she? A cousin of ours? A sister I never knew we had? An aunt?" Red's eyes narrowed at the boy, lips pursed tightly not very amused. ZIM was suddenly struck with realization. "Oooh . . ." The boy smiled evilly. "I see." ZIM walked past Red to leave the closet. "_Sooo_ tell me, Kelly, does Leslie know your real name?"

"ZIM, that's not even my real name anymore. I got it legally changed when I was six-"

"It's your birth name though, and you can never change that." ZIM winked. Red sighed, exasperatedly, pressing his palm to his face.

"Listen here, lofty. I'm extremely embarrassed of that name, okay? So please don't go around telling people-" ZIM bolted out of the room, yelling as he did.

"Leslie! Guess what?" Red gasped then darted after ZIM.

"Zeiden! Don't you dare!" Red chased the boy down the steps and into the kitchen where his wife was talking to Red's cousin, Dural and his wife. Red was about to scream at ZIM, but ZIM already got Leslie's attention. Red jumped ZIM and picked the boy up. Slamming his hand over ZIM's mouth and quickly retreating into the living room. All the while, confused gazes were fixed upon the two crazy brothers.

"Red . . . What are you doing?" Leslie asked, following Red into the living room. ZIM was yelling something from underneath Red's hand.

"Nothing!" Red snapped. "Don't worry about it- Guh! You animal!" Red screeched when he felt ZIM's sharp canine teeth bite the flesh on his hand hard. As soon as ZIM's mouth was free, ZIM started speaking a mile a minute to get the words out before Red shut him up again.

"I was looking through his closet and I found a box with a bunch of documents and papers and pictures and stuff in it, all from Red's childhood and such! I found this birth certificate with an unfamiliar first name in it, and do you know what it said? I'll tell ya! It said, Kelly Eliasetto MaCale! That's my last name only the 'C' was capitalized for reasons unknown, but that's not the funny part! The funny part is Kelly used to be Red's name! Isn't that hilarious? What a dork!" ZIM laughed uproariously. Red growled then pushed ZIM brutally from behind. He was sent sprawling to the floor, still laughing, unfazed by the rude gesture. Red's cheeks grew pink again. Leslie just stared at him, awestruck.

"Kelly . . . Eliasetto?" She repeated the name. Red frowned, deeply, wanting to run before she too, made fun of him. "That used to be your name?"

"Well . . . my middle name still is Eliasetto . . . I just don't like how Italian it sounds so I shortened it." Red admitted. Leslie snorted then laughed with ZIM.

"My God! That is so cute!" Leslie chirped, cupping her husband's face and kissing him between the eyes. "Why didn't you keep that name? It's adorable!"

"Because his parents kept calling him Red." Dural said joining the group. Dural smirked at the distressed Red. "He looked like our great papa Red. A Jewish man who migrated from Damietta, Egypt because at that time, Egypt's government was shutting down all the synagogues. So for religious freedom he traveled to Port Elizabeth, South Africa then sailed across the sea settling here and helped our aboriginal great nana start up this boomin' business ranch. He was a great man and Red is proud to be named after him . . . That is, of course, _after _his parents changed his legal name."

"Thanks for the family history lesson." Red mumbled. "But that story doesn't matter because ZIM here couldn't just keep his damn mouth shut on what my original name was." Leslie cooed.

"Aww, don't be so sour." She pinched his cheek. "I think it's precious. Kelly _is _a unisex name. Mine is too." Red shook his head.

"ZIM what were you doing looking through my things anyway?" ZIM shrugged.

"Bored and wanted to explore a bit- Hey! Why was the 'C' in our surname capital?" Red plopped down on a seat in the room.

"It's always capital. We just never wrote it like that. Too lazy and too forgetful to capitalize it, I guess. Quite frankly, our family could care less on what we do with that 'C'." A knock came from the front door. "Go answer that, Dural?" The older cousin ruffled Red's antenna and went to get the door. Red brushed back his antenna as Leslie sat in his lap.

"I think I may just call you Kelly from now on." She teased.

"Please don't." Red whined. "Not even Tenn and Zee know about that name. If they find out then they'd give me a hard time too."

"Oh honey, I think it's Peder you have to worry about if you're concerned about having a hard time with the mocking of your name." Red shook his head.

"It's not my name." Red yelped when his head was suddenly tugged back by his antenna. He moaned in pain at the pounding hurt that now emitted from his hearing receptors. He pushed Leslie off and jumped up to face the fight instigator. "You jackass."

"Cool it, Red. You're always such a hot head." Lard Nar said.

"You mean, Kelly." ZIM corrected. The Vortian gave Red a sly grin.

"They found out about Kelly?" He asked, chuckling. Red punched his friend hard in the arm. "Ouch! Keep hitting me! I'll impale you with my horns!"

"Keep harassing me! I'll sic my little brother on you!" Red retorted. Lard Nar looked from Red to ZIM sitting on the floor.

"What's he gonna do?" The Vortian challenged. Red rolled his eyes.

"Git 'em, ZIM." The boy beamed running up to Lard Nar and embracing the tall man, talking as he did.

"This is Red's subtle way of saying he doesn't like you anymore so you should leave before you get annoyed! Chances are you're already annoyed that I'm hugging you without permission! That's called sexual harassment! I'm sexually harassing you! How does that make you feel? I could be put on the sex offenders list if you report me! But you wouldn't do that because at any possible chance, I know you'd sexually harass me too because I'm so damn sexy! C'mon! Admit it! You have a crush on a little Irken boy! Aww! What would yo' mama say? That's gross! You should be ashamed of yourself for pedophilia and unrequited affection, you rapist! Leave me now! Leave and tell your mama you like little boys and that you're going to leave your wife and go after the vulnerable thirteen year old Jewish boys!" Lard Nar didn't know what to say. He looked at Red pleadingly.

"Please . . . Make it stop." Red shook his head.

"This is what you get for your assholery."

**Later**

"Right then. Whoever wins this competition must buy lunch for us all." Red said. Lard Nar just smirked, confident in himself.

"Okay. Who's going to judge this surfing competition then?"

"ZIM and my sisters." Red waxed his board down as he spoke. "You can go first. Then I'll go. I'm a little rusty because I haven't surfed in a long time being pregnant and all."

"Mm. That's you're excuse." Lard Nar quipped.

"You try being pregnant once! It sucks!" Red snapped.

"Only Vortian women get pregnant, mate." Red didn't say anything. He just glared at his friend.

"Don't worry," Red finally said. "You'll look like you are in five to ten years from the way you drink beer." Lard Nar scowled at the subtle joke. Then without another word, he picked up his board and went to the edge of the water and started out to sea to catch a wave. Red watched him as he went out.

"There's a lot of cyclops waves out there." ZIM pointed out. "You sure it's safe to surf?"

"Zeiden, I rode a cyclops and even a huge pipeline before. I think I'll be fine."

"Yes but . . . cyclops are dangerous-"

"Just relax. Both Lard Nar and I will be fine. Now watch him. You're supposed to be judging."

"You yelled at me for surfing a cyclo-"

"Sush and watch him!" Red told ZIM. ZIM frowned, turning his attention back to Red's Vortian friend. Lard Nar was already out to where the waves at started to break. The Irkens on shore judged as Lard Nar stood up in his board and shred his wave. Doing impressive moves all the way and even managing to ride a wave like it was a half pipe.

"He's good." ZIM said. "But I could beat him any day."

"The point is for _me _to beat him ZIM. Not you." Red said, picking up his board and wading out to sea as Lard Nar came in.

"Good luck." The Vortian said to his friend as the passed each other.

"Sweetie, I don't need luck." Red teased, winking at his childhood friend.

**...**

"Okay, since my siblings suck at judging, we're going to do another competition." Red said.

"They don't suck at judging, Red. You're just ill tempered because you lost." Lard Nar said. ZIM only nodded. Purple was beside ZIM also agreeing. The rest of the family kept their distance sitting on bleachers outside of the caged in dirt arena at Red's family's ranch.

"Shut it. So this next one is one I'll surely not loose." Red said snootily. "Wrangling. Whoever wrangles their calf the fastest wins this round-"

"Hold it!" Red started at the call. He looked back to the bleachers where his family sat. Leslie was the one who spoke.

"Here's the deal, this is the last competition of the day. If Lard Nar wins, Red will buy lunch. If Red wins then it ends in a tie and ZIM gets to decide your fates if there is no victor in the end." ZIM beamed.

"Awesome!" ZIM squeaked. Red narrowed his eyes.

"Fine." Red grumbled. "We won't be tracking milliseconds for the wrangling." Red warned his friend. He walked to the pen where his calf and horse was. "When I give you my mark, open the gate and let the timer begin." Red hoped over the gate and mounted his horse, preparing his lasso. Red got ready for what was next. He gave Purple a curt nod. That was his sign to swing open the gate and let the calf run amuck the arena. Red made a kissing sound, digging his stirrups into the horses side, as he leaned forward. The horse immediately bolted after the calf. Red got his lasso and swung it over his head as the horse approached the calf. He threw the lasso's loop and it landed perfectly around the calf's neck. "Whoa!" The horse stopped abruptly, the rope pulling and the calf falling back from it's restraint. Red jumped off the horse as fast as he could and started to tie up the downed calf's limbs. Once the knots were secure, he stood up and lifted his felt cowboy hat off his head, waving it a bit to signal he was done. Tenn looked at the time.

"Fifteen seconds!" She told him. Red smirked. Lard Nar looked defeated already.

"What's the matter? Just get it done under fifteen seconds. That's all you have to do."

"Whatever, mate." Lard Nar walked over to the gate and mounted the other horse there. In the mean time Red cut the calf he roped free. He then climbed the gate and sat on top of it to watch the Vortian go through his run. The Irken laughed when his friend wasn't even able to lasso the calf. Red grinned. He had won. Leslie tsked from the bleachers.

"Such a shame." She said standing with the rest of the girls. "We're going home as ZIM decides what you two have to do."

"What? What do you mean? I won! We didn't tie." Red said. Leslie turned to him.

"You tied the competitions. Lard Nar won surfing, you won roping." Leslie said. She then pointed to ZIM. The boy looked like he already had an evil scheme in mind for the two men. "Good luck with whatever he gives you." Red bit his lip, warily eyeing his little brother.

"Whatever it is, ZIM . . . you better hope you can out run me."

**...**

Lard Nar covered himself up as best as he could, Red merely had his arms crossed and was glaring daggers at ZIM. The boy was cracking up.

"Oh my God! Leslie has to see this!" ZIM cried. Purple had an amused smile.

"You look good in her panties, Red." The other older Irken quipped. Red shifted his glare toward Purple.

"Shut. The fuck. Up." He hissed. Red couldn't believe it. Forced to put on a pair of his wife's bright pink, lacy lingerie and run around town wearing nothing but. Lard Nar was at least lucky to get to run around in stained tighty whities that they found at a thrift shop. "I'm not getting out of the truck." Red mumbled.

"You have to. You can't break a deal, mate!" ZIM urged him. "Leslie and the girls just showed up." ZIM pointed across the parking lot where they were in front of the town's library to Leslie's car. The girls got out and waited for the boys to emerge next. Red sighed exasperatedly.

"We're going to get arrested." Red whimpered. Lard Nar said nothing. A thick blush plastered his face. "Let's just get this over with." Red opened the door and slid out. He started flushing too when he saw the girls kneel over laughing. Leslie especially was amused. They were at a relatively deserted part of town for now, but soon they'd be walking down Main Street in nothing but under garbs. Red just hoped he didn't run into any family members while there. They wouldn't be too impressed. Red shuddered and without a word, started his walk around town. Lard Nar beside him.

"Dude, this is like the time when we were in high school and you got suspended for streaking across the school yard." Lard Nar said. Red frowned.

"I was dumb then . . . and now apparently." Red mumbled. "I was lucky not to be put on the sex offenders list for that."

"We'll be lucky if we don't get put on the sex offenders list for this." The two ducked down into an ally way and made their way to the other end of the ally. Everyone else followed behind them, watching as they were about to run down the streets of the busy streets of downtown Kununurra.

"You ready for this?" Red looked at his friend. Lard Nar nodded. Then, at the same time, the two buddies bolted from the ally way and ran down the busy side walks, grabbing the attention of the public as they did so. Red's family watched laughing all the while, being sure to get the whole ordeal on tape. Red smiled big, waving his arms wildly, acting shameless. Lard Nar was a bit more timid but nonetheless followed his friend's lead. Mother's gave them disgusted looks, covering their children's eyes as they ran about. The elderly just shook their heads at, 'today's generation'. And the teenagers hanging around pointed and laughed uproariously. Red shuddered at all the attention but continued to skip merrily down the street and sidewalk. Occasionally he'd do a stunt, jumping on a bus stop bench the flipping off it, swinging from decorative city tree branches and twirling about. Leslie and ZIM made sure to follow a short distance behind to watch. ZIM had his Imp out getting it all on video.

"Better run fast, Red! You're approaching city hall!" ZIM warned. Red groaned. He already saw a police officer standing outside the hall, leaning against the building. Lard Nar stopped dead in his tracks right in front of Red. The Irken went crashing right into his back.

"Why'd you stop?" Red asked. Lard Nar pointed to the cop.

"Isn't that Charity?" Red squinted in the sunlight to inspect the cop better from fifty feet away.

"Oh my God, it is."

"Who?" Leslie asked, still hanging back so people wouldn't think that she's with them.

"My ex girlfriend." Red grumbled. Lard Nar grinned.

"Mate . . . I dare you to hug her." Red scowled.

"What? No! Especially not like this!" Red snapped.

"Do it! I dared you, you gotta do it!" Lard Nar pushed Red toward the woman cop. Red stood frozen. He then sighed. He already embarrassed himself to the point his dignity would be forever dented. One little hug wouldn't make much of a difference. Red took off in a run, going straight towards the women. She was looking away when he got to her and threw his arms around her. The woman screamed, being caught off guard. Her elbow went flying back, catching Red right in the abdomen. She then turned around, pulling out her gun, aiming it then pulling the trigger. An electric shock coursed through Red's body. He yelped, crumpling to the concrete ground, shaking from the shock. Drool flowing from his mouth. He coughed, trying to choke out words but nothing but spit came out.

"Jesus!" The cop said, releasing the trigger. She knelt down beside the downed Irken and pulled out the electric conducting end from his chest where it hit him. Red laid twitching on the path. "Red, what the hell?" The officer yelled. Everyone rushed to the scene. ZIM and Leslie kneeling beside Red to check if he was alright. "What was he trying to do?" She asked, looking at Lard Nar. Her wide eyes drooped when he saw him. "Oooh. I see. You put him up to this, didn't you?" The Vortian smiled, sheepishly. The officer rolled her eyes, squatting by Red's side. "Still the dumbass I used to love, eh?" Red moaned in response. Leslie gawked at her.

"You shot my husband!" She exclaimed. The cop raised a brow.

"You married him?" She asked. "Damn, I never though he'd settle down enough for a wife." Leslie looked back down to Red. He was still shaking. "Uhh . . . I always knew he was a wildcard but . . . do you mind telling me why he was running around town wearing ladies underwear?"

"Well . . . You know what? You don't want to know." Leslie said, patting her groaning husband's head. "Are you alright, sweetheart?" Red opened his eyes, tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Snn, mmm, shheee huuurrrt meee." Red whined. "Th-this is the seconnnd sh-shock th-this week." Leslie shook her head.

"Yeah. You're fine." She helped him sit up straight. His being vibrated uncontrollably. He covered himself up as best as he could, now embarrassed beyond comprehension. "You two dated?"

"Yup. For a few months. That's usually how long any of his relationships last." She said. "Name's Charity, by the way. It's nice to see that Red has finally stuck with one woman . . . Unless of course he's cheating on you like he did me." She added bitterly. "Kinda feels good pulling my taser on him." Leslie couldn't help but chuckle.

"He cheated on you?"

"Yeah . . . with two other women." Charity shook her head. "He was the infamous player in our high school. Never went without a girlfriend. I was surprised that he kept his virginity up until his wedding night . . . right?" Leslie nodded. "You're lucky I didn't pepper spray you, Red."

"You tased me!" Red moaned from his sitting position on the ground.

"It's for self defense and to get idiots like you to behave." Charity said. Leslie smirked.

"Where can I buy one of those tasers?"

**Later**

Red was still jittery from the intense shock earlier. He sat in his chair at the restaurant -now fully clothed- shaking. His wife beside him soothing him as best as she could, running her hand up and down his back. What made matters worse, Leslie invited his ex to go out with them for lunch. Apparently Leslie was highly interested in how Red used to date when he was younger. It made him uncomfortable. His wife conversing with one of his exes. As far as Red was concerned, Charity was one of his worst breakups. When they did split, Red made a mental note to never ever cheat on another woman ever again . . . _ever_.

"That's when he told Mr. Ericson, 'You smell like a dirty twat'. Oh my God! You should've seen the look on Ericson's face when Red said that! Oh lord, Red's ass never felt the same after the smacking our teacher gave him . . . That was before we went out. I don't know why I agreed to after all his misdemeanors." Leslie laughed with Charity. Red sat sourly as his ex proceeded to tell yet another story about Red's high school life. "Ahh, yes. Red was infamous in our high school. He only stayed for about a year until he got expelled for . . . What did you get expelled for again, Red?" The Irken bowed his head looking at his lap.

"Kissing the principal." Red mumbled. Leslie gave Red and inquiring look.

"You kissed her?" She asked to be sure she heard correctly.

"I kiss _him_." Red corrected. "And I only did it because he said that I was kissing up to him! Then I said, 'No, this is kissing up to you!' and I gave him a nice kiss . . . on the lips. I meant well by it."

"Red you hated that man so much. You kissed him because you wanted to embarrass him . . . and you succeeded." Charity pointed out.

"What? So you just kissed people you didn't like?" Leslie asked. Red just scowled again. He turned his attention to ZIM sitting on his other side.

"I'm annoyed." Red mumbled.

"I'm enjoying your humiliation." ZIM said, happily. His eyes glued to Charity. "Damn, she's pretty. Do you have a thing for girls with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes because you dated a lot of girls with those features. Leslie and Charity included." Red cocked a brow.

"How many exes of mine have you met?" Red asked, lifting his coffee cup to his lips for a drink.

"Tenn showed me another on of your exes when you were running around downtown. She was at a shoppé. Red-brown hair and blue eyes, like I said. Tenn said that her name was Adelaide." Red choked in his coffee, dropping the mug on the table, spilling the contents everywhere in the process. ZIM looked shocked at Red's sudden fright.

"Sh-she didn't see me, right?" Red asked. ZIM rolled his eyes.

"Well of course she saw you. Everyone saw you running around downtown in just your wife's underwear. When you got tased, that created a big commotion. A lot of laughter too . . . Wait. Why do you care if your ex saw you or not?" Red got closer to ZIM's face, hissing at the younger Irken.

"Adelaide was a psychopath! We dated for about a month and the whole time I felt uncomfortable with her. She was and still is obsessed. I had to change my phone number because she kept calling. I caught her peaking through my window late at night when I was trying to sleep. Oh, oh! And once she walked into the bathing room when I was showering and just sat on the vanity until I came out!" Red shuddered. "If she saw me, she's probably stalking me right now." ZIM's eyes went wide, shifting left and right. He then pointed his thumb behind Red in an awkward manner.

"Umm . . ." ZIM gulped. Red looked behind him to see where ZIM was indicating. The man's jaw nearly dropped when he saw his ex sitting alone a few tables down, staring at him. Red made eye contact with the girl. Not wanting to be rude, he smiled sheepishly at her and gave her a slight wave. The woman beamed at this, jumping up from her table and coming over to where he was. Red turned around and started to pray silently.

"Oh Yahweh, deliver me from evil. God . . . What did I do to deserve this?"

"I think you may be over exaggerating. She doesn't seem that-"

"Reddy-kins!" Red nearly jumped through the roof when he felt two hands clamp done one both of his shoulders. This caught everyone's attention at the table. Leslie tilted her head curiously. Charity smirked at Red's ongoing misfortune.

"Adelaide! Haven't seen you in awhile." She said, then turned to Leslie to fill her in on why Red was shaking with terror by this girl. Red cleared his throat when he heard Lard Nar snicker to himself.

"Hey, Addy. It's nice to see you again." Red lied. "How long has it been? Twenty years?" The new woman chuckled.

"It hasn't been that long. I've been counting the days since we last seen each other. It's been fifteen and a half years since you left to live in Alice Springs!" The outgoing lady pulled up a chair alongside Red. "We have a lot to catch up on, Reddy. Over a decade of not seeing each other!" Red frowned. Then an idea sprung in his head. He then pulled Leslie, on his other side, closer to him to drop a subtle hint. "You've become famous on Irk, I hear! That's exciting! And you're on a show here on earth with your adorable little brother." ZIM looked up from the opposite side of the table, wondering why he was brought up in their conversation. "And . . . Heh heh . . . I heard you got _married _too. And have a kid?" Adelaide's face twisted in a angry way, but a fake smile still plastered her features.

"Right! Have you met my wife?" Leslie smiled warmly at Adelaide.

"Hello, there." She said, politely. Adelaide didn't say anything.

"No, I haven't met Leslie Strud. Or your daughter Sapphira either." Red furrowed a brow.

"How do you know their names?" Red asked. Adelaide looked at him funny.

"Reddy, I know everything about you and your family." She said, smiling even wider. It was creeping Red out to great extents. Red turned his head so it was pressed up against the side of Leslie's head.

"This is why I broke up with her."

**That Night**

"Never thought I'd meet two of your exes."

"Mmhmm."

"In the same day too."

"Mmhmm."

"And one of them tased you! Ya must've screw up real bad with her."

"Mmhmm."

"And the other is a total nutcase! Hah! She made my day!"

"Mmhmm."

"Ugh. You're not much of a conversation tonight."

"Mmhmm."

". . . Is that Adelaide peaking through our window?" Red sat straight up from his bed yelping.

"Augh! Where? Where is she?" Red looked around with bewilderment when he saw nothing. He glared at his wife who looked amused. "Les, that's not funny! That gal literally gave me nightmares for weeks after we broke up!" Leslie just cooed at his edgy state, running a hand down his shoulders to his lower back and keeping it there as he buried his face into his hands. "Today was an awful day. I almost got arrested! . . . Again. Faced public humiliation. I lost a surfing contest . . . and to Lard Nar! Of all people!" Red collapsed back down to his mattress. "And now, my front teeth hurt for no reason at all." Leslie laid next to him, resting her head on his bare chest and stroking his smooth skin with her hand.

"Aww, baby. You just need to sleep it off."

"I feel like Charity thinks I haven't grown up at all since I left this town."

"Why do you care what she thinks? You two obviously don't care for each other very much anymore . . . Especially since you cheated on her." Leslie said, not sounding very impressed at all. Red groaned.

"That was a one time thing. I felt awful after it."

"You better have. I can't believe how lousy of a boyfriend you were to all the girls you dated. How many more do you think I'll meet while I'm here?" Red covered his face with his hands.

"With my luck, all of them."

"How many is all of them?"

"I lost count after my twentieth girlfriend." Leslie pursed her lips, sitting up in their bed. She looked down at her husband. Red gazed at her. "What?"

"It's a miracle that you didn't loose your virginity up until we got married." Red grinned.

"Staying abstinent was something I could always be proud of." A shrill cry of a smeet rang in their ears. Red groaned, sitting up. "I'll get her." He said as he pulled himself out of bed. He climbed the stairs then walked down the hall until he got to the room where ZIM and his smeet shared. Red flicked on the lights, not surprised in the least to see that ZIM was sleeping through the wailing of the infant. Red walked over to the crib and picked up his daughter in his arms, cradling her up to him.

"What are you doing in here?" Red looked back, seeing ZIM rubbing his eyes.

"She's crying, deaf one." ZIM just grunted and got out of his bed, trudging from the room and down the hall for whatever reason. Red turned his attention back to Sapphira. Her little hands reaching up to his face. "Shh, child. Your daddy's here." Red whispered, planting a sweet kiss on her head. Red closed his eyes when he felt arms encircle his waist and a hand lean on his shoulder. His wife's voice serenaded his antenna.

"You _have _grown up since you left, Red."

* * *

><p><strong>Hey! What's the date this chapter was published? Hmm. March 27 . . . Gasp! You guys! Guess what? IT'S RED'S BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RED! YOU'D BE TURNING 44 THIS YEAR! . . . How exciting.<br>**

**Long and eventful is two good words to describe this chapter. Let's see, what all happened. Hmmm, Well, ZIM died for thirty seconds and was clinically (still probably is) depressed in the aftermath. Red has his smeet! Daughter Sapphira! Everyone welkom her. (yaaay) They meet up with their extended family in Kununurra, Western Australia. (Yes. It's a real place.) **Lard Nar finally gets a speaking role! **We also discover Red was a total playa, u**nbeknownst to Leslie.** . . . and he looks good in his wife's panties, apparently! Purple is forever silly. Dib is a caring friend and tries his hardest to please everyone. Gaz seems to never be mentioned, shame on me. And we all learned that Kelly is a pretty name for a boy. :P Oh, and what was with that whole, 'Let's get married' thing, Tak? You being for real? Guess we'll find out. **

**Thumbs up for Red getting an electrical shock twice within the same week! Whoo! He's on a role! Can we break that record now?**

**Question Time!**

**Who do you want to see more of in this story? Canon character wise, because, like I said, I hate OCs. **

**Fun Fact!**

**I have a lot of behind the scenes stories brewing in my mind right now. So updates may take longer now than necessary. But I promise, when I do upload these new stories, I almost guarantee satisfaction from my readers . . . hopefully.**

**Long live Purple and his disability to look at another grown man's crotch! (Odd note to end on. But I'm pleased with how long this chapter is.)**

**Mikki Warner Loves You!**


	22. Voices

**I bet a few of you guys want to know what Leslie looks like. Or maybe you just want to put a name to a face. Well now you can because a young lady named **_**karflo707**_ **on **_**deviantart**_ **drew a lovely picture of her! Go visit her profile, check out her works. Leave a comment under Leslie's picture if you feel so inclined. I did! You absolutely must see her! She looks so young and adorable! I may also put a link on my **_**fanfiction**_ **profile. Go now . . . or after you read this chapter! All of you will go though! Make it happen!  
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><p><strong>June 8, 2001<strong>

"What ya doin' now, mate?" ZIM looked back to see Red standing in the doorway of the closet ZIM was been hiding in for the past hour, looking through that same box from yesterday. "You already found out what my birth name was, there's not much more in there that'd fascinate you." ZIM shook his head, going back to rummaging through the box.

"I'm looking at the pictures and notebooks in here. Everything you've kept from your childhood. You even have some home videos here." ZIM held up some discs. "I'd like to see them if you don't mind?" Red inspected the title of the disc ZIM was holding up. Written in Irken it read, '1975-1978'. Red stood there for a few moments then nodded. He motioned ZIM to follow him. Happy, the boy picked up the box and walked out of the room and to the living room where only a few family members were gathered conversing. Red started the disc player and popped the disc in.

"Everybody, shut up. We're having family time." Red said, then backed up to sit on the couch next to ZIM. Confused, the others silenced themselves and watched as the video started right away. The camera was being held by a shaky hand and a young boy. The picture focused on a young smeet on the back of a massive horse.

"_Red, your mom is gonna kill you twice if she sees you on the Clydesdale._" Came the boy's voice. "_Those things are made for power, not riding._" Red shrugged.

"_I think you worry too much, Dural. You just need to learn how to cut loose a bit._" Red's youth voice sounded just like ZIM's. It was a wonder how many traits the two brothers shared.

"_I think you just need to learn how to grow a brain._" Muttered Red's cousin. Red glared at the boy.

"_I don't appreciate those saucy retorts coming out of your mouth, coz._" Red bumped his spurs into the side of the horse and made a kissing noise. The horse immediately started to walk. "_My mum don't scare me anyhow._"

"_You're full of shit! You started crying yesterday because she gave you the stink eye._" Red didn't say anything. He just commanded the horse left. Dural sighed heavily, getting annoyed with his stubborn younger cousin. He then snickered with a scheme that came to mind. "_Oh my God! Red your mom is coming!_" Red yelped from on top of the horse, then clumsily flung himself off from the back of the Clydesdale. He landed on the ground with a hard _thud_. Red groaned, painfully. His body sprawled on the dirt ground. Dural gasped. "_Shit!_" The camera shook as Dural started running to Red's side. "_Are you okay?_" The video cut off. Everyone looked to Red.

"Yeah. I broke my arm that day." ZIM snickered.

"Now I see that accident proneness runs in the family." Red snorted.

"See, that's funny because on that same day, mom broke her middle finger trying to put her horse's tack away."

"Mom always seemed to break her fingers." Zee observed. "She either had osteoporosis in her fingers or she was never careful with her hands." Another clip sputtered to life. The camera was zoomed in on two adult. Male and female. It appeared that the one holding the camera was hiding behind a wall.

"_Zeiden, he's just a child!_"

"_I know that! But he's got a talent, Mio._"

"_Zeiden Macale, I don't want to hear this. Our son is not gonna be a bull rider!_"

"_Why not?_"

"_Why not? Don't be stupid! He's only ten!_"

"_A _talented _ten year old._" The camera panned over to who was hiding behind the wall. The camera went out and in, then focused on Red's face. He looked at the camera holder.

"_Mate, my mom is flippin' shit. She's not gonna let me ride._"

"_Does she know that you already ridden before?_" It was Dural again. Red shook his head. A Vortian's voice was heard from behind the cameraman.

"_Oh man, when she finds out, she'll pop ya._"

"_Belt up, Lard._" Red hissed, then went back to eavesdropping to what his dad said next.

"_He already rode before-_"

"_He what- Red Eliasetto Macale! Get your ass over here right now!_" Lard Nar and Dural started snickering at Red's sudden misfortune.

"_Aw, fuck my life. Stop laughin' at me!_" The video stopped there. Red shook his head.

"What you guys didn't see was our mum screaming at me."

"Then what happened?" Zee asked.

"Nana came in and backed her up. Even though she encouraged me to ride." Red mumbled. "And then she gave me the hardest chores on the ranch. Cleaning up the cow shit in the milking parlour and baling hay."

"How about when she slapped yer mouth when you talked back at her in front of me and Dural?" Red rolled his eyes at his friend's voice.

"Lard, don't you have a house of your own? Why aren't you living there?" Lard Nar chuckled and sat next to his long time friend.

"I still work here, dumbass."

"You're fired."

"I'll talk to your nana about firing me and she'll pop ya in the jaw again. Just like the good ole' days." Lard Nar scratched his horn and sighed heavily. "Mate, ever since you got here, Adelaide has been following me around asking all about you. How long is Red staying? How's Red's sex life? Has he moved or is he still living on the ranch? Where can I meet him right now?" Red scowled getting up to tend to the T.V. and put another disc in.

"She really asked about my sex life?" Red asked. Lard nodded.

"Tell her that its great and that he gets it on every night." Leslie told Lard Nar. "Maybe that'll make her back off a bit."

"Or try harder to get me to like her." Red sat next to Leslie again as the screen fuzzed.

"What's the relevance of watching these? Half of these home videos me and Dural filmed of you are all about you getting in trouble or doing something stupid."

"ZIM took a sudden fascination in my mostly secret past." Red said. ZIM smiled, cheekily but said nothing.

"Well sure. If I were him, I'd be wondering about who you really are too." Lard Nar said. "I mean, c'mon, you never told him your birth name, you never told him you rode bulls until, what? A year or two ago? Has he found out about your piercings?" ZIM's antenna shot straight, he gave Red the most horrible glare he could muster.

"Piercings?" ZIM shouted. Red buried his face in his hands.

"Good on ya, Lardy! Now he found out about that . . . Asshole." Lard Nar laughed.

"Sure, ZIM. He used to pierce his own body by using cow tag piercers. He once had a piercing on his brow and lip and even his tongue!" Even Leslie looked a bit disappointed at her husband.

"Yes, but they're all closed up now, so it doesn't matter." Red glanced at ZIM. His face was a cross between astonished and accusing.

"You. Are. The absolute _biggest _hypocrite I know." ZIM hissed.

"I thought you said your ass piercing wasn't closed up yet." Lard wondered.

"I didn't get a piercing on my ass!" Red snapped.

"Oh yeah! That's right! It was a tattoo on your ass!" Leslie cocked a brow.

"You had another tattoo?"

"I removed it! Christ! Nar, get back to work!" Red yelled. His friend laughed uproariously and skipped out of the house. "Yahweh have mercy on my soul, that bloke is annoying as shit."

"You had a tattoo on your ass?" Leslie asked, still in disbelief.

"It was kinda on my ass kinda on my lower back. I took a knife to it and cut if off bit by bit." Red muttered.

"What was it of?" She asked. Zee snickered.

"I remember that tattoo. You told me not to tell mom. He got a tattoo of a aboriginal symbol of the sun."

"Yeah. Remember how you told mum anyway?" Zee smiled.

"I was a tattletale."

"Yeah, and I hated you growing up. Every time I did something you'd have to go crying to mum." Zee just crossed her arms.

"You deserved every punishment you got, sir."

"Let's play this next video. I wanna see what else Red is hiding from me." Leslie said.

"Nothing I swear!" Red pleaded. Leslie shushed him as the next clip played. This video dating to 1988. ZIM's birth year.

Red put in another disc upon discovering that the one they were watching was done. The screen fuzzed to life with yet another video. The video started with the camera zoomed in on a smeet's sleeping face in a pair of strong arms. The camera panned out to reveal Red the one holding said smeet. He looked tired and depressed. His eyes were sunken in and his skin a sickly jaundice color. Red seemed as if he were about to nod off in the spot. He stood in the living room in the house they were currently in, looking off into space.

"_Can I hold him?_" Red looked up at Tenn who spoke. He nodded slowly, snapping out of his dozing. His voice was weak and his words were slurred.

"_Jus be careful wit 'im._"

"_I will be._" Red on the T.V. shifted the smeet so he was comfortably laying in young Tenn's arms. She sat on the sofa, touching faces with her new smeet brother. Red then turned to the camera holder who was apparently Zee.

"_Zannah, I don't know how much longer I can deal with this._"

"_Do you want me to stop recording?_" Zee asked off screen. Red shook his head.

"_This footage is a message to myself in the future. That is if I live longer than a few months from now_."

"_What are you talking about Red?_" Red on T.V. glanced back to Tenn and ZIM then walked toward Zee and grabbed her arm pulling her into a different room. "_What are you doing, Red?_" Zee sat on the chair in the home office. Red stared at the camera fiercely. He nearly looked deranged.

"_Zee, I have thoughts. Bad thoughts. Every night I wake up from nightmares. Ever since dad was taken away and mom was killed by that _beast _Tenn is holding in there, I've been loosing my mind._"

ZIM's jaw dropped, as did Red and the others in the room watching the video. Red from the past held out his hand and pinched his index finger and thumb close for emphasis.

"_I'm this close. This close to taking my life. I have night terrors! I can't sleep! I'm grieving! That monster killed mom! Now I have to deal with so much shit that I could tear my antenna off right now and bash my head into the corner of the desk! I want to die!_"

"_Red, stop talking that way! You're scaring me!_"

"You're _scared? What about me? I have to raise you, Tenn, and that no good smeet! I have to deal with-_"

"_Please, Red! Don't talk that way! I can't loose another family member._" Zee's voice wavered. ZIM watched, goosebumps forming on his arms.

"_I-I just can't. I can't handle this. I'm only twenty! I never asked for a smeet! I never asked for this unneeded shit happening right now! I can't do this all myself!_"

"_You won't need to deal with it by yourself, Red! Tenn and I are here!_" Red's face on the T.V. twisted with guilt and dismay. He turned away from the camera.

"_Zee, prop the camera on the desk and get out._"

"_Red . . . don't hurt yourself._"

"_Leave._" Was all Red replied with. With that, the camera shifted again and was set on the desk. The sound of footsteps followed by the office door closing. Red turned back to the camera, sitting down in the big, office chair, elbows resting on knees, head hanging low. He then looked up.

"_This is a suicide note._" He started. The Red watching the T.V. gave his wife a horrified look.

"I don't remember this." He whispered to her.

"_I know it's a selfish act. And I know it does more harm to my loved ones than good. But I also know it'll be my escape from this hell._" Red on the T.V. sat back. Few tears sliding down his cheeks. "_Everything is being taken away from me. My grandpa, my father, my mother, my peace and happiness. All these deaths are tearing me apart. I suppose the only way to stop this damnation is to take my wretched life. Zee, Tenn . . . I'm sorry I won't be there for you. Junior,_" Red's face turned bitter and angry. "_You may have taken away my mother, but that's okay, because I'll be seeing her again shortly again, anyway._" The room door bursted open. "_Zannah! I don't need you eavesdroppin'-_"

"_Red, I'm gonna get nana! You need help!_" The camera blurred as Zee grabbed it and darted out of the room.

"_Zannah! Stop! She can't know-_"

Red ripped the disc out of the player hurriedly. He then broke it in half. Red never wanted ZIM to see him in that state. His ugly state, where he practically went mad with stress, grief and depression once his parents were taken away from him and his whole life went crashing downward in a wild spiral. Red slowly turned back around to ZIM, silently sitting on the couch. Shocked. Simply shocked.

"Zeiden, I can explain that-"

"No need." ZIM stood and pushed past Red. A lone tear drop sliding down his soft, green cheek. "I knew you thought of me more of a hindrance. You hated me."

"ZIM, no. I love you. I always loved you." ZIM just shook his head and bolting from the room. Red made an attempt to grab ZIM's arm, unsuccessfully. "I was suicidal and crazy in that video, ZIM!" Red went to go after his kid brother, but someone grabbed his hand and pulled him backwards. He came face-to-face with his wife. "Leslie, please don't be mad. I don't ever remember recording that suicide video. I was sick and grieving and-" Leslie pressed her finger to his lips. Her face told him that she wasn't angry. But calm, cool, and collected.

"Hun, ZIM is going through exactly what you went through when your parents left. He somehow manages to pull off this fake smile everyday, when you and I both know he's stressed and depressed. And we know he's having harmful thoughts too." Red pouted pathetically. Antenna wilting. Leslie watched as her husband continued to loose energy until he was completely drained. Red lowered his head.

"What am I going to do? Give him antidepressants? He's already on enough medications. I've been on antidepressants since I was sixteen! It works but ever since, I've been having night terrors and visions of death and suicide. I don't want ZIM to have night terrors." Leslie nodded. She knew Red had chronic night terrors. Getting them once to twice a month. Sometimes they'd spike up to twice a week but only in a great while would that happen.

"Why didn't I stop the video earlier?" He asked himself.

"Because you don't remember that event. You were curious. You just forgot ZIM was in the room witnessing it too." Leslie put her hands on his cheeks. He wouldn't meet her gaze being too ashamed of the video. "Look at me." When Red didn't comply, Leslie placed two fingers under his chin and lifted his face to her's. "He needs help, Red. Before it's too late to fix it."

"He's already seeing a therapist twice a week. What else can I do?"

"Counsel him yourself. You know him better than any of us. He's you, Red. Just a miniature you." Red's eyes looked to the ground again.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that side of me." Leslie pulled him in for a hug.

"Babe, I understand." Leslie said. "I know what depression does to people. I know some people have it worse than others. And I know that both you and ZIM can benefit from having a long talk about it." Leslie pulled away and kissed his temple. "Find him before he hurts himself. Don't force him to do anything. Just be by him. You don't even have to talk. Company is enough." Red nodded.

"God, I'm such an idiot. If I just stopped it before I said all that shit-"

"You didn't know." Leslie assured him. "And you don't remember either. It's fine. Now, find ZIM." Red let out a long, shaky breath.

"How 'bout I give 'im a moment. I'm sure he doesn't wanna see me at the moment." Leslie looked past Red to Gaz, who sat on the stairs, witnessing their conversation.

"Gazelle, go find ZIM." Gaz didn't say anything. She just got up and silently left the house out to the hot Australian heat.

**Meanwhile**

_Monster. Beast. No good. Killer. Killer. Murderer of your own mother._

ZIM chanted these words in his head. Sitting on top of a cliff, overlooking the small town of Kununurra and in the distance, a mountain range similar to the one in Alice Springs. The sun was setting in the west to ZIM's back. He had his knees pulled up to his chest, arms wrapped around to comfort himself.

_Monster. Beast. No good. Killer. Killer. Murderer of your own mother. _

ZIM squeezed his eyes shut. Tears leaked from his eyes no matter how hard he tried to cut them off. "I knew it. I told them. I knew he always thought of me as a nuisance." ZIM muttered to himself.

"ZIM?" The Irken boy jumped at the sound of Gaz's voice. He looked behind him to see her climbing up on the rock he was perched upon.

"What do you want?"

"My mom just wanted me to keep you company." She said.

"She forced you to come?"

"No. I went willingly." Gaz told him. She sat closely next to him. "ZIM, we all love you. We really do. Red, what he said in that video, he was speaking out of anger. You know he loves you. He always did. But loosing someone can be stressful. Red didn't know who to blame. So he targeted you, only because she was pregnant with you. He forgot all about the cancer was what killed her. But since cancer isn't physical and you are, he got mad at you. Does that make sense?" ZIM didn't look at her. He kept his gaze fixed upon the darkening town. "Come home, ZIM."

"No." ZIM grunted. "Red will get mad at me for bolting."

"Red will be happy when you return." Gaz said. "Every time you come home from the studio or Irk he always smiles at you and welcomes you."

"And deep within his head he's thinkin', '_There's the beast that killed my mother_'." Gaz frowned.

"No, Zeiden. He'd never think that. Stop talking yourself down. It's just plunging you deeper into sorrow." ZIM didn't reply. Gaz put a hand on his back. "My parents didn't want me. As soon as I was born I was put up for adoption. My birth parents weren't fit to raise a child, being drug and alcohol abusers and all." Gaz said. "But on top of that, I was a mistake made by a teenage girl in her junior year of high school and some twenty-three year old dude."

"Screw them. You're lucky to have Leslie in your life."

"And you're lucky to have Red." ZIM pushed his face into his knees to hide his face.

"He has done a lot for me." ZIM muttered. "More than I ever asked for."

"You see? If he didn't love you he wouldn't of done things for you." ZIM sighed.

"Point taken."

"Will you walk home with me?" ZIM lifted his head.

"No. Not yet."

"Well then. I'll wait with you until you're ready."

"Could you . . . possibly leave me alone for now? I need time to think." Gaz shook her head.

"I'll leave you alone, but I'm not going to physically leave." Gaz said. "I'll keep my distance." ZIM nodded, not really in the mood to argue. Gaz leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Love you, _uncle_ ZIM." Gaz pulled his antenna playfully. ZIM cracked a smile and swatted her hand away. She slid off the rock giggling. ZIM turned his attention back to the town below.

**June 9, 2001**

"Remember when you got into trouble for heckling the principle? Hah! Or, or how 'bout the time when you tripped Mr. Ericsson while he was walking around our desks? Oh my lord! He was so pissed, he swatted your butt in front of the whole class!"

"Nar?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up." Red muttered, peering into the window of a shop. "We came downtown to get feed. Not to reminisce." Purple scoffed.

"Whatever, Red. You can shop. I wanna hear more." Lard Nar chuckled.

"People like to hear our old stories." The Vortian said, nudging Red playfully. "And I can't believe you kept so many secrets from them."

"I kept them secret for a reason, dumbass!" Red snapped. "And you had to go ahead and reveal even more secrets of mine."

"Hey, it was your little brother who discovered your birth name was Kelly. I had nothing to do with it." Red rolled his eyes.

"Yes but you told them about the tattoo and piercings."

"Meh. Your wife didn't seem to care too much. If anything, little Zeiden seemed most upset." Lard Nar pointed out. The Vortian's eyes traveled from Red to a girl across the street. "And not to alarm you or anything, but I do believe I see Adelaide on the other side of the road." Red jumped at that. His head jerking left and right.

"Where?" He demanded. Lard Nar pointed in the direction of the woman.

"Over there, mate. She's spotted you. She's coming this way." Red followed his old friend's finger with his eyes and gasped. He was right. His crazy ex did spot him and was making a beeline across the street.

"What store did my wife go into?" Red asked.

"_Hailee's_." Lard Nar replied. Red bolted down the street until he reached said store. He slammed the door open and ran inside, hastily looking for his wife, kid, and Gaz. Red sighed with relief when he spotted them almost immediately. He composed himself, calmly walking through the store to his wife and daughter. Leslie looked up from a sundress she was interested in, cocking a brow.

"Red? I thought you were gonna get more hog feed?"

"I was but then-" Red cut himself off when Adelaide entered the same store.

"Red! Hey, Reddy! I was trying to catch up with you, silly, but you kept running off." Red took Sapphira from Gaz's arms.

"Red, you're not gonna use her as a shield." Leslie said, sternly.

"Addy won't attack me if I'm holding a smeet." Red braced himself as the seemingly crazy lady approached him. Red used his free hand to pull Leslie closer to him with his arm around her waist. "_Heeeyy_ . . . Addy. How _are _you?" Red asked with the biggest smile he could muster. Leslie rolled her eyes. "I was just in town with my lovely, beautiful, perfect, _wife_. And my gorgeous _daughter_. We're such a _happy family_, that loves each other very, very much!"

"You're a dork." He heard Leslie mutter. He ignored her and presented his smeet to his ex. "See? Isn't she gorgeous. I'm so glad I'm her father. And I'm also glad I'm Leslie's husband. It's just _great_!" Red was being less than subtle, sure, but Adelaide didn't seem to be picking up on the hints.

"We'll that's nice. Hey! You wanna go out tonight? Ya know, kinda like we used to?" Leslie smirked at Red's horrified face.

"Ehh . . . Leslie and I were going to have a nice relaxing time at home-"

"He'd _love_ too." Leslie answered for him. Red snapped his head in her direction. His face was furious. She just merely smiled in turn.

"Nuh! No! No, I can't. Because . . . because I have barn duty, and chores of sorts. I have to fill out some dairy applications and make a few calls."

"I thought you said you were going to have a relaxing night?" Adelaide asked. Leslie snickered with Gaz at Red's misfortune. The man pouted.

"I was . . . after my work a-and . . . stuff." Red said, dumbly.

"All _three _of us will be going." Leslie said. "I gotta keep an eye on Red. No way in telling what naughty things he may do."

"Like running around the town in his wife's underwear?" Gaz asked.

"Don't forget about hugging a police officer while almost completely naked." The two laughed together. Red was blushing madly.

"Oh he's done things like that before when we were dating. Once he went streaking. Completely naked! He got arrested." Addy told them. Red face palmed. Leslie and Gaz just roared with laughter.

"You guys are ruining my life." Red mumbled. Once the laughter cooled down, Addy beamed brightly.

"Alright. Tonight at six. It's a date night." Addy got uncomfortably closer to Red's face. "I'll see ya then." Red yelped when he felt Addy pinch his behind.

"Yes, Red. It's a date." Leslie mocked, playfully pinching his rear like Addy. "Can't wait."

**That Night**

"I hate you."

"Do not."

"Do too. You're making my time here miserable. I'm suppose to enjoy my visits to my mother country. Not abhor them."

"Shh! Adelaide is coming." Leslie hissed at him from across the table. Leslie then looked up and regarded the newcomer to the table of a fancy restaurant. "Hello Addy." The women glanced at Leslie before taking her seat and pulling it closer to Red. This amused Leslie. Red scowled bitterly.

"Aww. Is Red grouchy today?" Addy cooed, pinching his cheek. Red remained silent. "You look very handsome, Red. You always do, but tonight you dressed as handsomely as you look." Leslie propped her head up on her hands and observed Adelaide and her husband's conversation. "I sure hope you're not taking this sexy piece heaven for granted. He deserves a good woman." Leslie smiled and played along.

"Oh yes! I wouldn't dream of ever mistreating him!" Leslie said.

"Actually . . . When I'm bad, she makes me sleep on the couch." Red said. Addy looked horrified.

"You . . . make him sleep on the couch?" She asked, disgusted with Leslie. "That's not how you discipline this man. He needs to be treated gently." Addy put her hand on his head and petted his antenna down. She ran one finger up and down the black appendage. Red's back went erect as he shook. Leslie covered her mouth with her hand, stifling laughter. "And this is how you excite an Irken." Red swatted her hand away, angrily.

"Only Leslie is allowed to touch me there." Red warned her. "Actually everywhere, for that matter . . . I'm off limits."

"Red, don't be rude." Leslie said. "Sorry, Addy, he's been edgy all day."

"Oh I know. I've been following him." Red's eyes went wide as he stared at Adelaide in shock. Leslie had the same expression. She cleared her throat only being slightly uneasy.

"Ehem, well then . . . Where do you work?"

"I quit my job to start writing Red's biography." Red's jaw dropped. Addy snickered. "I'm kidding. I didn't quit my job." Red tilted his head. "But I'm still writing the second chapter of your bio. I already got the prologue and first chapter done! Twenty pages so far."

"Well, it seems like you keep busy with that, don't ya?" Leslie asked.

"Oh yes! I just can't wait until I get to the chapter where we start dating so I can write down my sexual fantasies." Red choked on his wine.

"What?" He sputtered. Addy grinned from ear to ear.

"One fantasy involves me with a leather whip and you wearing nothing but chaps." Red pursed his lips in utter disgust. "I know just how much you like a dominatrix." Red bit down on his lower lip, standing up from his seat.

"Excuse me a second." Red rushed to the bathroom.

"What's he think he's doing? Irkens don't have bowels." Addy wondered. Leslie stood too.

"You can stay here. When the waiter comes back order whatever you want. Red's buying." Leslie then hurried to the men's restroom. She entered, not caring about the weird looks casted in her direction. She found Red attempting to crawl out the window. "Honey, get down before you fall." Leslie crossed her arms.

"I'm _not _going back out there with that psycho!" Red retorted.

"You're not leaving me here." Red looked over his shoulder at his wife.

"Yes I am." He simply said before swinging one leg out the window. Leslie grabbed his pant leg and yanked him back. With a shout of surprise he came tumbling to the ground. His wife hovered over him, hands on hips.

"Come now. Finish this night out and I'll reward you when we get home." She winked, offering a hand to help him up. Red gasped, happily, taking her hand.

"_Really_?" He asked. Leslie nodded, pulling him up on his feet.

"Really." Red gave her the sweetest smile and embraced her.

"You make me so happy." He whimpered.

"Okay, now you're being pathetic. Come on. Addy's waiting for you."

**The Next Day**

"ZIM, could you help me in the milking parlour?" Tenn asked. "We have a bus load of tourists coming at nine and the parlour needs to be cleaned and cows need to start being circulated into it." ZIM set his laptop down on the coffee table.

"Yeah, sure." He said, less than enthused. His attitude for the past few days was different from his normal cocky, foolhardy, witty self. Instead he's been quite melancholic and depressed. He's been depressed for some time now but lately the depression has been worsening.

Tenn sighed, upset that the smile that's seemingly always on ZIM's face is not there. ZIM walked past her to the front door. "Hey, ZIM?"

"Eh?" He grunted, not looking back at her as the two walked to the parlour.

"How ya feelin' today?"

"Mm." Was all he mumbled. Tenn frowned.

"Zeiden," He stopped and looked to her. "What's wrong?" ZIM looked away again.

"Nothing." He lied.

"Is this about the video?" ZIM didn't reply. "ZIM, Red was a wreck after mom died. Nana often had to pull him out of work and locked him up in a room. She'd isolate him because he'd try to hurt himself with farm equipment. He never hated you. It was tiredness and depression talking." Tenn pulled ZIM in for a hug. "We all love you very much. You're our sweet, funny, talented, little smeet brother." Tenn gave ZIM a big kiss on top of his head. "You know we love you, right?" ZIM looked up to her with big eyes that matched her's. He cracked a smile.

"Yeah." His smile then faded. "But sometimes they say you don't." ZIM said, pulling away to continue his walk to the parlour. Tenn cocked a brow, confused.

"They? Who're '_they_'?" She questioned him. ZIM shrugged.

"They never told me." He stated. "I don't know their names." Tenn was now getting concerned. She decided to brush it off for now. If it proved to be a problem in the future, then she'd address it further. But for now, they had chores to do.

**Later**

"Ever been caught in a sandstorm?"

"Five times."

"Five times? Really? That's crazy!"

"Yeah, but we did travel the desert a lot."

"Mm, that's true." Lard Nar sipped his tea as his best friend's little brother partook in a iced mocha. "Did you enjoy traveling all over Australia?"

"Yeah! It was great. I made friends in every city I visited."

"You're very easy going, aren't you?"

"I try to be." ZIM said. "And then we went to America for awhile. Lived there for three years. We still own a beach home where we lived."

"What city?"

"Mears. It's actually an adorable little beach town. Their state park attracts a lot of tourists and regulars." ZIM said. "It's a bunch of dunes. It looks like a desert but with cooler climate. I broke my ankle there riding my dirk bike."

"Ouch! It heal alright?"

"Yeah. It's alright now. I had an open fracture." Lard Nar cringed. ZIM smirked. "My bone was sticking out so far. I fainted looking at it."

"And then you moved back and went to Perth where you built a home?"

"Yeah. Now Red wants to move back here to the ranch." ZIM said.

"Red likes to bounce around. He probably won't stay long here either." Lard Nar said. "And then you went to America again because some comic book writer wanted you, specifically, for his show."

"Yeah." ZIM rested his head in his hand. "I never read one of Jhonen's comics yet. Red won't let me."

"Why not?"

"Why do you think he won't let me with a title like, '_Johnny the Homicidal Maniac_'?"

"Ahh. I see. He's afraid that'll influence you in a negative way." Lard Nar rubbed his chin in thought. "Red has changed so much since you came along, Squirt. He's _soooo_ . . ." Lard Nar looked for the proper word. He gave ZIM a whimsical look. "Fatherly." ZIM smiled softly.

"He is. People always ask him if I'm his child." ZIM sat back in his chair. "Same with Purple, actually. They think he's my dad too, sometimes."

"I think Purple treats you more brotherly than anything else." Lard Nar said. ZIM nodded in agreement.

"You married?"

"Nah. Never really been interested in dating. Especially after all the drama Red created in high school with all his girlfriends and exes." The Vortian laughed. "And Adelaide! Oh goodness! What a nutcase, huh?" ZIM's eyes went wide and nodded again.

"Oh my God, yes. She's such a creep. When Red and I were down town earlier today I saw her following us. Red is unobservant so he didn't see her, but I did. Three different times. She's good at stalking."

"Oh I know. She managed to get into Red's room five times when he was asleep when we were younger."

"What would she do?" ZIM asked.

"Either just sit there and watch him sleep. Or touch his face. Pet his head. He's a deep sleeper and so once she crawled in bed with him and started to spoon him." ZIM and Lard Nar started cracking up. "Red's mum told me the next morning, she woke up to him screaming like a gal! When she got to his room, she found him being hugged forcefully by Addy."

"Then what'd my mum do?"

"She rolled her eyes and asked Addy to leave and told Red to 'man up' his screams." This caused ZIM to go into another fit of laughter. "Seriously, though! When Red was younger and got excited about something he'd have this extremely high pitch voice where he'd talk a mile a minute and squeak the first word of every sentence. And then after he's done explaining whatever he needed to say, he'd hyperventilate, sometimes gets really lightheaded to the point of fainting!" ZIM cackled.

"He still does that!" He laughed with Nar.

"Ah! Something's don't change then, eh?"

"Nope. From what I heard, Red and both my sisters, for that matter, changed a lot." ZIM said. "I'd like to meet them before mom died and dad was MIA. See how their lives were like before." Lard Nar patted the boy's back.

"Life was good for them." ZIM's smile disappeared off his face. Lard Nar quickly thought up of something to say. "And since the turning point in their lives, it is just as good as before." ZIM looked down at the table. "Your boisterous personality remind them of your dad. Your looks and friendliness remind them of your mother. And your flirty, hyperactive ways remind them of Red. Your will to make a difference reminds them of Zee. Your big, glossy eyes remind them of Tenn. There's a little bit of everyone in your family in you, but there's one thing for sure, even though you're so alike to them, you're still you."

"I am my own person." ZIM summarized.

"Exactly." Lard Nar sighed. "And they love you for being so different yet so alike. They love your person. What you made yourself to be. They love you." ZIM glanced at him. Lard Nar smiled, warmly. "I heard you are going through a rough time. Battling depression and suicidal thoughts. Red went through the same thing. I had to be there for him. And I want you to know, that just like I was there for Red, I'm here for you." ZIM returned the smile.

"Thanks, Nar."

"No problem, kiddo." Lard Nar's eyes went half-lidded. "It's like I'm talking to Red when he was thirteen, again." The Vortian looked ZIM deep in the eyes. "But you are still you." ZIM grinned.

"We need to talk more." ZIM said.

"We sure do. You're quite the interesting character, Zeiden."

"Well, ya know." ZIM winked at him. "I'm, me."

**That Night**

ZIM laid wide awake in his bed. Voices echoing in his head. Laughing at him. Teasing him. Tormenting him.

_Monster. Beast. No good. Killer. Killer. Murderer of your own mother._

'No, no, no. I didn't kill my mom. Cancer did! Shut up!'

_You're still a monster._

ZIM adverts his gaze from the walls where ominous shadows danced about. Shadows of in unidentifiable creatures. Demons. Demons of ZIM's mind.

'I am Irken. Irkens aren't monsters.'

_No good._

'I . . . I'm sometimes good.'

_You're sick. Epileptic, hyperactive, dumb, hypoglycemic, brain damage, asthma, hypotension, bipolar. You're sick and it's just more work for your already busy siblings. _

'I have medications.'

_Doesn't help with everything. You still fall to the ground and seize every now and then. You still kneel over out of breath. You still faint from lack of glucose. You break things from not being able to calm yourself down._

'Only once in awhile.'

_All the time._

The shadows closed in on where ZIM was in his bed.

'No!'

_Sick. Always sick. Always needing to be cared for. Always needing constant surveillance. Always stressing out your siblings. Poor Red. Poor Zee. Poor Tenn._

Tears flowed from ZIM's eyes.

'Poor Red.' He repeated in his head. 'Poor Zee. Poor Tenn. Always dealing with me.'

_All those doctors appointments and therapy sessions and practices and adjustments and pharmacy visits. Always flying everywhere for you. They work and they work. If only you didn't exist anymore, they'd never have to do as much again. _

'I'm sorry.'

_Poor Red with his night terrors. Poor Zee with her stress. Poor Tenn with her anxiety. And even now Purple and Leslie are getting caught up in your hectic life. Poor souls. Your niece, Sapphira. She had no choice in who she wanted her uncle to be. And Gaz, dealing with your annoying tendencies. And Tak, oh the poor, poor, girl. You'll never be good enough for her. She's so healthy and strong. And you're weak and frail. She doesn't see that you're not good enough for her. _

'I don't deserve her.'

_You don't deserve your family. You sick, no good, monster. Killer, killer. _

A sob caught in ZIM's throat. He squeezed his eyes tightly. "No good. _Defect._" He whispered to himself.

_That's a good word. Defect. Defect. You're a defect. _

"I'm a defect."

_That's right. Keep telling that to yourself. _

"I'm a defect."

_Good. And remember, whenever someone says they love you. They don't mean it._

"Stupid defect."

_Very good. Keep admitting it. One day you'll learn that everyone you love always thought of you as a . . ._

"Defect."

**The Next Morning**

ZIM jolted awake at seven AM to the sound of a wailing smeet. He rolled over in his bed and moaned loudly, not able to get enough sleep the night prior. Finally he pushed himself up and walked to the edge of his room where his niece lay. He peaked over her crib.

"Hey, girl. I'm trying to sleep." ZIM mumbled to Sapphira. He dropped the side of the crib down and reached in for her. The smeet continued to cry. ZIM frowned.

_Poor Sapphira. She never wanted you as an uncle._

A voice echoed in ZIM's head. He bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut. He leaned up against the bedroom wall. ZIM snuck to the floor. "I'm sorry, Saph." He hugged her close to his chest. He buried his face by the sobbing child's head. And with that, ZIM started to cry himself. "You don't have to call me uncle." He whimpered. "You don't deserve me as an uncle. You deserve better." ZIM's tears leaked from his eyes and dripped onto Sapphira's head. "I'm sorry." ZIM sat there for a few more moments until someone came to his door.

"ZIM?" It was Gaz. "What's wrong?" ZIM didn't say anything. Gaz was getting concerned. "Red! Something is wrong with ZIM!" Gaz called down the hall. ZIM looked up to her.

"I-I . . . Don't deserve this family." Gaz cocked a brow, but before she could question him, Red entered the room. The man saw the crying smeet and ZIM and rushed to their side.

"Zeiden, Hun, what's the matter?" Red held ZIM's face, looking him in the eye. ZIM pouted and offered Sapphira to him. Red looked down at her and took her from his arms. After the smeet was handed over, ZIM stood and left the room. Red glanced from where ZIM disappeared back to Gaz. "What's wrong with him?" Gaz frowned and shook her head.

"I don't have a clue." Red sighed heavily. "I'm scared for him." Red looked to Gaz.

"Me too, babe." Red walked over to her and grabbed her hand. "Let's just . . . get this morning started." Gaz nodded in agreement.

"Okay."

**June 12, 2001**

"How was Australia?" Dib asked.

"Normal. Same old, same old." ZIM said, then snickered. "Though, I did find Kelly's birth certificate."

"Who's Kelly?" A.J. asked. ZIM smirked.

"That was Red's old name before he got it legally changed." ZIM told them. "He was so embarrassed when I found out." ZIM's friends snickered.

"We're calling him that for now on." Chester said. "Kelly, huh! What a manly name."

"And how about that reality T.V. show?" Timmy wondered, changing subjects.

"They're editing the first episode. It's going to premier in August. They're filming the next episode now." ZIM replied, looking at the black leather sofa in his dressing room. Something was bothering him. He knew exactly what it was but he didn't know if he should tell his friends or not. Maybe he should. Just to get it off his chest. He could trust them. He sighed. "Guys, I'm going to tell you something strictly confidential. I . . . This is gonna sound so weird." ZIM groaned.

"Come on. Out with it, Hotshot." Timmy beckoned. ZIM rubbed his forehead.

"I'm getting married." He finally blurted out. His four human friends stopped whatever they were doing abruptly and looked at him, confused.

"What? Nuh-Uh. You're only thirteen." Timmy pointed out, not believing him for a second.

"Tak proposed to me one night and I agreed to marry her. I got this ring for her." ZIM pulled out a black velvet box out of his jean pocket and opened the lid revealing the huge diamond studded ring. "I'm going to re-propose to her tonight to make it official. Once we're engaged, we're going to plan a super secretive wedding on an Irken country called, _Masstadonia_. It's the only country that allows teen weddings without parental consent." ZIM looked at his friends. "You can't tell anyone. I trust you guys not to tell nobody. Can you do that?"

"But ZIM . . . why? This isn't a country where you have to get married before you die! You can marry later in life, you know?" Dib said.

"It used to be common for Irkens to marry even younger than me. Marrying young was a symbol of a lifelong bond. At one point infants were wedded." ZIM said. "Just please keep it under wraps for now. We're going to reveal the news once we're wedded and our families can do anything to stop it."

"Well . . . Is it going to be one of those quick weddings?" Dib asked.

"Yeah the first one is. We're gonna get married then go home as if nothing happened. Then later after we tell everyone we're gonna have another wedding ceremony and then a big celebration with family, friends, and all the works." ZIM said. His friends were shocked. "Speaking of weddings, you guys are invited to Tenn and Purple's on the tenth of July."

"When do you plan on getting hitched?" A.J. wondered. ZIM shrugged.

"Either next year or when I'm fifteen." ZIM said. Dib furrowed his brow, deeply concerned.

"ZIM, you're mad. You can't just get married without someone finding out! Especially when you're this young and famous. It's just-"

"It's just that Tak and I want to stay faithful to one another for the rest of our lives. Is that so bad?" ZIM asked. "Like I said, it's a lifelong bond between two persons. And it's a great way to stay faithful to your one true love. My one true love is Tak. We've been dating for years as two people. We thought its about time that we unite into one."

"ZIM . . . You are one crazy S.O.B." Timmy said.

"So I've been told." ZIM said. "Listen guys. Do you swear on your hearts not to tell a soul?" The four boys shared glances with each other, not very sure. "Come on guys. For me?" The boys hesitantly nodded. "Thank you." ZIM stood from the couch. "I need to go to training now. I have my first game tomorrow. The Bronx are coming here to L.A. It's at the Angels stadium if ya wanna go." ZIM left his room, leaving the others to their own devices. Once he closed the door he groaned. "God . . . Why did I tell them?"

**Later**

ZIM kept his gaze out to the seemingly endless horizon. Sitting in the warm, white sand on the beach, listening to the tide coming in. Tak was next to him holding his hand. The sun was setting and it made a very cliché, yet romantic scene for the two of them.

A cliché scene, indeed. But there was a reason why the beach was such a nice couple's spot. It was beautiful. ZIM's other hand was in his pants pocket, holding on the the velvet box with the ring in it. He wasn't having second thoughts. Oh no. He knew Tak was the girl he'd marry. He was just unsure of what others would think. Getting married so young. They'd think of him as stupid. His friends already thought he was crazy.

ZIM had many people tell him before that he didn't love Tak, because there was no such thing as young love. But he did! How dare they say otherwise! He grew up with her! He was the first girl he ever kissed! The first girl he slow danced with! The first girl he could admit all his feelings to! Those people who claim to not believe in young love were wrong. Dead wrong. They said that young folk like ZIM and Tak didn't know what love even was! How could they say that? Of course they knew what love was! Tak loves her parents. ZIM loves his siblings. Both of them loved each other. Those people say that what ZIM feels towards Tak is lust, not love. No. That simply wasn't true. Love comes first in his relationship. Love was key. ZIM says, 'I love you, Tak.' not 'I lust you'.

ZIM's mind was going haywire. Who cares what others think? If they disagree with what ZIM and Tak believe is love. Then they, themselves, don't know what love is. Period.

_You don't deserve her. _

'Shh!'

_She needs a man who won't need constant care._

'I said, shut up!' ZIM snapped out of his thinking when Tak spoke up.

"Been a long day." Tak sighed. ZIM could only nod in agreement. Minutes passed without another word shared, until Tak spoke up again. "I'd feel awful for us to wed without our relatives knowing. They'd be heartbroken."

"Yes, but Tak," ZIM sat up from his leaning position. "If we told them our plans they won't allow us to marry. They'd call us crazy for wanting to get married so young and tell us to wait."

_Your crazy for thinking your good enough for her._

"I can't wait, Zeiden." Tak said. "Why should we wait? We love each other. I talked to many people about us and they all said the same thing. They told me that they couldn't see me or you with anyone else. We've already been dating for three years. In those years we found out that we are indeed compatible for each other." ZIM didn't meet her eye. He kept his stare at his lap. "I think we should tell them at least a couple weeks before the wedding day. What can they do? They can't say anything because we're both at legal ages. All they can do is sit back and watch." ZIM nodded again.

"We should tell them, then. Later." ZIM said. "You think of a date yet?"

"No. Possibly much later this year or early next year." Tak said. "Either way, we're getting married and there will be nothing they can do about it." ZIM finally looked her in the eyes.

_Look at those eyes. So beautiful. So perfect. And you're so . . . so . . . flawed._

ZIM scowled a bit, trying his hardest to ignore whoever was talking to him. "Could you stand up for a moment? I need to make something official." Tak raised a brow but nonetheless did as asked. She stood up whereas ZIM took a kneeling position in front of her. He held her left hand delicately in both of his hands. "Takayla Griffon, I must warn you that in marrying me you will have a duty. Red is my sworn soul protector and once we wed, I'll be out of his custody and in yours. That will make you my guardian. There will be a deed that you must sign with your blood in order to make this pact orthodox. When Red made a promise to my mother years ago, it wasn't just any promise. It was a lifetime commitment. Something he had to sign with this thing called the 'Declaration of Guidance'. I have to ask you, Takayla, are you ready to guide, guard and protect me with every fiber of your being? Because that's what Red has done since the very first day of my existence. I may be an adult soon, but that oath lasts for my eternity. There's no end to this promise and there's no way out of it." Tak's face went straight and definite. She knew what she wanted. She knew what she had to do.

"Zeiden, I'll do whatever it takes. Even if that means I'd become your soul protector. I'd die for your right now if I had to. There's no doubt about it. I swear on my life I'll be just to this pledge that your mother first wrote." ZIM's eyes soften immensely. He reached in his pocket and pulled out the box. He opened it revealing the massive diamond ring. Tak smiled warmly as ZIM slid it on her finger.

"Well in that case, Takayla Griffon," ZIM stood up and embraced her. "Lets get married."

_You damned the poor girl. _

**The Next Day**

The word 'Bronx' in dark blue, cursive lettering was on the chest of his grey jersey. The number '1' on his back as the front just below the team name. Above the number on the back was his name, 'Macale'. ZIM looked at himself in the mirror, admiring the new team uniform. He got two uniforms. A gray one for the away and a white one for home games. He had a black belt on along with a matching colored baseball cap. The sleeves of his uniform were also dark blue. His metal pronged cleats made a crunching noise with every step he took in the cement floored locker room.

"Macale! Front and center!" ZIM jumped at the booming voice. He turned and saw his coach.

"Yes sir?"

"You're starting as catcher today." ZIM nodded.

"For whom will I be catching?"

"Taylor is starting pitch." ZIM nodded.

"Alright sir. As soon as I'm done, I'll get him warmed up." The coach gave ZIM a thumbs up and left the locker room to find other players. ZIM took in a deep breath before walking to his locker and yanking out his catchers equipment. He put the shin guards and chest protector on. He held his helmet under his arm. He gave himself a crooked smile. ". . . I'm a beast."

**Later**

The sun was high in the sky and beating down hard on the stadium of people. ZIM could of sworn he was the hottest person there! He was, after all, wearing all that gear. He was sweating which meant he was getting sick, but he didn't feel a seizure coming on. Earlier he used his inhaler before the game so it wasn't asthma either. He felt like he could throw up however, which would be pretty embarrassing. He was in a stadium with over five thousand spectators watching. Some of those people were all his friends from the studio. He saw them when the national anthem was playing.

ZIM took off his helmet, wiping a droplet of sweat off his brow then put it back on, squatting again. He put his left hand in between his thighs to make the next pitching call. He used his thumb and index finger to indicate to the pitcher that he wanted a fastball to be pitched. The boy on the mound nodded and wound up for the pitch. He hurled it right into ZIM's catchers mitt.

"Strike three! Batters out!" The ump shouted. ZIM threw the ball back. While he was waiting for the next batter to approach the plate, he took a moment to look up in the stands to Tak. He pulled up his face mask and smiled widely at her. She returned the smile and blew him a kiss.

ZIM turned his attention back to where it needed to be and squatted once more, preparing himself for the pitch by pulling his face mask down again. The Irken called for another fastball. The pitcher nodded and threw the small ball right in the hot zone of the batter. The hitter connected the bat with the ball and sent it flying into the deep left field. ZIM got up and stood protectively in front of home plate as one of the base runners scored. The outfielder ran to get the ball, then picking it up to throw it back to the infield before the hitter could get a triple. ZIM groaned.

"Come on, Taylor! What kind of pitch was that?" ZIM yelled, when the pitcher received the ball again and preventing the runner from advancing another base. The boy shrugged. "I said _fast_ballnot a _slow_ball! Get it right!"

"I'm sorry." Came the boy's meek apology.

"Yeah, you better be! Next time you let a run get by me, I'll be furious!"

**After the Game**

"You're a real angry son of a gun when it comes to baseball, you know that?" Red asked.

"Shut up. The damn pitcher knew he was sucking so there was no reason not to try harder at being better." ZIM growled. His older brother scowled, but ignored the rude tone.

"Yeah but that doesn't give you the right to throw your mitt at him in the dugout." Red said. "You're supposed to be the team captain, ya dolt."

"Whatever."

". . . I heard you were starting as pitcher tomorrow. You should call Sam up later tonight and have her train with you." Red suggested, starting his truck. ZIM looked out the window of the passengers seat.

"I suppose I should . . . You know she still likes Purple? Like, a lot?" Red nodded.

"I kind of figured. She only broke up with him because she knew he could do better than her. She was thinking of him and how it would probably be good if she broke off their relationship." Red said.

"I'll call her later. I need to sleep first for a few hours." ZIM leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

"And what time did you go to sleep last night, young man?"

"Two AM."

"What the hell were you doing up until two in the morning?"

"Tak and I were gettin' friendly with each other." ZIM smirked. Red shot him a glare.

"That's not funny, Zeiden."

"Good because it wasn't a joke." ZIM yelped when he felt a slap delivered to his head. "Hey! Both hands on the wheel!"

"What do you mean you were '_gettin' friendly_'?" Red asked.

"Red, we were just playing monopoly. That game lasts forever. I ended up loosing . . . by a lot. Tak will make a great entrepreneur one of these days." Red sighed, exasperatedly.

"Don't scare me like that again." Red said. "I don't want you to be screwing around like that. Not until you and Tak get married." ZIM gave Red a wide, cheeky smile. "In the far, far future ZIM." ZIM groaned, slumping back down.

"We'll see about that."

**June 15, 2001**

The second episode had finally aired and now ZIM and his friends were taking a much needed break. More ZIM than them. The Irken brought himself and his friends out on the town for a couple hours to just hang out and go to the skatepark, now they were all heading back to ZIM's place to crash after a long day of vigorous activities. But then someone told ZIM that he should puncture himself. ZIM had no idea who told him that, but for some reason, ZIM was strangely compelled to do so.

"You sure about this, dude?" Dib asked.

"Yeah, mate. Just stick the needle through. The worst that could happen is making me bleed." ZIM said.

"I could permanently damage the nerves in your face." Dib warned.

"You said you know where all the nerves are. I trust you. Now do it."

"How about another place . . . Or not doing this at all." Timmy suggested. ZIM rolled his eyes.

"Do it, Dillon! I already gave you fifty bucks to do it!" Dib sucked in his breath and put his hands on either side of ZIM's head.

"Alright. Close your eyes." Dib said. ZIM did. The human boy took the sterilized needle in his hand and pressed the sharp tip to ZIM's flesh of his hairless brow over his left eye.

"Go on." Dib held his breath then quickly stabbed the needle down. Puncturing ZIM's skin. The Irken bit his lip hard. It felt good. Dib looked at the other three boys who all had their hands over their mouths, refraining from making a noise. Dib then pulled out the needle and quickly replaced it with a small eyebrow piercing silver ring. Dib dabbed up the blood that oozed out of ZIM's freshly made hole with a towel.

"Man, your brother is going to kill you." Dib said. "I'm leaving before he finds out."

"Relax." ZIM said, standing up and touching his new facial art. "I'm bringing you guys home right now anyway." ZIM grabbed his wallet and had his friends follow him out from his room and down the stairs. ZIM turned his head away from the living room where his family was to hide the new ring.

"Where are you going?" Zee asked. ZIM, still facing away from them, replied.

"Taking my mates home." ZIM said.

"M'kay. Don't be gone too long."

"Alright." ZIM started to walk again,

"Hey!" Zee stopped him again.

"Yes?" ZIM asked, exasperatedly. Zee tilted her head, wondering why he wasn't facing her. He was acting very conspicuous, which wasn't a surprise to her considering he's always like that, but this time it was a suspicious kind of conspicuous.

"Come here."

"I'll talk to you later, Zannah. My friends are late." ZIM said.

"Zeiden, just talk to her now." Red ordered, not taking his eyes off his sleeping daughter in his arms. ZIM lowered his head and trudged back over to them.

"You guys should wait outside." ZIM muttered to his buddies. They nodded and quickly fled the home, knowing their smallest friend was in for it. ZIM made his way to the edge of Zee's reading chair. His older sister cocked a brow.

"Look at me." ZIM shifted his eyes, the right side of his face was visible to her whereas the left side was still hidden. "Look. At. Me." ZIM sighed and turned his head so he was looking straight at her. Zee's jaw seemed to drop. "What the hell is on your face?" ZIM touched his face pretending he didn't know what she was talking about.

"What? Where? What does it look like?" ZIM asked. Red raised his antenna curiously, looking at his two younger siblings.

"What did he do now?" The man groaned. Zee grabbed ZIM's chin and forced him to look at Red.

"Look at what he did to himself!" She yelled. Red's eyes squinted. His face became unreadable but ZIM knew he wasn't happy.

"That better be fake." Red hissed. ZIM grinned sheepishly at him.

"Ehhhh . . . Yup. It's fake. Hah, I got you good, didn't I?"

"You're bleeding, dumb ass. You're not fooling anyone." Red gritted his teeth,

"Those were hurtful words." ZIM pouted. Red's face twisted with anger. He looked down at his daughter then back up at his brother, not quite sure what to do at the moment. Finally he made a choice and handed Sapphira to Zee.

"Bring her to Leslie then take ZIM's friends home. I'll deal with this hellion." Red stalked toward his little brother. ZIM shrunk under Red's glare. The boy's antenna slicked back passively, his eyes widened as he put on his world famous puppy-dog pout. Red crossed his arms across his chest, continuing to glower down at the child. ZIM stared back up with the same adorable expression, hoping it would lessen the pain of whatever the punishment would be. Red stayed strong, however. "Get your ass to your room now."

"Can I say something?"

"No."

"But-"

"Go!" ZIM snapped his mouth shut at Red's harsh demand. The little Irken slumped his shoulders and went back up the steps. Leslie joined him in the living room, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Before you talk to him, I want you to take deep breaths and clench your fists. You got to be calm when dealing with things like this." She instructed, swaying slightly to sooth the now woken Sapphira.

"You've been reading too many parenting magazines. I've dealt with him before, Les. I can handle this." Red told her, then went up the steps to ZIM's room. Upon entering, Red found ZIM already sitting on the edge of his bed, anticipating the punishment. "What were you thinking?" He asked, as calmly as possible. ZIM shuddered. His voice was too gentle.

"Are you doing the whole, 'calm before the storm' thing? Because I hate when you do that. It scares me." ZIM said. Red sat next to ZIM. The boy could feel the man was literally shaking with rage. ZIM decided to push his luck by making another joke. "I thought I was the only one in this family who could get seizures." Red was really about to blow now. One more smart remark from ZIM and he'd have even more hell to pay. "Not only did we just discover that you have seizures, but you're also mute." ZIM smirked. Red stood up again in front on ZIM.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Red got in ZIM's face. The boy gave him a cheeky sneer.

"It speaks." Suddenly all Red's anger seemed to disappear. He didn't know why but for some reason the fury was replaced with the feeling of failure. Red pointed a shaky finger at ZIM. A sad look in his eyes.

"You . . . I failed with you. You have no respect, no idea how to behave, and no concept on other people's feelings." Red turned to leave. "I just hope I don't raise Sapphira like I did you." ZIM's heart sank. He pulled the eyebrow ring out then rubbed his sore punctured skin.

"Shit. Should've shut my mouth."

_You're a failure. _

**Later**

"If you don't talk to him then I will." Red shrugged.

"Have at it. He'll probably just rattle off a few snarks at you too." Red told Purple.

"Then so be it." The violet-eyed Irken said. "I can handle whatever he dishes out at me." He said, then left his friend's room to go to the youngest's bedroom. Without knocking, Purple went in. He found ZIM laying on his stomach looking at something on his laptop. The little Irken didn't so much as glance at the newcomer. Purple frowned and closed the laptop to get his attention.

"Excuse you. I was looking at something." ZIM reached out to open the computer again but Purple grabbed his wrist. "It appears that you are having severe muscle spasms. You should get that checked out before you cut off the circulation in my wrist." Purple pulled ZIM up out of his bed and onto his feet.

"I don't want to hear another smartass remark from your mouth!" ZIM's eyes widened at the tone that he rarely hears coming from Purple. "Don't look at me like that! You're acting like a prick and you know it! Always making jokes, never serious! Why can't you get it through your thick skull that no one appreciates your cruel sense of humor?"

". . . You appreciate it-"

"I'm talking, not you!" Purple snapped, jerking ZIM closer, still holding his wrist. "We have a few issues to address here, starting with your decision to get this ugly hole in you head." Purple used his other hand to poke the puncture wound on ZIM's eyebrow.

"I felt like it."

"You _felt _like doing something that you knew was wrong? That you knew wouldn't be accepted by your family? That you knew you, yourself didn't accept?"

"Well, I . . . It's-"

"Second issue! Your back talking!"

"_Talking back._" ZIM corrected.

"There it is! Right there!" Purple yelled. "Who is talking?"

". . . You."

"Who isn't?"

"Me?"

"Is that a question or a statement?"

"Uh . . . Me." ZIM said.

"Good. Now, what was I saying?"

"Back talking."

"Oh yeah. You can't just say whatever the fuck you feel like to just anyone! There are people in this world who surprisingly have authority over you!" Purple narrowed his eyes. "Face the facts here, ZIM. In this home, you hold absolutely no authority! You're just a kid! A kid who needs to learn his lesson and respect those who are above you! Am I clear?" ZIM didn't look Purple in the eyes.

". . . Yeah."

"That was pathetic. Tell me you understand now! Say it loud and clear so I know you're not completely incompetent!" Purple lifted ZIM's face so he was looking at him.

"Yes!"

"Yes, who? State my rank when you answer me!"

"Yes, Sir!" ZIM's cheeks grew red from the embarrassment that Purple was bringing him.

"Great! Now get your scrawny ass into you brother's room and apologize profusely to him! Apologize because that man deserves it for putting up with an ungrateful jerk like you for thirteen long years! Show him how much you love him! Kiss his feet! Bow before him! Call him your master! Slap yourself to amuse him! Wait on him! Be his personal slave until he feels better about himself because you made him cry earlier!" ZIM was shocked. He stood frozen in the same place. "What's the matter? You paralyzed now? Get moving!" ZIM found himself able to move again. The small Irken bolted from his room. When he turned out from his doorway he ran right into someone, sending him falling backwards on his rear.

"Geez, ZIM. You blind?" Red grumbled, helping the young one up. ZIM looked behind him. Purple was leaning up against the door frame watching him. ZIM whirled around to face Red.

"I'm sorry! Purple just made me realize how assertive he can be!" ZIM threw his arms around Red's legs. The two taller Irkens looked at each other then burst into laughter. Soon as they calmed down, ZIM looked up at his brother. "I'm sorry. You didn't fail completely with me. There's still some hope." Red sighed.

"I suppose there is, huh?" Red knelt by ZIM. He gave Purple a curt nod. The other man left with a smile knowing his work there was done. "It's not so much your cockiness that gets to me. I was very cocky when I was your age. Hell, I still am. No, that doesn't bother me as much as you thinking that this," Red pointed to ZIM's brow piercing. "Was a good idea."

"Well, I have my antenna pierced and I figured it'd be no big deal to get my eyebrow pierced either."

"Yes, but do you remember what happened after you got your first piercing?" ZIM pursed his lips.

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

"You called me stupid and grounded me." ZIM murmured.

"Mmhmm. And I know I seem to be a bit of a hypocrite all because of this mistake," Red pulled open his button up shirt to reveal his left pecs muscle with the southern cross stars tattoo to the young one. "And the fact that I used to pierce myself with cattle taggers. Let's just settle for the fact that we're both pretty dimwitted. 'Kay?" ZIM nodded. "Good. Now don't even think about putting that ring back in that piercing. I don't want you going around town looking like a thug."

"But . . . I got this piercing for a reason." ZIM said.

"And what reason is that?"

"Uh . . . I want to look more intimidating." Red raised a brow at ZIM's words. "I'm only three foot tall and I figured if I get a facial piercing I'd look more . . . ya know, badass." Red scoffed.

"ZIM, you weren't meant to look badass. You were meant to be adorable." ZIM wrinkled his nose.

"Don't call me that. I'm past the 'cute' stage."

"Oh really? And what stage are you on now then?" Red humored the boy.

"_Sexyyy_." ZIM drawled. Red laughed.

"Hah! You wish! Girls may think that but I still think you're just a younger version of me. Cute, small, and naughty."

"I'm not naughty!" ZIM defended. Red rolled his eyes. ZIM then just remembered the piercing and the rudeness from earlier. "Well from what I heard, I'm not nearly as naughty as you were when you were younger."

"Maybe you're right but I'm behaved now . . . for the most part." Red pointed out. ZIM huffed. The older of the two sighed, shaking his head. "Anyway. You're grounded for two weeks." Red got off his knees and stood, walking into ZIM's room.

"What? Why?"

"You know why." Red came back out of his room with ZIM's laptop, phone and car keys. "No friends, no leaving, no phone, no laptop and no T.V."

"But I'll miss two weeks worth of Tigers games!" ZIM pouted.

"That's your problem." Red said. "Everyday when you get home from filming you will be confined to your room. The only time you can leave is for any necessary needs. That means don't starve yourself like you did last time."

"Two weeks is forever!" ZIM whined.

"Should of thought of that ahead of time." Red said.

"That's not fair!" ZIM stomped his foot.

"Don't you throw a temper tantrum. Now get in your room and be quiet." Red ordered.

"What am I supposed to do for two weeks in my room?"

"That's for you to figure out." Red turned to leave, walking back down the hall. He smiled with satisfaction when he heard ZIM's room door slam shut followed by a long groan coming from the other side of the door.

**June 17, 2001**

"What are you guys doing?" Red and Purple looked up from their new vehicles. ZIM stood in the entry way of the garage.

"What's it look like?" Red turned his head back to his new-to-him car's engine.

"It looks like you're both trying to fix up two pathetic-looking junker cars." ZIM said.

"And that's exactly what we're doing." Purple said. ZIM tilted his head confused.

". . . Why?"

"Shouldn't you be in your room?" Red asked ZIM. The boy crossed his arms.

"Fine. I'll ask Leslie what you're doing." ZIM turned to leave but was stopped by Red.

"Don't!" ZIM whirled back around to face Red. He had a panicked look plastered on his face. ZIM wondered what the big rip was. Red sighed. "Purple and I are entering the county fair's demolition derby. That's why we have these cars. Leslie doesn't know about it and she _won't _find out about it either. Is that clear?" ZIM nodded. Pushing what Red had just said around in his mind for a bit he then realized something. A demonic grin slowly started to spread across ZIM's face. Red's eyes widened. He then face palmed knowing he had just given ZIM black mail material.

"Is that right?" ZIM asked. "Maybe I could help you out if you'd dock a week off my grounding." The boy smirked. Red scowled heavily, biting his lip. He looked to his friend for support. Purple just sat on the hood of his car, swinging his legs as he watched with an amused smile.

"Did you teach him how to be a trickster?" Red asked. Purple shrugged.

"I may have."

"Guh," Red lowered his head. "Zeiden, you can't- . . . I won't- . . . You're not allowed to- . . . God damn it." Red groaned. "Okay, fine! You little demon." ZIM beamed, victoriously. "You always get your way, but I promise you, that won't always happen after today. Now go to your room. You're still grounded for this week."

"But I want to help you." ZIM said.

"No. Room, now." Red said.

"Okaaay." ZIM drawled. "I guess on my way to my room I could tell Leslie your dangerous plans to join a demo derby." The boy went to leave.

"Zeiden, don't you dare or else I'll extend your grounding again." ZIM stopped dead in his tracks. Red smiled. Now he had some black mail. ZIM scowled at his older brother then went inside, knowing he was beat. Red looked back at Purple who was shaking his head.

"You two are almost as bad as my sister and I."

"_Almost_ as bad?" Red inquired.

"We'd trade smart ass comments to the point where one of us gets really offended and attacks the other." Purple said then mumbled. ". . . She always won."

"Well she is eight years older. I bet you could take her now." Purple scoffed.

"Yeah, no, I don't think so. Did I ever tell you Marzi weight lifts?" Purple asked. "She bench presses two hundred pounds."

"She does? But her arms are so thin."

"Don't let her looks deceive you. Underneath her pretty exterior, she's a big, hairy, bodybuilding man." Purple said. "Speaking of her. My family will be visiting next week during the fair. My dad and sis wanted to see me race."

"What about your mom?"

"She doesn't know I entered the race." Purple said. "And they're going to stay until July ten when Tenn and I marry . . . God, her name made that sentence sound repetitive."

"Yeah I don't know why my parents named her that. Apparently it's a Meekrobian name, and they liked it . . . Whatever." Red said.

"I like it too. I'll like it even more when she makes me scream it on our wedding night." Red shot Purple a horrible glare. The violet-eyed Irken just grinned toothily.

"You're such a dick." Red grumbled. "That's _my_ sister. Remember that." Purple shrugged.

"Did I give you mental images?"

"Yes."

"I'll let you know that I'll continue to put images like that in your head just to torture you." Purple said. Red slammed the hood of his car down.

"I hate you so fuckin' much."

"Forget it, bro. You can't hate me no matter how much of a bastard I am." Red groaned, deciding to change the subject.

"Did you get your car running yet or not?" Red asked.

"Does this answer your question?" Purple leaned in through the window of the car and turned the key in the ignition. The car immediately roared to life. "How about yours, Mr. Mechanic?" Red shook his head.

"Not yet . . . I should just hire someone."

"I could do it for you-"

"No! No, no! You'll sabotage it!"

"Will not!"

"Would too!" Red said, as he dug in his jeans for his Imp. "I'm calling an actual auto mechanic for this." Purple scoffed.

"You have no reason not to trust me."

"You sabotaged one of my lab experiments I was working on for months while I was pregnant." Red mumbled.

"Wrong. I was helping you with it, little did I know that I was unfamiliar with the formulas you were using." Purple defended.

"I found a pop can jammed into the belt of the machine I was using! _Diet _pop, may I add. And you're the only one in this family who drinks diet anything."

"That's because you boobs are convinced that it's made out of rat poison." Purple said.

"It is!" Red retorted.

"You're a dumbass!"

"You're a cock muncher!"

"Asswipe!"

"Hairy, uh . . . _banana?_"

"What the fuck was that?" Purple asked.

"A insult, stupid shit. I just indirectly called you a penis with pubic hair. Get the figurative language?" Purple gave Red a look as if his friend was the stupidest creature in the universe.

"What are you on?" Red looked from Purple to his car. He appeared to be very jittery.

"I had seven cups of coffee this morning. What do you think? I'm totally wired." Red stated.

"What is all the yelling about?" The two men spun around to see Leslie in the doorway. "And why is there two shitty-looking cars in the garage?"

"What? What cars? These . . . aren't cars." Red played dumb. Leslie raised a brow, crossing her arms.

"What are they then?"

"Well my Escort is now . . . a home for a hobo . . . Yeah, and Purple's DeLorean is a time machine." Red explained. Purple swatted his arm.

"Dude, movie references are so cheesy."

"Are not. I use them to pick up hoes." Red said. His wife sighed heavily knowing he was only joking.

"Red, get off whatever you're on."

"I said that same thing!" Purple chirped.

"I'm not on anything!" Red pouted. Leslie put a hand on his tense shoulder. She then furrowed her brow at Purple.

"Now look what you did. You wound him all up." Leslie hissed. Purple's jaw dropped.

"What? What did I do?" He asked.

"Go inside Red and take a chill pill." Leslie instructed her husband.

"I need to fix this piece of shit, though." Red leaned over the car.

"Why? You're not gonna drive that on the road are you?"

"No. I'm using it for a derby . . . Wait . . . Fuck." Red turned back to Leslie. Her eyes were wide. He let it slip.

"A _derby_." She asked. "Why the hell would you want to try to give me even more heart attacks? Isn't it enough that you participate in the rodeo?"

"Oh yeah that reminds me. July thirteen, I'm going to Texas again for another rodeo. My concussion is officially cleared and they wanted me back. They said I made a good show last time I went." Leslie was speechless. Her face was blank making it hard for Red to read what her emotions were. Without a word, Leslie went back into the house. Red turned to Purple. "You think I shouldn't have told her that either?"

**June 20, 2001**

"Have your brothers ever skated before?" Timmy asked ZIM while strapping on his knee protectors. ZIM looked at the two older Irkens at the skatepark with them. They were sitting on a concrete ledge, talking to each other and laughing about something.

"No, they just like to carry around their skateboards and be posers. Of course they board, mate!" ZIM said. "Purple even does mountain boarding."

"Well are you gonna skate too? Or is it just me, Chester, and your two brothers?"

"If Red will let me, I'll skate." ZIM rested a his chin in his hand. He was still technically grounded and wasn't supposed to even be at the park. But Leslie jumped on Red's ass about not letting ZIM get out for fresh air. ZIM almost scoffed. Fresh air? In this smoggy city? He bet those people don't even know what fresh air was.

Either way, Leslie's argument made Red give in. She decided to come along with them with Gaz, Tak and Sapphira all for family bonding time.

"They're not gonna skate with their shirts off like that, are they?" Dib asked ZIM.

"If they fall they'll get road rash and it'll be their own fault." ZIM shrugged.

"They aren't wearing any protection either." Timmy added.

"No one said they had much common sense." ZIM mumbled.

"Huh. You'd think for scientists they would have at least some." Dib hummed to himself. "Hey! Did you guys hear? Since the studio has lots of hired kids they're going to open a private school just for us?"

"They are?" ZIM raised a brow. He was sure he would've heard that news before anyone else. He was, after all, the studio's personal anchorman.

"Yeah! That way it's more convenient for both the studio and the kids. Now we can all go to school together." Dib said.

"Where are they gonna have the classes?"

"The old sound stages no one uses anymore. Sound stages thirteen, sixteen, and eleven, I believe." Dib said. "They hired three different teachers for three different classes that will alternate ever hour. So the older kids like you, ZIM, can get an education at your level, and younger kids like us at our level. Occasionally we'll all have a class together."

"I'm home schooled." ZIM said.

"Well you should join the studios school! It'll be fun!" Chester piped up.

"And a waste of my time." ZIM muttered.

"Aw, c'mon, Hotshot! It could be fun! All having school together." Timmy begged. "Consider it." ZIM sighed and nodded just to get them to leave him alone. His friends all smiled.

"Hey, Zei-Zei! Grab your board! We're gonna have a competition!" ZIM's antennas perked. Red was beckoning his little brother over.

"Really?" ZIM asked. The little Irken felt himself being pushed up to a standing position by his friends.

"Come on! I wanna humiliate you by beating you!" Red said. ZIM gave Red a wry smile. Oh, it was on. ZIM peeled off his own shirt to match his brothers. Red and Purple chuckled at this. "Here, Shortstop." Red rolled ZIM's skateboard over to him. ZIM frowned at the name.

"Don't call me Shortstop, Shorty, Short-stack, or any other variants with the word, 'short' in it!"

". . . Vertically Challenged?" Red tested the child. ZIM sucked in his breath, slowly loosing his temper. "Well . . . you _are _short." Red said. ZIM scowled deeply.

"Just for that, I'm going to wipe the pavement with your face." ZIM said. "Figuratively, because otherwise it'd be illegal and messy." ZIM jumped on his board and skated to a rail and jumped, grinding down until the rail ended. ZIM did a kick flip off the rail and landed, still skating forward. ZIM looked back at the others with a cocky expression and did a 'what now' gesture with his hands at Red and Purple. As he gloated, his board ran into a curb that launched him into the grass. "Gaaah!" The older Irkens laughed insanely. ZIM grunted, standing up and brushing himself off. "Hah! Top that!" ZIM shouted as if nothing happened. Red looked to Purple and gave him a nod. The violet-eyed Irken grinned toothily.

Purple trotted to the half pipe, climbing it. When he was at the top, he leant forward and skated down then back up the other side, grabbing his board and doing a back flip in mid air. Purple landed it perfectly. ZIM pouted.

"I wanna redo."

"Too late, mate!" Red ran and jumped on his board, dipping into the large, concrete bowl. All eyes where on the oldest Irken as he did a similar move to Purple's. He rode his board up the side of the bowl and attempted a barrel roll. Also landing the complex move, Red let out a happy shout at ZIM. "Aced it! You suck!" Red pointed at ZIM, riding the board up the wall again. He hopped out of the bowl and gave Purple a high five.

"Yeah, whatever." ZIM grumbled.

"All of you! Put on a shirt!" The three boys turned to see Leslie sitting on top of a picnic table, holding Sapphira. "If you fall, you'll all get skinned!" Red waved her off.

"Les, puh-lease! We're practically pros!" Red said.

"Yeah! We know better than to fall!" Purple agreed. The woman just rolled her eyes and went back to feeding Sapphira. Red smirked and skated toward the table and took his daughter from Leslie. The older woman gasped.

"Red, you will not skate with our daughter!"

"Who said I was?" Red asked. He got off his board and put his smeet on the board. She sat up wobbly on the board, looking up at her father with wide curious eyes. "She's gonna skate all by herself!" Red stepped back away from the young girl and watched her closely. "She's already got amazing balance."

"Well she's not really in motion." Leslie pointed out.

"Did you want me to push her?"

"No! Just . . . give me her back before you maim her."

"Fine." Red plucked his daughter off the board and gave her back to Leslie. The Irken scanned the area for something to do. ZIM and his friends were all watching Purple do a few made up stunts he invented on the half pipe by the parking lot . . . Parking lot. Red suddenly got a malicious idea in his head. An idea that he carried out with years ago, and for old times sake, he must do it again. "Hey, Les, hand me my wallet, would ya?" His wife gave him an inquiring look but nonetheless gave him what he asked for. Red sat on the picnic table next to Leslie and pulled out a parking ticket he received days ago.

"When did you get that?" Leslie asked, disappointedly.

"Thursday. Did you know you're _not_ supposed to park in a 'No Parking' zone?" Leslie rolled her eyes.

"You're an idiot."

"Yes, but I'm your idiot." Red took a pencil out of her purse and started to erase the information written on the ticket. "Ha, stupid ink comes off with eraser." Once the form was blank again, Red walked over to the lot. Leslie followed him to see what he was going to do. Red smiled when he spotted his victim's car. He immediately started to scribble down the info for the car including the model, make, license plate number, VIN number, etc.

"What are you doing?" Leslie gasped, trying to snatch the paper away. He was too quick for her.

"Nothing." He said, innocently. Red started to read out loud what he wrote down. "_Violation: automobile is parked too close to a dog shit. This is inconvenient to the owners who must pick it up but cannot now that there is a vehicle staring at them no less than a meter away._" Leslie groaned. "_Next time keep your car on a leash, dumbass._"

"Red, don't do this."

"_Culprit is fined of ten point five thousand dollars, two dimes, a quarter and seven pennies._" Red smirked to himself. "There." He placed the ticket under the car's windshield wiper. The Irken looked quite pleased with himself. He turned around to go back into the park but Leslie was standing right behind him, glowering.

"You are the most immature man I know." She hissed.

"Even more immature than that?" Red asked pointing his thumb toward the half pipe where Purple was doing a sassy victory dance on top of the structure while shouting something about him being the, 'Supreme Being' as the kids below watched.

"Well . . . I think he's the only exception." She finally said. Red grinned and leant in to kiss her cheek briefly before joining the others again. He approached ZIM's friends.

"Where's the little guy?" Red asked. The boys and Gaz looked up to him confused.

"Hark! I, Peder Lee Kinley, The First, found-th who thou art looking for!" Purple shouted from the top of the half pipe, pointing towards a nearby tree. "He's over-th there on yonder with his dame!"

"My blessings to you, noble duke! May-th the angels in heaven above poop rainbows of great fortune and glory on your worthy green head!" Red called back.

"I accept-th thy blessing with great honor, your majesty!" Purple replied before walking to the edge of the half pipe and rode down. ZIM's friends started to laugh at Red and Purple's special way of talking to each other. Gaz just crossed her arms, being used to that kind of nonsense. Red made his way in the vicinity of where Purple had directed him too. Sure enough, there ZIM was sitting underneath a tall palm with Tak. For once they weren't lip-locked. That was highly unusual for them. They were whispering something about a wedding until Red came into view. He shrugged it off thinking that they were just talking about Tenn and Purple's wedding coming soon.

"What are you two doing here all alone?" Red asked. ZIM looked up and scowled.

"Trying to have a quiet moment with my girl and not get interrupted by you. Of course, that's nearly impossible for me to have nowadays." ZIM answered, bitterly. "What do you need?"

"Nothing. I just want you to join us."

"In what?"

"Fellowship, duh. We're here as together to bond and have fun." Red took both younger Irkens by the wrists and pulled them up. "Come on. You're out of your grounding for today only and you're wasting it by doing nothing." ZIM groaned and allowed himself to be dragged back to where the others were. Red grabbed his skateboard again. "Wanna rematch?" ZIM frowned but nodded, nonetheless.

"You first." The boy said. "So that way I know what I'm up against."

"Alright then. Try to top this." Red pushed himself on his board to the railing that ZIM skidded on earlier. All eyes were on him for the new competition. Red jumped up on the rail and grinded halfway down the rail when suddenly his board when out from underneath him. Red gasped when he landed hard. Both his legs were on either sides of the rail. He fell off and slid a good few feet before coming to a complete halt. Hysterical laughter erupted from everyone present as Red groaned in pain while holding his manhood in agony. "Augh! Nooooooo . . ." Red whimpered, eyes closed tight, biting his lip hard. When he opened his eyes again he saw Leslie hovering over him.

"Are you okay?" She asked, concerned, inspecting his body. Red sat up still holding his crotch. Leslie looked at the side of him that he landed on. He was scrapped up and bleeding but that was only because he was dumb enough not to wear a shirt. Her eyes wandered over to the spot in between his legs. Red whined in pain.

"It hurts, Les. Kiss it better." Red moaned. Leslie rolled her eyes. The older Irken winced when he heard his little brother's voice yelling to him.

"Does this mean I win by default?"

**June 23, 2001**

"Zeiden! Zeiden! Zeiden! Zeiden!" ZIM smiled politely, waving to the chanting people of Irk as he walked down the vivid, red carpet to the Epi Centre in downtown Meijour, Irk for the Annual Celeb Awards. ZIM held tightly to Tak's hand as he led her slowly down the carpet. This was the first time she's ever had so much attention so she was a bit reluctant to accompany ZIM at the awards. Red was a nominee for the awards as well as ZIM. It was extremely short notice but when it comes to the planet Irk, you must always be on your toes.

"Shall we start filing into the auditorium? The awards will be broadcasted in ten minutes." Tak said in ZIM's antenna. He nodded and with one final wave he made his way to the enormous building where the ceremony would commence. ZIM glanced behind him and saw Red and Leslie try to follow him and Tak in only to be stopped by paparazzi and news reporters asking about their child. ZIM and Tak walked down the long stretch of aisle to the front row seats where all the Irken celebrities sat. As the two walked down the hall, the audience already seated started to roar with applause. ZIM smiled, waved, and winked being his normal charming self. Tak and ZIM were escorted to their reserved seats. Front row and center. ZIM saw who he was going to sit next to and was happy to see that it was Skoodge.

"Hey, mate, how it goes with ya?"

"It goes well, Zei." Skoodge stood up and gave ZIM a brotherly hug before sitting again. The friends talked animatedly until the hostess of the awards took her spot on stage.

"Good evening everyone! I'm Mei Yuno from I.W.T. station's hit show, _Propelled_. I'm your hostess for tonight and trust me, there's a lot of awards to be granted and lots of entertainment coming your way including performances from Larry Roe, Kik Lusseron, Tara Leroud, and a duet by the lovely Macale Brothers!" The audience screamed with anticipation. The hostess went on to talk about how the evening will progress and told a few jokes. ZIM sat bored in his chair just wanting to get the award ceremony over with. Not that he wasn't honored with even being considered talented enough to be there, it was just the fact that he was lacking sleep and woke up irritable that morning. The hostess went on to tell a few jokes, a story, poked some fun at the other celebrities that were there. Then finally announced what the first award would be. "Lets kickoff the show with our first award. Let's meet the nominees to see who gets the title of, 'Favorite Comedic Actor'." ZIM sat back in his seat. He's been so busy with his new earth show that he didn't have enough time for new shows and movies on Irk. "Scara Quen in _Homicide_. Matu Puller in _Lover Boy_. Zeiden Macale Junior in _Invader ZIM_. Sope Grey in _Music Buyer_." ZIM's antenna perked. He was apart of the nominees? Invader ZIM hasn't even premiered on Irk yet! That was odd. Skoodge winked at ZIM.

"Watch it be you."

"More like, watch it _not_ be me. No one here has even seen it yet." Skoodge cocked a brow at ZIM.

"What are you talking about? Everyone has seen it. The first episode has been out in theaters for a week now." ZIM looked at Skoodge with an amazed expression. How come he never heard that?

"The winner is . . . Matu Puller! _Lover Boy_!" ZIM smirked and looked at Skoodge.

"Huh. I was really hoping you'd win this one." The two went quiet as the Irken got on stage and made his speech. ZIM tuned out, as the speeches were always the most boring part. Several awards passed until ZIM was called as another nominee along with Red. "Nominee's for Favorite Male Artist are, Zeiden Macale Junior, Tyran Porter, Leon Smot, and Red Macale, also known as Irk's Sexiest man alive!" The crowd went wild. ZIM glanced at Red who was looking at his lap, blushing modestly. "And Kye Delooker." Mei Yun took the white envelope and tore it open to see the winner. She looked back up to the audience and cameras. "And the winner is . . . Red Macale!" ZIM beamed as he watched his brother stand and walk to the stage. He went to the center podium and accepted the golden award. He smiled toothily at his fans.

"Uh, I guess this is the sappy 'thank you' portion of my acceptance speech so here we go." Red cleared his throat. "I have my producer and agent to thank for doing all my dirty and not to mention boring work. I have to thank my family for their love and support. I have my little brother to thank for giving me some competition as Irk's favorite male artist. I honestly thought he was going to win, but I'm looking down at him right now and he seems a lot happier that I won." Red cracked a bright smile. "If he doesn't win an award tonight, that's okay because you'll be seeing him later on in the show when we sing our duet. Thank you fans for voting for me! I appreciate it! I appreciate the fact that you guys recognize my talent and that I'm better than Zeiden Macale at singing and composing. Thank you." Red said sarcastically as he raised his trophy a bit higher by his head to show it off. "Hey, look what I got ZIM! It's an award that's mine and not yours." ZIM just laughed and shook his head. Red nodded to the cheering audience once more before going backstage to get his picture taken along with a short interview.

ZIM scratched his antenna as favorite female actresses were called. He glanced over at Tak. "I guess this is better than watching it on T.V. I still don't want to be here though."

"Why not?" She asked.

"I don't like these kinds of competition." ZIM admitted. Tak rolled her eyes.

"You mean you don't like the kinds of competitions where you don't win." She mumbled. ZIM furrowed a brow but then realized that there was some truth behind what she said. ZIM continued to sit through all the awards. He was nominated several more times and Red won once more, but ZIM, oddly enough, received nothing. Not even an honorable mention. Soon the finale came. The biggest and most honorable award was to be announced. Best most talented overall celebrity. Female and male both competed for this title so obviously there was a lot of nominees. To win this award was like saying that this particular person was the most talented singer, actor, model, host, etc. on Irk. After this award ZIM and Red would close with their duet.

"Next, Irk's most talented celebrity! Here are the nominees; actor, producer, and songwriter, Skoodge Orajesh! Singer and actor, Matu Puller! Singer, actor, model, musician, composer, and songwriter, Zeiden Macale Junior! Producer, director, actress, script writer, and screenwriter, Furg Pollianne! Actress, Skik Wikkio! Singer and model Tay Lair! And director, writer, composer, and comedian, Jeb Luther! And that other Macale boy whom we already seen on stage twice tonight." ZIM felt his hand being held by Tak. He smiled to her. She looked nervous for him. "The winner is . . . Coming after a word from our sponsors!" ZIM groaned. He didn't react well under suspense. Tak turned her face toward him.

"If you don't win this one then something is seriously wrong. You've been at the top of the charts on Irk for years and years." ZIM shrugged.

"Maybe the people are getting sick of me." ZIM suggested.

"Oh don't be a fool. They love you!" Tak claimed.

"We don't know that for sure." ZIM said. The break was short enough. Soon Mei took the stage again to make the final announcement.

"Welcome back to the A.C.A's. We were just about to unveil the top celebrity of this year!" She said, peppily. Mei ripped open the envelope and looked at the winner written on the inside. ZIM heard Skoodge hold his breath. ZIM tensed. The auditorium was deathly silent. ZIM felt every muscle in his body go tense, a cold sweat broke across his being, and the eerie silence of a full auditorium cut through the air. "And the winner is . . . Who else but, Zeiden Macale Junior!" ZIM's jaw dropped as he sunk back in his seat. Skoodge beamed and gave ZIM a double thumbs up. ZIM stood and gave him a hug and Tak a kiss. He approached the stage and went to center stage, his heart pounding rapidly at the great honor of getting the best title possible. ZIM didn't think it was possible that any audience could be so loud but this . . . this was impossibly loud. As if ZIM pressed his antenna right next to a land mine as it exploded!

"My God, I don't know what to say . . . Well I do know that I have to say 'thank you' because otherwise you people would think me rude so, thank you! Thank you so much from not just the bottom but the top of my heart too! This is insane! I never won anything quite like this and it's all because of you guys, my fans, that made this possible!" ZIM held up his trophy proudly. "I thank my producer and agent, my family, my girl, my friends, everyone here tonight! You're all amazing!" ZIM sucked in his stomach when a something invaded his head again.

_They don't think you're amazing._

"We also thank you, ZIM, for bringing smiles to all our faces! Keep doing, what you do!" Mei said. "Now if the talented Red Macale would please join his little brother on the stage for your duet, we'd all appreciate that." ZIM grinned when he saw Red hop on the stage. His older brother bent down to hug ZIM and congratulate him. Mei handed them both microphones for their song. Red and ZIM smiled equally big at the audience, listening to them chant their names as their song started to play overhead.

This was truly, one of the best nights ZIM has ever experienced. And he was so glad he could experience it with his fans and especially with his family. The Irken looked out to the audience to give them one last gift before the night ended.

ZIM sang.

**June 27, 2001**

ZIM smiled brightly when he saw his friend exit the dugout and walked nervously to the batters box.

"Yeah, D! Slam the ball outta the park!" ZIM took off his face mask and shouted peppily as if he was the team cheerleader. He heard the coaches of both teams shush him. Dib looked at ZIM pleadingly.

"Zeiden, you're supposed to not support either team." Dib whined. "Please don't embarrass me." ZIM brushed him off.

"It doesn't matter, D. I'm rooting for the team I want to win."

"But you're the umpire." Dib pointed out. "If we win, the other team will think that we cheated through you." ZIM shrugged.

"Dillon," ZIM rested a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You're team doesn't stand a chance anyway." Dib frowned at him. ZIM covered his face again with the mask. "Batter up!" He shouted.

It was before the game when the coaches of Dib's team approached him, recognizing him from the little league, Bronx team. After a few questions that they figured only an umpire would know, ZIM got the position as ump. The original umpire never showed up. So ZIM, sporting a chest protector, leg guards, and face mask, stood behind the catcher of the opposing team. ZIM thought he'd just sit back and enjoy watching his friends play. Nope! He got to interact with the game as well! The pitcher threw the first ball. Dib's shaky legs, momentarily went still as he swung the bat and missed.

"Strike one!" ZIM called. Dib started to shake again. "Come on, D." ZIM whispered reassuringly to his friend. Another pitch was fired. "Ball! One, one! Good eye, D, good eye." Dib tensed up for the third pitch. "Fastball right in your hot zone, Dib. Swing." ZIM said just loud enough for Dib to hear. Dib, without looking back at his friend, nodded. The pitcher threw the ball. Dib timed the ball perfectly and swung. The sound of the ball connecting with the wooden bat rung in the boy's ears. ZIM gasped. "Oh no." The ball went sailing straight up as Dib ran to first. ZIM considered making the call of an infield fly but decided against it. The ball landed in the glove of the second baseman when it came back down to earth. "Batter out!" ZIM watched as Dib hung his head low and ran back to the dugout. It was bad enough Dib was batting eighth. ZIM felt horrible. At least the inning was over and Dib could avoid the wrath of his coach and stand in the right outfield, far away from the dugout. Dib waved to ZIM from the outfield. The Irken just grinned at him. Dib might not be the best player, but he sure did have a positive attitude.

**Later**

"How'd I do?"

"You did great! You improved a lot since I first started to play with you." ZIM stated, driving them the the studio. Apparently the studio officials came up with this 'Appreciate Our Heritage' month to celebrate nothing other but the studios' casts' descendants. Everyday in August would be another way to celebrate. They'd film something interesting about someone's heritage and they'd broadcast it on the studio's network channel. ZIM, belonging to many ethnic groups such as Western Irk from the Irken wetland, lowland, giant delta, country Ahktervado, Aboriginal Australian of the Kimberley, and a bit of Israeli, would have a day totally dedicated to himself because of his many nationalities. It would be hard to meet someone with one ethnic group especially since this was a multicultural America. Dib being fully Gaelic would have a day with other people who have Western Scottish blood. ZIM could easily assume no one else in the studio quite had aboriginal or Irken blood. Considering the fact that the population of aboriginals in Australia were only two percent and there was only a handful of Irkens living on earth.

ZIM's antenna perked when he heard the faint sound of his Imp ringing in the backseat of his pickup. "Dillon, could you answer that?"

"Answer what?"

"My phone." Dib raised a brow but reached behind him nonetheless and found ZIM's phone.

"Huh. I didn't hear it ringing." Dib answered the phone for ZIM. "Hello? You've reached ZIM's phone, Dib speaking." There was a pause on the other end of the line.

". . . _Dillon! How's my bestest friend ever?_" Dib cringed at Red's loud voice.

"I'm great. Thanks for asking."

"_How far are you away from the studio?_"

"Uh, about a minute away. Why?" Dib asked.

"_Tell ZIM that when he gets here he needs to see me in our dressing room._"

"Will do, sir."

"_Thanks, Dibbers! You're such a sweetie!_"

"Thank you, Red." Dib blushed, smiling.

"_Love you! Bye!_" Dib heard a click then the dial tone. Dib locked ZIM's Imp with a confused look. Slowly, Dib turned his head to face ZIM.

". . . You're brother just said that he loved me."

**At the Studio**

ZIM walked with Dib down the long corridors of dressing rooms for the stars. Finally they came up to the room with a golden name plate that had black lettering in the middle writing out, 'Macale'. ZIM opened the door and nodded to Dib as he left. ZIM was greeted by Red on the couch.

"Hey, Zei." Red said, glancing up from his laptop. "We have some important issues to address, mate." ZIM sat next to Red and peered over to see what he was looking at on the laptop screen.

"Oooh." ZIM bit his lip when he saw it was his grades. Red nodded.

"Yeah, know what's pretty interesting?" ZIM looked at his older brother. "You're getting held back." ZIM's eyes widened. He has to repeat the seventh grade? No! Once was enough!

_You really are a failure._

"But-"

"You failed every class at least once every four week term." Red explained. "Mind telling me why that is?"

"I'm busy!"

"I know you're busy. Has it ever occurred to you that you make yourself busy, however?" ZIM tilted his head.

"What do you mean?"

"You sign contracts, you agree to do more concerts and photo shoots and commercials when you just don't have the time for it all." ZIM bowed his head. Red was right. ZIM always tried to avoid school by throwing himself at other work. "That's why I'm enrolling you in the studio's private academy." ZIM's eyes went wide.

"No! That'll take even more time out of my day! I have a life, ya know? I can't waste eight hours of my days to come at some stupid learning facility!" Red scowled.

"Did I give you an option?"

"I think you should-"

"Did I, or did I not give you an option?" Red cut him off with a stern voice. ZIM crossed his arms not meeting Red's eye.

"You didn't."

"Right. So there you go. Starting this July you'll be attending Nickelodeon Academy."

"What? July? But it's summer here!"

"It's a year round school. School everyday except for Friday through Sunday. That's your weekend." Red said. "Besides, since you're getting held back anyway, it's probably best you have year round school to catch up to the grade you're supposed to be in."

"B-but . . . I can be held back! I hate repeating! It'll be a waste of one year of my life! You can't do this to me!"

_You deserve this misery._

"Zeiden, calm down. It's not that bad. There's always another option." Red said. "Instead of eight hours a day, you can have nine. That extra hour goes to the seventh grade portion that you need to repeat. That way you can complete eighth and seventh at the same time."

"I don't want to go to this school alone."

"Your friends are doing it and so is Tak." ZIM's eyes darted back to Red.

"Tak?"

"Yeah. She's gonna start tenth grade here since she's living with us permanently now." Red said. "ZIM, I think part of the reason as to why your failing is because I don't think you're capable of learning on your own. You need to be in a classroom environment." ZIM groaned.

"Reeeed-" The older Irken pressed his fingers to ZIM's mouth to silence the young one.

"Shhh. Don't whine. I don't care what you say or do, you're gonna be enrolled in this school whether you like it or not." ZIM went quiet for a moment.

"They charge tuition?"

"Ten grand a year."

"What are the classes?"

"The core classes are the basic studies. Since this is a studio academy, they'll be mostly focussing on arts and literature." Red reached to a folder on the coffee table. "Here. Look through these. You have seven classes each day. You get choices, for example, you have an option to choose either biology or botany for sciences. Algebra or geometry for math. Advanced English or literature for language arts. The list goes on." ZIM looked through the papers. So he had seven classes plus the extra class to make up seventh grade.

"Red." ZIM started.

"Yeah?"

"When I complete eighth grade . . . I'm dropping out of high school."

"You are not."

"Are too."

"Zeiden, I know you have your future pretty much mapped out from here, but I really want you to get the education you need." Red said. ZIM grunted in response. "Besides, you can't drop out without my consent anyway." ZIM rolled his eyes. Of course.

**June 28, 2001**

"May the most destructive car win." Red smirked at Purple's challenge. Tonight was the night of the demolition. The two Irkens were up against three other human drivers to see whose car could last the longest.

"Let's just hope we don't get killed." Red said, giving his friend a high five. Purple jumped into his car through the window, which now had no glass. The windshield and windows all had to be removed for safety reasons. Red got in his own vehicle and started up the engine, putting on his dirt bike helmet, and buckling himself in. The two drove to the starting line where the three other drivers were already lined up. A man holding a green flag stood to the side on a platform. The man raised the flag high then brought it down to signal that the demolition race has begun.

**Meanwhile**

"Oh my God. I can't believe I let him do this." Tenn whined. "What if he gets hurt? I don't want us to celebrate our wedding while he has broken bones."

"Relax, Tenn." ZIM said. "No one so far tonight was hurt. Why should someone get hurt now?"

"There's always a chance, Zeiden." Tenn huffed, watching as the green flag went down and all drivers started to race to see who pulls out first on the mud track. One of the five drivers already clunked out before he could even get to the starting line. Tenn watched fearfully, keeping a wary eye on her fiancé's car. She cringed every time Purple smashed into someone else or got hit himself. "Ugh! This is never happening again. How many laps do they have?"

"Fifteen." ZIM said. Tenn groaned. "It's a short track! They already went around three times." ZIM explained. That didn't seem to help Tenn at all. She gasped when she saw Red's car T-bone Purple's on the drivers side. As that was taking place, another human driver decided to rear end Purple's car. Purple managed to break away and pull out in first again. Tenn sighed with relief. Her relief was short lived when his car jumped over a large mound of dirt. The jump caused his car to fly in the air and tilt sideways. Tenn yelped as the car came crashing back down the the ground completely on it's side. Then after a moment the car was hit by another diver causing it to roll over on it's top, now upside down. Tenn held her breath. The crowd was going nuts over the action.

"Barbaric humans. How could they find flipping cars entertaining?" Tenn grumbled.

"He's fine, Tenn." ZIM reassured her. "Look. I can see him unbuckling himself." Tenn stared at the rolled car and nearly slumped back when she saw Purple crawl out safe and sound and stand on top of the totaled car. He raised his arms up, victoriously. The audience shrieked with excitement. "The drivers actually get more money for flipping the cars. It makes a good show." Tenn face palmed and shook her head.

"This was the dumbest thing they've ever done."

**Later**

ZIM led Tenn to the pits of the raceway when the demolition was done. They found Red and Purple by the nurse's trailer.

"I told you he got hurt!" Tenn hissed at ZIM. Tenn hurried over to Purple, who was sitting on a table. He had a small cut over his left eye. "Are you okay, baby?" Tenn asked, cupping his face.

"I hit my head on the edge of the door when I flipped. I'm okay though." Purple said. Tenn looked over to Red. His wrist had an icepack over it.

"What about you? Are you hurt?" Red shrugged.

"This actually didn't happen during the race. When we were loading up our cars I twisted my wrist." Tenn rolled her eyes.

"But you're both okay, right?" The two Irkens nodded. "Good. Now I can do this." She backhanded Purple across the jaw.

"Damn, girl! What was that for?"

"For making me worry about you!" Tenn yelled then stomped away, whacking Red upside the head as she left. ZIM just snickered.

"She's in a good mood."

**July 1, 2001**

"Get up, Zeiden." ZIM cracked open one eye, groaning. He caught a glimpse of his clock. It read six-thirty AM.

"Omm goin' back tah shhleeeep." ZIM mumbled, closing his eyes again, totally ignoring Red.

"Zeiden, get up right now. Your school starts at seven-thirty." ZIM didn't budge. Red got annoyed. "Do you want to be grounded?" No response. "Huh . . . Fine." Red grabbed the comforter and yanked it off ZIM's small frame. The little Irken scowled and curled up into a tight ball to keep himself warm. "Up."

"No." Red rolled his eyes. This time he grabbed his little brother's ankle and hoisted him up. ZIM gasped, eyes going wide. "Red!" ZIM squealed, dangling from the older Irken's strong grip. "Put me down!" Red ignored his pleas and walked over to ZIM's closet. He pulled out an outfit for ZIM to wear. "I can dress myself! Please! The blood is rushing to my head!" Red finally had mercy and set ZIM down. "Thank you." The boy said then looked at the clothes Red picked out. Khaki dress pants, a white, button up shirt, dark brown penny loafers, and a solid, dark blue sweater vest with a slate colored tie. A uniform? "Oh God, please don't tell me that the studio's school is making us wear certain clothes."

"Sorry bud. Rules for the private academy requires either black or khaki pants and a sweater vest with a tie."

"That's stupid! Home school doesn't have a dress code." ZIM whined.

"Not my rules." ZIM grudgingly took the clothes from Red and started to dress himself.

"Did you go to bed at the time I told you to?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Red, nine PM is way too early!" ZIM huffed. "Damn, this school is going to ruin me! I have never been to school before and I always do what I want during the day!" Red ignored ZIM's moans and whines of protest.

"Just be sure that you arrive promptly at seven-thirty, Zeiden." Red said. "I'm going back to bed." ZIM just scoffed.

"Whatever."

**Later**

ZIM entered soundstage eleven with Tak. The two of them had the first class together. This class was going to be full of the older kids that are at a higher grade level than the others. They walked into the large room and found that the soundstage was completely redone to look more like a classroom than a stage. People were already sitting next to their desks waiting five more minutes till the day started. A few minor characters from a few different shows, and a handful or actual stars. ZIM took note of all the people such as, Regina Rocket, Lars and Maurice Rodriquez, all from Rocket power. Eliza Thornberry from her show. Francis, Trixie Tang, who apparently was older than she was portrayed to be in the show, Veronica, and Vicky from Fairly Odd Parents. Then him and Tak made a class of ten total. ZIM was shocked to see the teacher behind the desk was none other than Denzel Crocker. ZIM has heard once or twice from Timmy that Mr. Crocker quit his original teaching job to act. So the studio, knowing he was a certified teacher, hired him instead of a stranger.

"You, Zeiden!" ZIM looked at Crocker. The odd man pointed to an open seat in the front. "You sit in the front. The taller one sits back there next to Veronica and Trixie.

"How about I sit next to her?" ZIM suggested, motioning at Tak.

"How about, no? Now please take your seats so we can get started." ZIM huffed and lazily walked to the desk in the front. There was only two rows of five desks. ZIM sat next to Reggie on one side and had Eliza on the other side. He glanced over his shoulder and was happy to see that Tak was sitting directly behind him. The short Irken slouched behind his desk as Crocker went over the year's syllabus and other boring things. "After we've completed the algebra segment, we'll head straight into algebra two." ZIM closed his eyes and rested his head in his arms on the desk. A short while later soft snoring sounded from ZIM's nasal cavity. Crocker stopped talking to stare at the sleeping Irken. The others stared too, giggling softly, not wanting to wake him up before Crocker did. The man grabbed a ruler from his desk and approached the slumbering Irken. With one lightning fast move Crocker slammed the ruler down on the desk right by ZIM's antenna. The little Irken yelped, sitting straight up.

"Uh! . . . Could you repeat the question?" ZIM asked, figuring that Crocker only woke him up to quiz him.

"There was no question. Keep your eyes open." The man said, then continued to talk again. After awhile ZIM felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked to Reggie who got his attention. She slid a note to him from under neath her desk. He took it from her and read it. It was folded several times and on it, ZIM's name was written in scrawled handwriting. He opened the note to see what it was and who it was from.

_I like pineapples_

_-Twister_

ZIM cocked a brow. Why would he send him a note that simply stated his favorite fruit? ZIM folded the note again and shoved it into his shoulder bag. Soon another note was passed his way.

_Do you like pineapples?_

ZIM scowled and shoved the second note into his bag too. Why on earth was this kid wondering about pineapples? Finally, after what seemed to be a lifetime, the first class ended, indicating they had to switch classes.

ZIM turned to Tak to talk. "What soundstage are you going to now?" He asked.

"Thirteen for biology." She said. ZIM nodded.

"Me too. Let's walk together-" ZIM felt his arm being grabbed. He whirled around to see who stopped him. He came face to face with Twister.

"I have a feeling you don't like pineapples." The boy said. ZIM tilted his head at the taller boy.

"Were you just so bored that you decided to make up a weird conversation starter to entertain you?" ZIM asked. Twister nodded. "That's what I thought . . . I got to go now." ZIM walked away from the kid. He was just trying to be friendly, ZIM assumed.

"What was that all about?" Tak wondered.

"Eh. I don't know. But I have a feeling that this school year is going to be full of weird happenings."

**Later**

"What. The. Hell?" ZIM stood speechless in the doorway of the soundstage, shocked to see Red behind the teacher's desk. All heads turned to the entry to see ZIM enter the room. The small Irken looked shocked, and for an obvious reason. Red gave his little brother a big smile.

"Surprise."

"What are you doing?"

"Teaching, duh! I'm your biology and English teacher."

"I didn't even know you had a teaching degree!"

"Of course I do! I mean, we did go to college for eight years. That's plenty long to get a teaching degree." Red said.

"We?" ZIM questioned. Red smirked, pointing beyond ZIM.

"Purple too." At that moment Purple came up from behind ZIM.

"Hellooooo!" The other older Irken chirped, happily. ZIM's eyes were so wide it put the term, 'bugging out' to shame. "Aren't you just the luckiest kid in the whole world? Having your brothers be your teachers?" Purple patted his head.

"B-but . . . What about . . . Ugh! I can't escape from you guys!"

**That Night**

ZIM decided he hated this whole 'academy' thing already. It burned through nearly nine hours of his day! As soon as he got home he felt like the only thing left to do for the day was eat supper then go to bed! School would no doubt make things more difficult than easy for ZIM. Of course, when he needed to, he could skip. Red would be none the wiser . . . Oh yeah. Red was one of his teachers. Although ZIM did find out Red wasn't going to be teaching everyday. He'd alternate with Purple and Mr. Baker. Dib was elated among finding out that his dad was teaching too. It would be a good 'bonding' time, Dib said.

ZIM heard his room door open.

"Man, boring first day huh?"

"Mmhmm." ZIM replied to Tak.

"At least we have the fourth off. It's the American's Independence Day."

"Mmhmm . . . I'm not excited at all."

"Why? Every class we have together." Tak said, sitting on the edge of his bed. "That's good for us." ZIM shrugged from his lying position.

"That's true. But I'd rather be able to interact with you than just stare and not be able to talk to you."

"Yeah, me too." Tak put a hand on his forehead. "It's fine though. School is just a few years out of our lives. Then we have the rest of our existence to spend together."

"I can't believe my brothers are teachers! This is gonna be awful! I can just see it now. Red will catch me when I'm not listening and he'll ask me an impossible question and humiliate me in front of everyone."

"Oh, Red is more mature than that."

"Is he really, Tak? Is he really?" ZIM asked, sitting up to get in her face. "He's a spontaneous son of a gun and he'll do anything to keep me on my toes."

"We only have him for two classes, ZIM. The rest of the day will be with Crocker and that other teacher . . . Whom I already forgot."

"Miss. Itry."

"Yeah her."

"She's a bitch. I can tell already." ZIM said. "She yelled at me for sneezing!"

"She didn't yell at you. She sternly told you to cover your mouth." Tak pointed out. "Stop thinking that this school will be the worst thing ever. Give it a chance and you may find it somewhat enjoyable." Tak put a hand on ZIM's shoulder. "I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt, so why can't you?" ZIM just groaned.

"Fine. Whatever." ZIM mumbled.

**July 4, 2001**

"_Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave! . . . Ore the land of the free! . . . And the home, of the, brave!_" ZIM put his ball cap back on his head at the ending of the anthem sung by some human female. It was a hot day at the Yankee's stadium. The sun was bright, not a cloud in sight. A perfect day for a home game.

ZIM gathered his team in for a huddle. "Alright, gentlemen, let's make this independence day a great one by winning this game!" The boys shouted in agreement. "Put your hands in Broncos! Bronx on three; one, two three!"

"Bronx!" The boys all shouted in unison.

"Lets take the field!" ZIM ordered, hustling to the pitchers mound. He was starting as pitcher today and he was very nervous. If they win this game today they get to go to the Little League World Series! Something ZIM has always dreamed of since he fell in love with baseball. If they didn't win, however, they'd get eliminated and their season would come to an early halt. Today it was the Bronx Broncos versus the Chicago Chicks.

ZIM started to warm up himself and the catcher by pitching a few pre game balls. Finally, after about five minutes the umpire yelled, "Batter up!" ZIM caught the ball from the catcher and prepared himself for the starting pitch. He gave himself a moment to look up at the stands and see his friends and family. They all waved to him. ZIM smiled brightly back. ZIM adjusted his cap so the visor covered his eyes better.

This game was being broadcasted all across the nation and even some parts of Canada and Mexico. There was an estimated number of over a million viewers currently watching him right now, stand on the pitchers mound. Everywhere he looked he saw a T.V. station camera. He just hoped he didn't get an itchy butt during the game.

ZIM looked at the sign the catcher gave him. A fastball. ZIM nodded and wound up for the first pitch. He fired the ball fast to the catcher's glove. The boy batting swung and missed. ZIM received the ball again and got ready for another pitch. He threw another fast ball. This time the bat connected with the ball. A line river straight towards ZIM. The little Irken reacted quicker than the ball was going. ZIM snatched the ball before it could hit him, making the boy get out immediately. The crowd all cheered. He heard a few spectators chant his name. ZIM loved it when that happened. It hyped him up. Encouraged him to keep doing better and better.

ZIM licked his fingers to get a better grip on the ball. It was a three up, three down inning. ZIM and his team went into the dugouts to start batting next. ZIM was batting third, as usual, being that he was the best overall hitter. As he was in the pits, warming up by taking a few practice swings he felt his chest tighten. ZIM was thrown into a coughing fit.

"You alright, boy?" Coach Jonathan asked. ZIM nodded, wheezing.

"Can you get my inhaler?"

_Hindrance. You're a hindrance._

"You're okay?"

"Oh yeah. This is turning out to be normal for me." ZIM said. The coach disappeared for a few moments then reappeared out of the dugout. He handed ZIM his orange inhaler after inspecting it for a short second.

"Why do you have a butterfly sticker on it?" Coach Jonathan asked. ZIM put the nozzle to his mouth and pressed down on top of the inhaler. A burst of chemicals leaked into his throat. ZIM held his breath then released.

"I thought it looked pretty." ZIM finally answered.

"Oh . . . I see." The coach cleared his throat. "Are ya gonna give me a big hit this inning?"

"You know it, coach!" ZIM chirped. The coach smiled.

"Love the enthusiasm! Keep it up!" ZIM gave the man a playful salute then went back to timing out the pitches.

"Batter up!" The ump called. ZIM remained in the batters box as the first batter went up. Another kid, who was on deck, stood before him. ZIM was in the hole. The first batter hit a single on the first pitch. ZIM raised a brow.

"Not bad." He mumbled, as the crowd happily applauded. ZIM waited till the next batter hit a sacrifice bunt. Advancing the runner. The batter got out on first. Now ZIM was up. He had a runner on second. One out. If he hit a double, that would count as an RBI. If he hit a homer, he'd bat in two runs. ZIM approached the plate. Figuring the pitcher was a righty, ZIM took the left side of the batters box. The pitcher furrowed a brow and quickly switched his glove from his left hand to his right. ZIM's jaw nearly dropped. This kid was ambidextrous like him! ZIM smirked. Two could play that game. ZIM suddenly stepped over so he was batting right handed.

"We got a switch hitter!" The opponents coach called. The pitcher on the mound looked dumbfounded.

"That's right, mate. I'm the real deal here." ZIM whispered to himself. The pitcher just scowled and instead of switching again he lobbed the ball toward ZIM. The Irken swung and hit it dead on. The ball went sailing in the air but in the foul ball area. In that time the pitcher switched hands again. ZIM stuck with him and switched sides. The pitcher looked like he was getting anxious now. The next pitch was thrown. Another perfect strike. ZIM swung and hit the ball dead on. A loud _thwack! _sounded from his wooden bat as the ball ripped through the air like a comet. It was going, and going until it collided with the far fence way in the outfield. The crowd stood up and started to cheer as the first runner was batted in. ZIM rounded first and headed to second with blinding speed. He then rounded second as the ball was being thrown in. Finally his base coach warned him to stop on three. It was too risky to go all the way home. The audience loved it. They roared and chanted joyfully. ZIM smiled as his base coach gave him a smack over the helmet as a sign of approval.

ZIM caught the pitchers glare from where he stood.

"We're up, one to nothin'. Your move." ZIM snarked. He grinned, cockily. This was his game. He had it in the bag. ZIM knew for a fact that this game season was going to be a nice long one.

**July 8, 2001**

ZIM moaned, leaning back in his desks chair. Miss. Itry has been talking about nothing for the past half hour and it was really waring on ZIM's nerves. Maybe if he closed his eyes for just a few minutes she wouldn't notice.

No. No such luck. That old bat was sharper than a hawk. Miss. Itry has an eye on ZIM constantly. It was as if he was the only misbehaved student in class. Then again . . .

ZIM looked around. All the girls were mature and behaved. All the boys were either way into learning, like A.J., to even consider misbehaving. Or to groggy to do anything. ZIM, of course, was always different. His mood swung like a PMS-ing teenage girl.

"Zeiden!" ZIM snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the teacher.

"Yes, milady?" ZIM asked, jokingly.

"I asked you a question."

"Was it perhaps a question that you asked me while I was completely zoned out?" ZIM put his hands behind his head. He heard a few snickers from the other students.

"Boy, I've dealt with miscreants like you before and trust me, you won't like the way I handle them."

"Try me." ZIM tested. The old woman just grit her teeth, highly annoyed. She was strict. Real strict. And usually quick to anger. But today she seemed a bit more laid back. Otherwise she would have snapped ZIM's head off by now.

"Answer the question. What is Taoism?" ZIM closed his eyes taking in a deep breath.

"Uhhh . . . I don't care." ZIM said, looking back up at her. "And no one else here does either."

"Zeiden." He heard Tak hiss to his right. She sat just two seats down. Miss. Itry approached ZIM.

"Listen here, you little brat. You keep up that attitude and you may find yourself in some deep water."

"I don't give a shit. I never asked to join this damn academy!" ZIM crossed his arms. Miss. Itry huffed, loosing patience quickly.

"I'll give you one last chance." She snarled. "Answer the question."

"I don't know! It's like some sort of Chinese way of humility or something." ZIM finally said. Miss. Itry scoffed.

"Pay attention as I go through it again." She turned back to her whiteboard. "And don't swear either. People who swear are seen as unintelligent buffoons." ZIM furrowed his brow. He really wasn't in the mood. For one thing, he wasn't a morning person at all! Another, she already called him a brat! He hated that with a passion! Now she called him stupid!

"And I'm sure you never swore before because you're a perfect little specimen of the human race. Am I right?" Miss. Itry just groaned, not looking at him. The little Irken had enough class for one day. He already spent the first three hours of his day here. He'd skip the rest. ZIM silently started to pack his things in his shoulder bag. He glanced up at his teacher who was still scribbling notes on the white board. ZIM stood up and as quickly and quietly as possible headed for the exit.

"And just where do you think you're going, young man?" ZIM froze. He turned his head.

"I'm leaving. Your class bores me."

"Uh huh. That's not happening. Sit yourself down right now, Mr. Macale."

"I'm not gonna just sit-"

"Now!" ZIM rolled his eyes and left the room anyway. "Zeiden!" Mrs. Itry called after him. ZIM picked up the pace. Power walking down the hall of the studio. He just hoped she wouldn't follow him. He glanced over his shoulder for a brief moment. No. Miss. Itry wasn't following him. But Tak was. ZIM stopped at the exit doors of the studio and waited till she caught up with him. ZIM's antenna slicked back when he saw her angry face up close. Tak pinched an area behind his neck.

"What the hell are you doing?" She demanded. "You're acting like a smeet!"

"Tak, let me go!" ZIM tried to pull away. She was much too strong. "I'm just skipping the rest of the day."

"Red is gonna see that you're not in his fifth period and he's gonna wanna know where you are." Tak pointed out.

"I don't care. Make up a lie for me."

"ZIM, I'm not going to lie to your brother. I don't want him to not trust me anymore." Tak clamped down harder on the back of ZIM's neck making him hunch in pain.

"Ow! Would you let go?"

"No! Zeiden, c'mon, be mature for once and come back to class. We only have twenty minutes left with her. You can survive." Tak led him back down the hall again. ZIM tried to struggle away from her again but his resistance came to an abrupt halt when he felt a swift kick to his rear, launching him forward a few feet.

"Tak!" ZIM's complaints were cut off by her grabbed his upper arm and squeezing. Tak practically dragged the poor Irken back to class. ZIM finally managed to rip away from her once more. "Takayla, I'm leaving. I'm not asking you to make an excuse anymore. I don't care if I get in trouble. I'm going." Tak gave ZIM a long, hard look. She shook her head in disappointment.

"Fine." She turned to enter the classroom but stopped and looked at ZIM again. "Did she offend you?" ZIM's antenna perked.

"Huh?"

"When she called you unintelligent?" ZIM bowed his head.

"A bit."

"Well in her defense, Zeiden, you were acting like a brat." Tak said. "No offense, ZIM, but you really need to step up you're maturity level." ZIM scowled. "Don't take it the wrong way, babe." Tak leaned over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. ZIM's facial features softened as she did. "I'm going back to class." She said then left him. ZIM stood in the hall. The little Irken sighed and started toward the parking lot. Yes, there would be hell to pay.

**Later**

Tak sat nervously in her next class. Purple was taking roll for their fifth hour class.

"Francis?"

"Here."

"A.J.?"

"Here."

"Veronica?"

"Here."

"Tak?"

"Here." Tak responded. He getting close to ZIM's name. What will she say? Should she say anything?

"Dib?"

"Here."

"ZIM?" No response. Purple looked up from his clipboard with an inquiring look. This too caught Red's attention. Purple looked to his friend. "He did come to school, right?" Red nodded.

"I woke him up this morning." Red's eyes scanned the room. They finally rested on Tak. She held her breath. "Do you know where he went?" Tak shook her head. That was the truth. She truly didn't know where he went. However, she did know that he left the studio. "You keep taking roll. I'll call him." Purple nodded then continued to rattle off the list of names. Tak watched as Red picked up his Imp and go to ZIM's contact. Tak frowned. Red was whispering in the phone, talking to his little brother. She watched as his face went from neutral to angry. Suddenly he stood up and left the room. Probably to yell. Tak sighed heavily again. Why did ZIM have to be so rebellious?

Once Purple was done with roll he typed something into the computer at their desk.

"Alright, children," He started. "Today we will be beginning rhetoric. Who can tell me what that is?" Tak shifted uncomfortably and raised her hand. "What do you want?" He asked Tak. She gave him a confused look.

"I want to answer the question." She said. Purple tilted his head to the side.

"Ooohh yes. Go ahead then."

"The study of using language effectively. Like have meaning behind your words that move the reader or listener emotionally or credibly." Tak answered. She usually kept quiet during class. But she wanted to get her mind off ZIM and the trouble he's in.

"Yes! That's exactly it. Have you guys practiced rhetoric before?" Purple asked as Red came stomping back in the room. "Red, please don't make a scene. I'm trying to teach." Red just rolled his eyes before he grabbed his truck keys and jacket and left again. "Anyways, like I was saying . . ." Tak tuned him out for the rest of the lesson. Her mind wandered to ZIM. She should of lied. Now he was gonna get grounded again and she wouldn't be able to see him. It sucked. Whenever he was grounded, it was like she was grounded too.

**After Class**

"Hey, where did ZIM go?" Tak looked at Dib who walked out of the studio together.

"I'm pretty sure he either went home or to Irk."

"Red didn't look too happy." Dib said. "Is ZIM in trouble?"

"Oh yes. Yes he is." Tak said. "I'm hoping that your calm and sophisticated demeanor will soon tame him. He hangs out with you a lot, I wouldn't be surprised if some of you rubbed off on him. He's easily influenced and a change in his attitude seems to be called for here."

"Thanks, but truth be told, I don't think ZIM will change. I may change. But his personality is a bit . . . solid, if you ask me." Dib said. "He does have a mind of his own, though it doesn't seem like it sometimes. I was actually thinking since you have him whipped you would be the one that would 'tame him', so to speak." Tak shrugged.

"You'd think that. That boy is a wildcard. Very spontaneous. One moment he's as happy as a child at an amusement park, the next, he's balling his eyes out or furious about something that's not even that big of a deal. That's the way he is." Tak said. "This may sound contradicting, it may not even make sense but, he's easy, yet hard to read. Some parts of him people understand completely. Other parts of his personality not even ZIM knows why he is that way."

"I do understand." Dib told her. "He's unique, in mostly a good way. His mood swings and cocky 'tude could use some work, though." The boy looked around, shifting left and right. Looking for something else to say. "You know, I always envied him. His extroverted and brave and funny. He has a pretty girl, he's got money, he's well known around the studio, he's got a lot of friends, he's multitalented."

"Dillon," Tak said, softly. "I'll admit, ZIM is a great guy, yes, but you . . . You are something special too. You're sweet, charming, caring, smart, and, this is the biggest one yet, you have common sense! ZIM lacks most of those things like brains and common sense." Tak grinned. "And it's not only ZIM on your cast who has good looks." Tak touched Dib's cheek. The boy blushed hard. The red flush very apparent on his pale face. "I talked to many girls on your cast. Ya know, asked them who they thought was cute?" Dib cocked a brow and nodded for Tak to go on. "Zita likes you a lot. Gretchen has a huge crush. Jessica thinks you're adorable. Aki thinks a guy with straight A's are extremely attractive. And those are only the girls in your cast! Don't even get me started on Timmy's cast!" Dib beamed at the news. He wasn't that into girls yet, but when the time came and his mind changed, at least he knows who likes him.

"Thanks, Tak." Dib said.

"You're welcome . . . And who knows, Dib. Maybe one day you'll discover a hidden talent. You're still young and it takes time to find things like that. ZIM just found his at a really early age. Everyone is different." Dib nodded again, this time in agreement.

"Yeah, maybe I'm funny and don't know it yet." Dib said. Tak chuckled.

"Possible." She said. "Well, I'm almost positive ZIM is getting yelled at, at home. You wanna go get some coffee with me and we can continue to talk? I'll bring you home later if you want." Dib smiled at his friend.

"Sure, I'd like that."

**That Night **

"You idiot." ZIM groaned into his pillow. Tak stared down disapprovingly at him. "I told you, you shouldn't have left." ZIM just grunted. "Well now what are you going to do?" ZIM shrugged. "This is the second time this month, Zeiden. Are you going for a new personal record? How many times can I get grounded in one month?" ZIM lifted his face from his pillow.

"Taaak, he told me he'd lesson my grounding if I apologize to Itry and allow him to embarrass me during class without me retorting."

"Wasn't he angry?"

"Oh yeah. He was pissed. I was at Jalokia's office when he called me home. I got there and he started bitchin' almost immediately."

"That sounds like a weak punishment coming from him then." Tak then scoot closer to her boyfriend with a sly grin. "Unless he left it up to me to discipline you." Tak smacked ZIM's rear end hard. The boy yelped, using his hands to push his upper body up.

"Tak!" He gasped. She cooed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him into her lap, cradling him like a child.

"You're so whiny today."

"You didn't have to hit that hard." ZIM moaned. "The reason Red let me get away with most of my punishment was because Purple and Tenn's wedding is this weekend and his bachelor party is tonight. He wanted me to have fun without worrying about being grounded."

"Did you thank him for doing that?"

"No, because he's gonna embarrass me on Monday when we get back." ZIM grumbled. Tak pursed her lips, rocking ZIM back and forth lovingly. ZIM looked up at her with glossy, big eyes. She returned the stare, smiling warmly.

"I can't wait to hear what he has to say about you. Maybe I'll find out secrets about you that only you and Red knows." ZIM pouted.

"Please don't encourage Red and his bizarre punishments. He also said that after every time he embarrasses me I have to give him a hug in front of the whole class and say, 'I wuv you, big brovver'."

"Awwhawhaww! That's too cute!" Tak squeezed ZIM tightly, nuzzling her face into his.

"Yeah, maybe to you. To me it makes me sick."

"Mmm, you'll get over it." Tak said. "Well if you guys have the bachelor party tonight you should probably get ready."

"Yeah, you're right." ZIM pulled away from her and got off his bed. "I'm coming home wasted." He told her as he started to take off his shirt. Tak watched as he stripped himself.

"Oh my God! Are you wearing my underwear?" She eyed the tight, hot pink, girl's boy shorts ZIM was wearing. ZIM quickly whipped around so she wouldn't see his nearly exposed bare rear. A coy grin played on his lips.

"Yaaah. I like 'em. I'm keeping them for myself." Tak chuckled.

"Come here." Tak beckoned for him to go to her. ZIM walked back to the bed confidently, flaunting his body as he did so. "Turn around." ZIM obeyed and allowed her eyes to wander. "Huh! You naughty boy." ZIM felt the thin elastic of her underwear get pulled forward. Tak then let it snap back to his skin. "Do you have anymore of my underwear that you stole?"

"Yeah. A few. I don't wear them often, because most days I go commando."

"Damn, boy. You're edgy." ZIM shrugged.

"You got that right." ZIM was about to make his way back to his closet when Tak grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to her.

"Now, now. Don't be in such a rush to get dressed again." She whispered. "You're too sexy for clothes." Tak pushed ZIM down to the bed. "It's insulting that they don't let good-looking guys like you run around naked." Tak put him all the way on his bed then put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him to a laying position. ZIM gasped, shivering when her cold hand trailed down from his jaw to his chest to his stomach. Tak lowered her face to ZIM's neck and started to nip at the soft flesh there. ZIM moaned out of delight. "You like that, don't you?" Tak crawled on top him, being sure to wedge her one of her thighs in between his legs in a very suggestive position. "You like this even more." She growled, then roughly bit along his collar bone. ZIM whined loudly.

"Tak, I- . . . You- . . . Uhhh." ZIM encircled her waist with his arms and pulled her pelvis down closer to his as if encouraging her to start grinding on him. He reached up and started to stroke her long antenna to entice her as she was pleasing him. Tak let out a small purr as he did. She finally caught his lips with her's and kissed him wildly. Her tongue shoving itself in his mouth. His own tongue patiently waiting to play with her's.

_She's too good for you._

"Mmm . . . Oh Zeiden . . . I love you, sweetie."

S_he doesn't mean it._

"I-I love you too, babe." ZIM hissed when he felt her hands grab a hold of his hips. "Uh . . . We're so naughty when we're alone."

_You're naughty to think your good enough for her._

"Huh! Honey, we always _are _naughty." Tak said, breathily, as she ground her hips in between ZIM's creating an delicious friction in the nether region for the both of them. The both of them leaned in for another kiss when a knock was heard coming from ZIM's door. Tak pushed herself off of ZIM quickly and adjusted her clothes. ZIM sat straight up.

"ZIM?" The door opened and Gaz entered. She wrinkled her nose when she saw the half naked Irken sitting on his bed. "Uhh . . . Peder and Red are waiting for you." ZIM nodded and waved his hand to shoo her out of his room so he could stand up. ZIM's eyes wandered to Tak.

"I guess I'll be getting ready then. We'll be back probably early morning . . . drunk" ZIM told her. Tak nodded.

"I'll be missing you."

_No she won't._

"I'm sure you will."

_Don't be too sure._

**July 10, 2001**

Everyone he knew and everyone she knew was there. And it want just people they knew either! A lot of people neither of them knew showed up too! Not only that but the whole ceremony was going to be broadcasted on Irk! Over a billion people were watching them right at this moment.

Purple inhaled deeply to calm his nerves. He looked down the aisle he was to be walking down in just a few short moments. His grandparents were making their way down the center aisle along with Tenn's. After the grandparents have been seated with Purple's parents following them close behind, the minister and rabbi nodded to him. Purple bit his lip and allowed them to lead him down the aisle. Pastor on his left and rabbi on his right. As he made his way down the path of the great church his heart started to pound. Everyone from the studio was there, his coworkers, his friends, everyone! They sat quietly as the music played, watching him walk to the front. Finally he reached the alter and climbed the steps to the stage. He turned around so he was facing the audience. He gave them all a smile of gratitude.

Next ZIM and Tak came down the aisle. Smiling to the people as they did. They were whispering something to each other and giggling like the children they were. Purple looked down at himself to adjust his black overcoat and silver tie. His clothes were starting to feel tight. Especially the silver cummerbund around his waist. When ZIM Tak got to the alter they split to their separate sides. Before ZIM stood behind Purple, however, he came up to the man and threw his arms around him. The audience awed at the sight as Purple hugged the boy back and patted his head. ZIM pulled back and raised a fist in the air.

"Fist bump, bro." ZIM said. Purple made a fist of his own and lightly pounded his fist against ZIM's. Satisfied, the younger Irken stood back to where he was supposed to be, right behind Purple. Next down the aisle came Leslie and one of his childhood friends, Grapa. Both looking happy. Following them was a friend of Tenn's and another friend of Purple's. Then the maid of honor and his one of his best men. Zee and Red. The siblings walked gracefully down the aisle together, arm-in-arm. When they came to the alter Red let go of Zee, who stood by the empty spot where the bride was going to be, then walked back to where he came from using the side wing. He was going back for the last and most important person of the wedding. As Red went back up the aisle to retrieve that person, Gaz was coming down spreading rose peddles on the floor. When she was done, she too stood at the front by her mother. Moments later a new song played. Everyone in the church stood to show respect to the entering bride.

Purple waited patiently to see his beloved and after another second, she appeared. Beautiful, confident, and lovely. Tenn held Red's arm with her hand as she was led to the alter. Purple smiled warmly. Gorgeous. That's what she was. Absolutely perfect. Her pure white, strapless gown flowed behind her. The authentic diamonds on her veil sparkled under the lights. She looked like an angel descending from heaven. And poor Red. Red was the one who had to give away Tenn. The man was sensitive. Purple knew for a fact that as soon as he let go of Tenn, Red would start crying. Tenn was so lucky to have a brother like him. He had to start raising her when she was just thirteen years old. He was like her father. For obvious reasons.

Purple's heart felt like it could explode out of his chest now as the couple stood before the alter. Tenn turned to give Red a hug. The older of the siblings wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. He whispered something in her antenna and she nodded. Tenn pulled back a bit, still in the embrace, to look at him. Tears welled up in his eyes. She put her hands on his face to calm him down, wiping the stray tears with her hands as she did. Red gave her a kiss on the cheek and pulled her back in for one final hug then released her. He held her hand as he climbed the steps with her. Red looked at Purple straight in the eye. Purple looked back.

"I trust you." Was all Red said. The man then moved the hand he used to hold Tenn's and passed her hand to Purple's open one. Purple used his free hand to hug his best friend.

"I love ya, man." Purple said. Red didn't respond. His smile was all Purple needed. Red took his place behind ZIM, both brothers wearing kipot on their head to express their messianic-Jewish faith. ZIM grinned at his older brother and offered a fist bump to Red too. Purple chuckled under his breath. When the interlude song was finished the minister spoke first. Going on about all the conditions about what it means to be married and what it means for the couple. Then the rabbi spoke, reading passages from both the bible and Torah and relating them to marriage. After ten minutes, which felt like forever, the minister finally asked for Tenn and Purple to face each other and exchange their vows.

Purple held on to her hands and looked down into her lovely magenta eyes.

"Child, present the ring." The rabbi said to ZIM. The boy opened his overcoat to the inside pocket and pulled out a wedding band for the bride and handed it to Purple. He fiddled with it in his fingers as he got ready to slip it on her finger.

"Do you, Peder Lee Kinley, take Tenn Harlee Macale to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, to honor, and to cherish?" The minister asked.

"I do." Purple said, definitely. The rabbi spoke next.

"Do you, Tenn Harlee Macale, take Peder Lee Kinley to be you husband, promising to cherish and protect him, whether in good fortune or in adversity, and to seek together with him a life hallowed by the faith of Israel?"

"I do." Tenn replied, holding the wedding band she got from Zee in her hand. Purple took a deep breath before reciting his vows and promises.

"With this ring, you are made holy to me, f-for I love you as my soul. You are n-now my wife." Purple said, shaking. He fumbled with the ring in his hand and dropped it. "Shit." He muttered. Purple mentally slapped himself as Tenn and the beholders laughed. He recovered the ring and slipped it on her finger. He looked up to her and gave a sheepish grin. She chuckled.

"With this ring, you are made holy to me, for I love you as my soul. You are now my stuttering, dorky, husband." Tenn winked at him as she put the golden wedding band on his finger. Purple smiled widely.

"You may now kiss." The minister said. Purple beamed as he pulled Tenn close. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down slightly and kissed his lips with a fiery passion. Purple's eyes shut to savor this sweet, sweet moment as everyone of Jewish faith watching shouted, 'Mazel Tov'!

**At the Reception**

The banquet hall was large and beautifully decorated and full of close family members and friends. There was no doubt that this reception was going to be a fun one. After they had their meal and had a little fun as well as touching the other traditional Irken reception party things the party would get a little . . . dirty. They decided it would be fun to go mudding with all sorts of motorized vehicles. Who needs a classy wedding party? To have real fun you need to burn some fossil fuel.

"May I have your attention, please?" The wedding D.J. stopped the music that was playing. Everyone sitting around their specific tables looked up to him. "The best men of the groom will now speak." ZIM and Red both stood up from behind the long rectangular table that was in the front of the room and set on a short stage. Purple and Tenn smiled, anticipating to see what their brothers would say. Red took the microphone from the disc jockey and smiled to the relatives and masses of other people.

"Hey everyone. For those who don't know me, why the hell don't you know me? I'm freakin' Red Macale, Peder's best man." ZIM pulled Red's arm so the mic was close to his face.

"_I'm _the best man, actually." Red pried his arm out of ZIM's grasp and continued to talk.

"Anyway, Peder and I aren't exactly . . . childhood friends. We started off as colleagues. Nothing more, nothing less. But since our jobs required to be roommates we eventually developed a special bond called, 'friendship'." The listeners chuckled. "We're like brothers, and people often mistake us for being brothers because we look identical, or something." Red shrugged. "I don't see it." Red looked down at Purple who nodded in agreement. "Oh! I think I forgot to mention that Tenn is my sister! I don't know how I could leave out such an important detail. But of course I'm not supposed to be talking about her. I'm talking about Purple. So I was stressing over this speech that I had to give. I didn't know what to say and ZIM was with me while we were writing our speeches and after awhile we kind of got sidetracked. We were having a little fun having pillow fights, giggling and gossiping, ya know, all that manly stuff." The audience laughed at that. "I was sitting on the floor when I noticed something under the couch. I pulled it out and it was a black, leather diary. I opened it and it was a diary Purple kept since he started dating my sister." Red smiled. Purple cocked a brow. He leaned over to Tenn.

"I don't keep a diary." He whispered.

"He's making it up. He's using real events in your life though." Tenn said.

"What do you mean?"

"Just wait."

"So I cracked open this marvelous little book and in it was passages of Purple's every day life. So I thought, these inserts would be perfect for my speech to share with you guys!" Red said, excitedly. He pulled the 'diary' out of his pocket. "I have it here with me. Allow me to share some interesting passages with you." Red opened the book to the first page. "Date: October 1, 2000; I got dumped by Sam. She didn't see a future together for us so she left me because she thought I deserved better. Someone whom I could grow old with and live a long and happy marriage in peace. I know Sam was being selfless but I still miss her. Now every time ZIM invites her over after a training session it's gonna be quite awkward. But then again, I live with the Macale's . . . So my life is already pretty awkward." Purple smiled. Even though Red wrote the diary, the man seemed to know exactly what Purple was feeling during that time and write his thoughts down word-for-word. "October 4, 2000; Soooo . . . This is a bit . . . weird, to say the least. I haven't been eating, sleeping, or doing anything for that matter for the past three days since Sam left. I was just that devastated. So while I was laying on my bed earlier today, Tenn decided to pay me a little visit. We don't exactly 'get along', so her stopping by was highly unusual. Unusualness is common in this home, but this unusualness was . . . unusual. What she did to me during her visit was just weird in a good way. I was sulking in bed and she comes barging in and demands that I get my ass out of bed and do something. When I refused, she warned me. She said, 'If you don't get out if bed before I count to three,' She stopped her sentence short there. Then she started counting up to three. When she reached said number I thought for a moment that she was gonna spank me. I mean, who knows with Tenn. But instead, she kissed me. And it wasn't just a quick peck on the lips either. It was a full out Frenchie! I would know, I am French! At first I was shocked but then . . . there was a connection. I don't know exactly how I felt during that kiss but I assumed I liked it. Damn! She probably gets her kissing talent from her older brother!" Red said cheekily and handed the mic and book over to ZIM.

"I'm gonna read my favorite excerpt from his diary now. It skips ahead a few months on December 18, 2000." ZIM said. "I was having bad luck today. I was about to go home from the studio earlier. When I tried to turn the key over in my car and the engine wouldn't start. I got out and checked to see if everything was working. Oddly enough, everything was in working order. So what could I do? I called the towing company to bring my car in to get it fixed whatever it was. A long hour later a tow truck arrived and brought me and my car to the lot. They had me wait for about ten minutes when a mechanic came out to give me my bill. Pleasantly surprised that it didn't take long at all, but a little suspicious, I looked at the bill. The tow costed me one-hundred-ten dollars whereas the actual fix only costed me twenty. I asked the mechanic why that was. He just simply said, 'It needed gas'." The people laughed. Purple blushed. He remembered that day. When he finally did get home and told them his story they gave him a whole bunch of shit.

"March 13, 2000. I proposed to Tenn today. I wanted to make this proposal special, so instead of just getting down on one knee, I bought helicopter ride rickets for two and proposed to Tenn a mile above the earth. I'm so romantic." Red chuckled as he read the diary. "Surprisingly, I wasn't nervous. It was as if I knew she'd say yes. Or maybe it was because I was half asleep from my extremely busy day of watching a rather vigorous game of hockey and drinking a Heineken." The listeners laughed again. Red flipped to another page. "July 9, 2000. Tomorrow is the big day. The day I finally tie the knot with the love of my life. I'm both anxious and excited for tomorrow. Especially tomorrow night when we finally get to. . ." Red looked up to the audience and wiggled a brow with a sly grin. "Then he drew a heart and a bunch of X's and O's." The crowd went into a jovial uproar. Purple buried his face in his hands and shook his head, clearly embarrassed. Red closed the book, lifting up a wine glass. "Let me just tell you this, friends, I've always been protective of my sisters, and I always told myself that if anyone were to marry Tenn, I'm glad that it's my best friend. I know he'll treat her right and never take her for granted." Red smiled at the newly weds. "May you two go forth and . . . prosper?" Red cocked a brow at what he just said. "Uh . . . Best wishes to you two!" Red beamed to his audience. They all cheered in agreement and lifted their own wine glasses for a toast. After, Red brought the mic back up to his face. "And now Zeiden shall entertain us with a song." ZIM's eyes widened as he shot his brother and inquiring look.

"I'm what?" He asked as the mass of people applauded him. ZIM pulled down the mic to speak into it. "Actually, it's a duet. Red will be joining me for the song." ZIM said quickly. Red ripped the microphone away as the crowd clapped louder.

"You suck." Red hissed.

"You suck bigger."

**Later**

He was filthy. Completely covered in dark brown mud. But he still looked so cute even though he was caked in the goop. Tenn was out of her dress and in a more casual sundress for the messy part of the reception. The mudding portion. Purple was having fun spinning up mud and dirt on himself using his dirt bike that was once bright green but is now brown. Everyone was having a great time. Especially Zee who was currently dancing with one of Purple's childhood friends. His name was Grapa. A tall, handsome Irken who recently moved to northern Minnesota. Hopefully he isn't a jerk like the last one . . . Tenn shrugged off the thought. It was her night. She shouldn't worry about anything else besides herself and her husband.

It was getting dark and it was time for the couples waltz. Purple was by his dirt bike trying to clean himself up as best as he could. He peeled off his messy jersey revealing his tight muscles. He left his dirt bike pants and boots on and decided to dance like that. Not that Tenn minded. Her dress was washable and she loved running her hand up and down his bare, tone torso.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please turn your attention toward the center of the field for the couples first slow dance." The DJ announced. Part of the reception was held outside in a big grassy field, lit up with beautiful paper lanterns and candles. Tenn felt her hand being grabbed. She smiled as Purple pulled her to the center and took her in his arms. A slow song began to play. Purple put one arm around her waist, his other hand held her's. Tenn's hand that was not being held rested delicately on his shoulder. He leaned his head down so their foreheads touched.

"It's been quite the day, huh?" Tenn spoke first.

"Oh yeah. I'll be sleeping good tonight." Purple muttered, closing his eyes.

"Especially after when I'm done with ya." Tenn growled, seductively. Purple's lips twitched trying hard not to smile.

"Mmmhmm." A minute of silence passed between the two. "So . . . Have any thoughts on where you want the honeymoon?" Tenn went into consideration.

"How about Milan or Shanghai?"

"I was thinking Croatia." Purple said. "They've got private beaches everywhere and absolutely stunning scenery." Tenn shrugged.

"I'll have to do a web search later." Tenn said. She glanced up at his closed eyes and kissed him in between them. He opened his eyes again so he could see her. "I love you." He smiled.

"I love you too." He said tilting his head down to kiss her.

**That Night **

**Rated M**

Purple sighed contently. His eyes slipping closed as he laid back in the massive luxury tub in his and Tenn's hotel room. He smirked when he heard the bathroom door open.

"Well, I see you've made yourself comfy." Tenn's voice said. Without looking at her Purple responded.

"Care to join me?"

"Not particularly. You're still quite dirty."

"Oh I am. I'm a very dirty boy." Purple cracked open one eye, smiling. Tenn was wearing nothing but a robe. "How about you come in anyway so we both can get down and dirty?" Tenn chuckled.

"You know what? I think I'll wait till you're done." She walked back into the bedroom.

Purple pouted slightly then started to quickly wash himself up. When he was done he drained the tub and wrapped a towel around his waist. He left the bathroom and looked to the large bed. Tenn was sitting on it with her laptop on her lap. Purple grinned toothily and got on the bed. Crawling from the foot of the bed to Tenn. He leaned over her on all fours.

"I'm done bathing. Pay attention to me now." Purple said, huskily. Tenn shifted her eyes up then back to the screen. Purple sighed. He closed the computer and pulled it away from her, laying it on the ground. "Don't ignore me!" He whined. Tenn rolled her eyes.

"You're such a child." Purple slumped onto her lap.

"I just want your attention." He muttered. Tenn rubbed his back. "Soooo . . ."

"You wanna make love?" Tenn finished for him. He looked up to her and smiled at her bluntness. "Sure."

"Yay!" Purple squeaked. Tenn pushed him off her. He sat up as she started to disrobe. She revealed to be only wearing skimpy lingerie under her robe. Purple bit his lower lip. Tenn pushed him down and crawled over him, straddling his hips.

"Before we begin, I have a serious question to ask you." Purple's antenna perked. "Did you get your . . . erectile dysfunction fixed." Purple's cheeks immediately turn bright pink. He turned his head to look away, clearly humiliated. Tenn's eyes softened knowing he was sensitive about the topic. Purple wouldn't meet her gaze, being too ashamed.

"No. I was so busy and nervous that I forgot to go to the doctors." He whispered. Tenn leant back, sighing.

"Well it's a good thing we're a hermaphrodites then, isn't it?" She asked, exasperatedly. Purple gave her a sheepish look. Every Irken had both reproductive organs. It's just some Irkens, like Purple, couldn't bare smeets. Their female organs were used for pleasure and pleasure only.

"I'll get it checked out as soon as possible, babe, I promise!" Purple said. Tenn giggled.

"It's okay, Sweetheart. I'm not mad at all." Tenn scooted off him and looked down at where the towel was covering him up. She tsk'd. "Now this simply won't do." Her hand wandered to where the towel was tucked under itself to keep it from falling down. Tenn untucked it and slowly parted the towel to see him underneath. Purple's blush worsened. Tenn beamed, running a hand over his now bare hip. "Relax, honey. This will be fun. Or so I've been told." Tenn mounted him again and leaned down for a passionate kiss. "I'll do the work tonight but . . . when you get yourself fixed . . . I'm gonna lay back and enjoy you doing the work for once . . . you lazy man." Tenn said breaking the kiss every now and then to talk.

"Or we could . . . just take turns . . . that way we're equal." Purple groaned. He reached his arms up to Tenn and undid her bra strap from the back. He pulled the garment off her and eyed her supple breasts on her chest. "Nice." Tenn smirked. She slowly pulled down her panties. Purple watched with anticipation. Tenn slid the underwear down to her ankles then kicked them off. Purple felt a burning sensation inside him that started to swell up. He sat up and switched their positions so she was laying on the bed. He knelt by her feet and bent her knees up and away to look at her slit that hid and protected her male and female organs well.

"Just pull her out and I'll do the rest, babe." Tenn pursed her lips, waiting for the intrusion. Purple, not wanting to hurt her, stuck his thumb and middle finger in his mouth to moisten them. Once completely coated in his saliva he placed his fingers by her slit and dragged his finger down from the top of her slit to the bottom. "Push in." Tenn commanded. Purple nodded and hesitantly slid his fingers into the sheath. Tenn arched a bit at this. Holding her breath so she wouldn't swear. Purple waited so she could get used to the feeling of his fingers inside her.

"Are you good?" He asked.

"Amazing. Keep going." Tenn's voice rattled. Purple's brows furrowed in concentration. He moved his finger around in her to feel what he was looking for. He felt a tight pulsing hole, being her womanhood, and right above it was the head of her male organ. He wrapped his fingers around it making Tenn's breath hitch. He gradually pulled the organ out. Once it was completely exposed it went as hard as a rock. Fully erect and ready for attention. Purple stared longingly at the wet thing that's been inside her for so long. Tenn looked down at herself. "Damn, I have to be at least seven inches here. But it's not length so much as it is thickness, huh?" Purple snorted.

"It's plenty thick, darling. Don't you worry about that." Purple told her. Tenn sat up and traded spots with her husband. Purple laid back in the soft mattress. "Just don't hurt me." Tenn smiled as she crawled in between his legs. She placed one hand on his cheek, the other rested on his hip, both hands were caressing the flesh it was touching.

"I would never, babe." Tenn gazed down. "Open your legs wider." Purple complied to her wish, opening his legs further. "Gooood." She drawled, running the hand that was on his cheek down his body to his private area. She ran one finger alongside his slit to the bottom and teased him there a bit. Purple sucked in his lips, keeping his eyes fixated on what she was doing. Tenn removed her finger from the tight slit and replaced it with her member. Purple grit his teeth as she used her hand to part the walls and slide herself into him quarter way. He gasped at the sting of having something large inside him for the first time. His spine felt like that had the same consistency as jello.

"Oohhh . . . Tenn." He grunted. Purple looked down. She wasn't even fully inside yet. Purple put both his hands on her hips to help her guide into him. Tenn put both her hands on his shoulders and dug her claws into his skin. Tenn finally pushed herself all the way in till their pelvises met each other. Purple's head rolled back at the pleasantly painful sensation in between his legs. They remained like that for a minute. Tenn feeling the tightness around her and Purple feeling the sting of being stretched out. Purple whimpered. "It kind of hurts."

"It gets better. Soon you'll feel nothing but pleasure." Tenn whispered to him. "May I move? Or are you not ready?"

"I'm ready." He said, closing his eyes. Tenn bowed her head and kissed his lips before rocking her hips back and forth. She started with long, slow thrusts. Pulling back till her penis was almost out of him then pushing back in. The whole time Purple's body felt energy coursing through him. The man moved his hands from her hips to her behind and squeezed the muscles there. Tenn grinned at that. "Harder." He moaned. "Faster." Tenn nodded, her pace quickening. Purple found himself arching his back and tilting his hips upward to get some more of the excellent feeling. His legs widening even more. Tenn placed her hands on his bent knees and pushed herself hard into him.

"Nnnngh . . ." Tenn hissed. Her hips rolling deliciously into his. She started to pant as she thrust into him harder and harder. The feeling of ecstasy erupted from the Irkens as they loved each other. Every thrust she made had him fall for her more and more. Tenn started getting quicker as she felt herself coming to the climax. Purple leaned his head back and clenched his stomach muscles as he felt himself nearing as well. "Oh God . . . Uhhhhnnn." Tenn gazed down at her lover. "Open your eyes, Peder. I want to see you." She said, breathily. Purple did. When he looked at her, his vision was blurry from the raging pleasure. Tenn grabbed his wrists from her hips and pinned them down so she could hunch over them. With a few more thrusts she felt the burning climax in the pit of her stomach that travelled though out her entire body. With one last powerful pelvic thrust she released herself into him. Purple wriggled as her peak made him reach his orgasm too.

"Ooh, God, Tenn!" He yelped. Tenn rode out the orgasm until it came to an official halt. She remained tense for a few moments longer before exhaling deeply and slumping on top of her husband. Her heart felt as if it could burst from her chest. Purple panted hard, his legs shaking madly. His whole body felt . . . good. "Oh my God." He muttered. Tenn sighed, pushing her face into his neck.

"You're beautiful, Pur." She whispered. The man suppressed a grunt as he moved out from under her. He flipped her over and looked down at her as he climbed over her and gave her many kisses all over her face and neck. He fondled her breasts as he did so.

"Not as beautiful as you, love." Tenn yawned.

"What a day, huh?" She whispered. Purple rested his head on her ample bosom, listening to her heartbeat as it started to calm from the recent excitement.

"Mmhmm." He groaned, wrapping his arms around her waist. Tenn wrapped her own around his shoulders and embraced him close. Tenn cocked a brow when she heard him giggle.

"What's so funny?" She asked. Purple shrugged.

"Nothing, just happy . . . I call top tomorrow."

**July 12, 2001**

**Normal Rating**

Back in what ZIM would call a, 'hell hole of a wannabe school'. First period just started but it felt like it's been an hour already. Why did math class go by so slow anyway? It could be one of two things. One, the teacher sucks and can't teach worth a shit. Or two, math was hard for him. Maybe it was both . . .

"Francis, will you please come up to the whiteboard and solve this equation?" Mr. Crocker asked. ZIM shifted his eyes over to the kid, shaking his head slightly. Francis was so odd-looking. He had discolored skin, like a light grayish color, and really bad dandruff. The dandruff was easy to see in his black hair and it was absolutely disgusting to ZIM. He was a bully on Timmy's show and a real one in life too. Timmy, Chester, and A.J. often spoke of how Francis would push them and talk them down. ZIM could've scoffed at what they said. ZIM didn't see the boy as a threat at all. Just a nuisance. A nearly six foot tall imbecile.

Francis showed no facial expression as he went up to solve the problem . . . incorrectly. Crocker watch him scrawl his answer down quickly before heading back to his seat. The teacher nearly face palmed.

"You were supposed to use synthetic division. Zeiden, why don't you come up here and help him out?" Crocker suggested.

"Nah. I don't feel like it." ZIM said. The man in front of class looked flustered. Tak glared at ZIM.

"Don't be that way, ZIM." She hissed.

"How about you, Takayla? Will solve this problem for me?" Crocker asked. Tak nodded, politely and went to the front of class. She erased Francis's work and replaced it with her neat handwriting and correct answer. "Nicely done, Tak. Thank you for fixing Francis's answer. You may take your seat." ZIM caught Francis looking at Tak from the corner of his eye. ZIM snapped his head in the boy's direction. The kid was gazing at his girlfriend with soft eyes and mouth agape. ZIM sneered, wanting to close his mouth before he started to drool. Francis is notorious for hitting on other guys' girlfriends. ZIM would be sure Tak wasn't a victim of his revolting 'charm'. But of course Tak wouldn't fall for him anyway. She's told ZIM that he was ugly several times.

When Tak took her seat by their shared two-person table again ZIM put an arm around her. She grinned at him liking the affection he was suddenly showing. ZIM peaked back to Francis. Now the boy was frowning. His glare fixated on ZIM. The little Irken could give a shit if anyone hated him. He just didn't want any boys making googly eyes at his girl.

"ZIM, since you failed to even attempt the problem, how about you answer two out of three trivia questions correctly and then I'll let you all leave class two minutes early?" Crocker suggested.

"Fine, whatever." ZIM mumbled.

"Alright then. When a football player goes 'offsides', how many yards is the team penalized for?" The teacher asked. ZIM groaned. He didn't know a thing about football.

"Mate, I dunno. How many yards does each team get to start off with?" ZIM asked. Quite a few kids snickered at his dumb response.

"The football teams don't get any yards, dummy." ZIM rolled his eyes. Francis was out to get him now.

"Fine, ten yards?" ZIM took a shot out in the dark.

"Five actually." Crocker answered. "What is the smallest state of the United States?"

"Aw, c'mon, mate! I'm not even American! Give me a fair question." ZIM begged.

"Fine then. What is the largest city in Australia?" Crocker changed the answer. ZIM smirked.

"Sydney." ZIM answered, smugly. Tak smiled at him.

"You're one for one. You get this question right and you guys can leave." Crocker said. "What does FIFA stand for and what sport is this tournament for?" ZIM racked his brain. He tried to remember back to all the French lessons Purple had given him for the answer. He knew FIFA was French.

"Fédération . . . Internationale de . . . Football Association? . . . Yeah, that's my answer. And the sport is soccer." ZIM said.

"When is the next world cup?"

"Next year."

"Who's hosting it?"

"South Korea and I think another Asian country." ZIM looked at the clock. "Can we leave now? I answered two out of three right. Plus two bonus questions." Crocker nodded.

"Yes, very well. All of you may leave." He said, sitting back behind his desk.

"Finally." ZIM grunted, getting out of his chair. He grabbed his bag and walked out of the room with Tak by his side. "I'm going to see if I can go to Texas tomorrow with Red. Maybe you could come too if he lets me."

"Maybe." Tak said, as they walked down the hall to the next soundstage over. "But that would mean skipping class. And you're already really far behind. You have a whole grade to make up, after all. I don't think you can afford to even miss half a day."

"It doesn't matter. Maybe soon I'll convince Red to let me drop out."

"He's not going to let you." Tak said. "Red doesn't just concern about your wellbeing, he's also concerned over how the public looks at you. If they see you drop out they'll think you're a deadbeat kid."

"I'm not deadbeat! I'm responsible for the most part and I already have a job. The thing is, I can't take on both school and my career at once. It's frustrating and hard." ZIM sighed. "I think it's because Red and my sisters graduated top of their class that they think I should too. But it's simply not going to happen. I'm not smart." ZIM opened the door and allowed Tak to enter first.

"You might not be smart but that doesn't mean you have to be a quitter."

"Oh, I think it does." ZIM grumbled, taking his seat. Tak shook her head and sat two desks behind him on the opposite corner from where he was. Purple moved them when he figured that they were too loud and distracting when together. ZIM was closest to the front desk where Red and Purple were talking about the lesson for that day. Not too much later they called for the attention of the class. The teens in the room silenced and payed close attention.

"Good morning, precious pupils of mine. This week you'll all be considered novice learners because we're tapping into what you'd call, 'uncharted territory'." Purple said, grinning widely, baring all his teeth and clasping his hands together. "It's all about reproduction! Now this subject is both awkward for the student and the teacher, but we have good news!" The kids all looked at one another.

"We're not gonna be here to teach it so you'll have a sub that can feel awkward with you guys!" Red finished. "Isn't that exciting?" Vicky raised her hand. "Yes, Miss?"

"Where are you going?" She asked, lazily twirling her hair, absentmindedly. Vicky. Now she was a deadbeat student. She spent her nights smoking and drinking and getting laid instead of doing her neglected homework. She tried to seduce a number of adult men at the studio, Red was a victim to her harassment but he never spoke of it feeling that he could deal with the inappropriate behavior himself. She even tried to get Dib's dad in bed with her. ZIM shuddered. She was disgusting.

"Texas. I'm competing in another rodeo." Red answered. "Dr. Kinley is going in his honeymoon."

"Didn't you almost die last time?" Veronica asked. "I saw it on T.V. with some of my friends. We were so scared when you got hurt, we cried!" ZIM crossed his arms. Veronica was a ditz. No doubt about that. She also crushed on everyone! Including him, Timmy, Dib, A.J., and his brothers. Mostly Timmy though. She also had a noticeable jealousy of her friend, Trixie.

"I cried when I got hurt too!" Red said, mocking her dumb valley girl accent. He placed his hands on her desk and leaned over her, with a dumb look on his face. "Oh my God! We have sooo much in commoooon! We should be frieeennnds!" ZIM cackled under his breath. Veronica looked both pleased at how close Red was but a little nervous to go with it. "Anyways," Red straightened himself up again. "Yeah, I almost got killed last time. But I escaped death with only a few broken ribs, a concussion, and cuts as well as bruises."

"I'm going with you, right?" ZIM asked.

"No. You have to stay here. Reproductive health is mandatory."

"But we're going to be learning about human reproduction! Not Irken! What's the point of me listening to that when it doesn't mean anything to me?" ZIM pouted. Red looked down at the boy. After awhile the older Irken just shrugged and walked to the white board.

"So we're starting off on this unit. Fortunately, for us, all we have to talk about today is STD's and HIV." Red said. "What does STD stand for?" A few kids raised their hands. "Yes, Lars?"

"It's like . . . the D is for disease." The boy said, sounding quite dumb with his answer. Red half lidded his eyes, unamused.

"ZIM knows." Red turned his head to his brother. ZIM shook his head.

"I don't want to answer any of your stupid questions."

"ZIM, the question isn't stupid." Red stated. "The answer is stupid. What is it, Pur?" Red pointed dramatically at his friend.

"Super techno dancing!" Purple chirped, then suddenly burst into the genre of dance. Surprisingly, he danced techno really well. "Originated in 1980 in Detroit, super techno has become a world epidemic! To this day, scientists still cannot find the cure for this dancing disease! Many of those who are infected with STD, dance so much that eventually their legs break or get a bad case of shin splints. Unfortunately, for them, even though their legs are broken, they cannot help but to continue to dance because the symptoms are much to powerful and compulsive to control. Now check this out!" This time, both Irkens started to go into more advanced styles of techno, getting on the floor and break dancing, doing a few flips off student's desks as they went at it. The kids laughed uproariously, except for ZIM, who slumped back in his seat trying to cover his embarrassment. Not too much later were the Irkens' dancing interrupted by a voice coming over the intercom.

"Dr. Kinley, please report to the front office. Dr. Kinley, to the front office, please." A female's voice said. Purple scowled, putting his hands on his hips.

"Well my fun is cut short." He snapped at no one in particular. "Well, I guess we'll just have to continue this STD party later, Red." Purple pulled in the other for a hug. "I love you, babe."

"I'll miss you, sweetie." Red patted Purple's back.

"I'll miss you too." Purple released Red from the hug, and for reasons unknown, punched him in the gut and bolted from the room without another word. Red, unfazed by Purple's random act of violence, smiled and looked back at the students.

"We're just friends." Red sat back behind his desk again. "But seriously children, STD is the acronym for sexually transmitted disease. I remember at one point and time my mom thought I had herpes. It was a rash . . ." Red looked off into space for a good few seconds. He seemed like he was in a daze at the memory. " . . . Mmm, yeah . . . I dated a girl who had syphilis in her throat! She freakin' told me that after we made out for five minutes!" Red threw his arms in the air in a, 'What the heck' manor. "For the longest time I was afraid of getting it too. Luckily, I never showed any symptoms."

"No one cares." ZIM muttered. Red's antenna perked. ZIM cursed under his breath. Damn Red's acute hearing.

"You're rude." ZIM opened his mouth to retort but Red held out a finger before he could utter a sound. "Shh! Whatever you were about to say, no one cares." ZIM bit his lip, irritated. Red just smirked, cockily and continued teaching. ZIM groaned. Having your brother as a teacher sucked.

**Later**

"If we don't find something to do in this instant, I may just scream." Timmy moaned.

"Please don't. It's bad enough we got to listen to ZIM's horrible road rage." Dib said.

"Chill you guys. We'll be there in a few minutes." ZIM grumbled, one hand on the steering wheel. The other was resting on the window, propping his head up in his hand. ZIM raised his antenna when he heard a familiar song come over the radio. "Aww yeah!" ZIM reached down and turned it up a bit louder.

"_A Southern man don't need him around anyhow. Sweet home Alabama. Where the skies are so blue. Sweet Home Alabama. Lord, I'm coming home to you._"

"This song made me famous." ZIM told his friends. He smiled at the nostalgia. "I played this on the same day I first went to Irk and I met my producer. He asked me to play a song and this song was all the rage back then. So I played this one."

"That's cool, ZIM. Can you focus on getting to your house now?" Timmy butted in. ZIM rolled his eyes knowing Timmy wouldn't appreciate his story of how he'd even became famous.

"Oh c'mon, Fairyboy. Don't be such a jerk all your life." Chester snapped at his friend.

"Ya know, T. I have the power to pull of to the side of the highway and kick you out of my truck right now." ZIM smirked.

"Fine, I'm sorry." The boy muttered from the backseat. "Hey, are you going to Texas with your brother?" ZIM shrugged.

"I don't know. He said he didn't want me going." ZIM said. "I'd still like to go though. I'll convince him later tonight." The five finally reached ZIM's house and all piled out of the truck and into the big home. There they were greeted with the sound of a shrieking smeet in the living room. Leslie was frantically trying to silence the child. Red was with her merely observing. Not offering her any help. "Hey, Red. How about instead of watching Les tend to Saph, you help her?" ZIM suggested.

"She won't let me." Red said. "She wanted to calm her by herself."

"Well now I change my mind." Leslie thrusted Sapphira into Red's arms. "Make her stop." Red smiled down at the girl in his arms.

"Hey, darling. Daddy's here." The smeet's wails softened a bit but did not cease. "Shhh, shh, I'm here for you, honey." The smeets cries reduced to sniffling and sobs. Satisfied, Red looked back to ZIM. "Purple and Tenn are leaving soon. Zee's home tonight. She didn't have to work, so I'm having the both of you babysit Saph tonight."

"Where are you going?" ZIM asked.

"Out. Just on a casual date." Red said. "Are your friends staying awhile?" ZIM nodded.

"Yeah, they were planning on it."

"Well . . . We're leaving now." Leslie said.

"That's okay. They can help with Saph." ZIM said. The boys all nodded. Red and Leslie looked at each other.

"That's fine. Zee's not here now. She'll be home in thirty minutes. In the mean time, it'll be just you guys watching her." Red handed Sapphira to ZIM. "Take care of her. If you do a good job, maybe I'll let you come to Texas with me." Red winked at his brother. ZIM beamed.

"That'd be cool." Red patted ZIM's head and left with Leslie. Once the adults were gone the five boys all shared a glance.

"We got your whole house to ourselves! Let's do something fun!" Timmy exclaimed.

"We will as soon as Zee gets home." ZIM said.

"How about we do something now?" Timmy said.

"Guys, his brother trusted him to take care of Sapphira, not ignore her." Dib said. "We can play video games until Zee gets here then we can do something rowdy and obnoxious." The suggestion seemed good enough for all the boys. ZIM led the boys down the stairs, Sapphira in arms and allowed them to play games using the home theater while he paid more attention to his niece.

"What's it like, ZIM?" ZIM glanced up from the smeet's face to A.J.

"What's what like?"

"Being a uncle? Is it cool?" ZIM shrugged.

"I have these new feelings that I've never had before. Like I have this . . . protectiveness, responsibility, and anxiety feeling now. It's probably because she's just a smeet and well . . . I never really see many smeets. Especially on earth."

"Man, you're so lucky! None of us will ever be uncles." Chester said, his eyes glued on the screen. He grumbled when he lost the racing game against Timmy. "Can I be her unofficial uncle?" ZIM snorted.

"Err, I think that's up to Red and Les." ZIM said.

"Can I hold her?" Chester asked. ZIM looked down at the smeet. She was asleep.

"I suppose." ZIM, without as much movement as possible, handed off Sapphira to his friend.

"Hoo! She's a little cutie!" The boy stated.

"Like her uncle." ZIM smirked. "Pet her antenna. She likes that." Chester gently traced the length of her antenna. Sapphira started to chortle in her sleep. Her antenna curls twitching.

"Aww. Were you this adorable when you were a baby, ZIM?"

"No. Because I was never a baby. I was, however, the cutest damn smeet that ever existed in this universe."

"Okay. I think someone needs to get humbled." Dib joked.

"Where's Tak when you need her?" A.J. added. ZIM rolled his eyes.

"She's with Gaz shopping. So you guys are just gonna have to live with my conceitedness tonight." The room went silent for a moment before A.J. spoke up.

"Hey ZIM, did you get the homework your brother gave us today?" ZIM shook his head.

"Nah. I'm not doing it anyway."

"Why not?" Timmy asked.

"I don't feel like it. It's my subtle way to tell him that I'm a sucky student and I'm better off dropping out."

"Why don't you just finish school? Ya know? Just go through the motions. You don't have to get good grades, just complete just so you can say you graduated." Dib said.

"I don't want to even waste my time with that. I'm sitting in class doing nothing productive with my life when I could be out recording another album."

"I suppose you got a good point."

"At least you agree with me." ZIM muttered. "There's no way in hell I'm gonna waste five more years in school."

* * *

><p><strong>Fun fact! I typed most of this chapter with an Australian keyboard setting on my iPad. And that's why I spelled parlour this way instead of the American way. Because apparently Parlor is spelled wrong in the Down Under. I guess it's the same for the U.K. too, huh?<strong>

**Question time! Smoke machines? . . . Or lasers? **

**Yes! You all should've seen this question coming! **

**Enjoy life, beautifuls, and don't forget to check out _karflo707_'s Leslie drawing and leave a comment! She works hard people! Appreciate her! **


	23. Weird

**There is a few reviews I'd like to respond to. Don't think it's like the last time when I responded to a review and told that one anonymous reviewer off. This is different. It's thanking you and answering a few questions or comments.**

**First off! To a **_**Guest **_**reviewer. So you want Johnny in the story, huh? That'd be interesting. I'll see what I can do. :)**

**Night-Waker: Your reviews always make my day! Loved your little, **_**I-hate-Mark **_**rant. I never seen a reader get so upset at a stupid OC before. It made me laugh! Thank you for being so agreeable! And Sapphira was just introduced to the story but I can tell you must already have a fondness for her. Then the Spongebob and ZIM brother relationship. That was exactly what I was aiming for and you got it spot on! I can see SB and ZIM having that brother-like relationship in the story. It probably comes from the fact that they jokingly pick on each other. As for seeing the Leslie picture, I'm glad you liked it. I never really pictured her having glasses but you kind if opened my eyes to how you could see that in her character. And she is sort of a redhead. It's just brunette with dark red undertones. Finally, thank you for the continuous support! **

**Invader Light: Very sweet of you! Love ya, kiddo! **

**Dark Rose Maria: Coolest. Invention. Ever! **

**DeathWish1234: Have I ever thanked you for that uplifting review right after that rude one? Thank you! I see you support freedom of speech! Hell yeah! 'Murica!**

* * *

><p><strong>July 13, 2001<strong>

"Would you stop glaring at me?" Red asked. "I told you I was gonna do this again, regardless of what you say." Leslie had her arms crossed over her chest.

"You're a dumbass." Red sighed, closing his tack box.

"Whatever." He muttered. He was back at the Midnight Rodeo arena. ZIM convinced Red to let him go along. Gaz, Tak, and Sapphira all tagged along as well. Zee had to stay behind because of all the patients she had. "My first ride is in twenty minutes. You can either watch in the stands or by the gates where the bull will be launched. Or you can stay in here and be all whiny about the situation."

"You were nearly killed last time!" Leslie shouted.

"Last time? Last time wasn't nearly as bad as what happened to me when I was just seventeen years old. I was in a coma for two days!" Red said. This made Leslie even more uneasy. "I have to get ready, dear. Go out to the gates where the kids are." Leslie rolled her eyes and stomped out of the stables, leaving Red with the bull he was going to ride. Red climbed up on the gate of his first bull he'd be using. A massive brown and white beast. "So we meet again, mate." Red whispered. "You think I'm scared just because you nearly took my life the first time. Well I got news for you, buddy. I'm not. And I'll ride your ass for the whole eight seconds. Just you wait." Red smirked. "Stupid cow."

**Meanwhile **

"I'm excited. Are you excited? You should be. What time is it? I'm tired. Did that light just go out? Hi! . . . I didn't know that man. My neck hurts. Holy shit! Did you just see that tree? Probably not because it went by so fast. You're pretty. Can you dislocate your arm at will, like this? I'm hungry-"

"Okay, Zeiden! I get it! You win!" Tak shouted, frustrated with her boyfriend. ZIM pumped his arms in victory.

"I told you I could be more annoying than Timmy!"

"Yeah, and I should've listened to you." Tak sighed. ZIM smirked as Leslie joined them from talking with Red before his ride.

"Ugh. I hate when that man makes me worry." Leslie grunted, standing by the gate to the arena. The arena's stands were full with hundreds of spectators. All flashing cameras and taking videos of the bull riding that was currently in progress. "If he doesn't get hurt in his runs, then I'm gonna hurt him myself."

"Why? For being relieved that he didn't get hurt?" ZIM asked.

"Precisely." The cowboy riding got bucked off as soon as the buzzer rung. Leslie started to hold her breath as the announcer spoke into the intercom.

"_Next up, All the way from Perth, Australia! The Red Jackaroo, Red Macale!_" Leslie felt her daughter in her arms squirm at the booming voice. Leslie looked down at Sapphira.

"Your daddy's an idiot."

**...**

'Don't get yourself trampled. Ride well for Les. Hold on tight till you hear the buzzer. Don't get trampled. Keep a hand on your hat. Flex your butt muscles. Oh, and whatever you do, _don't _get trampled.' Red mentally told himself over and over again as he mounted Death Wish and prepared himself for what was coming in one short minute. Sandy was right next to the cage he was in. She gave him a wink and mouthed a, 'Good Luck'.

"Ya ready, pipsqueak?" A ranch hand asked, who was tightening the bull's flank strap. Red cocked a brow.

"Pipsqueak?" Red asked. Before he could question the man further on his word choice the gate swung open and the bull immediately started on a rampage. Red was caught off guard but quickly regained his composure. He grabbed the black, felt hat on his head to prevent him from touching the bull as the other hand held tight to the strap and the animal tried with all it's might to buck the Irken off and murder him. The crowd roared with encouragement. Red was getting disoriented from spinning, jerking, and twisting around. He had no sense of time. No sense of direction. The bull gave one nasty buck sending Red's hind end high in the air. As his lower half was going down to land on the bull's back again, his buttocks bones collided with the bull's spine. Red gasped when he felt a shooting pain run up from his rear. He tried his best to ignore the gnawing pain in his rest to finish his ride. At long last, the buzzer sounded, ringing in Red's antenna. He slipped his hand from under the strap that he was holding and allowed himself to be thrown off. He landed ungracefully and as fast as he could limped to the side gates and climbed up and over to safety. He had several other competitors congratulate him for his full eight seconds. "Hoo." Red sighed, walking to the back lounge where the riders stayed until their next ride.

"Red Jackaroo, score, ninety-five." The announcer said over the intercom. Red beamed.

"Best score I had in awhile." He told one of the stable hands who congratulated him. Leslie met up with her husband, scurrying over to see if he was alright. She gave Sapphira up to Tak to hold. Leslie grabbed Red's arms and inspected his body thoroughly.

"Are you okay? You were limping. Are you hurt?"

"Just my ass." Red mumbled.

"Did you break a bone?" Leslie asked.

"I dunno yet. If I did, I wouldn't be surprised. My ischium, sacrum, coccyx, and pelvis have fractured before numerous times. My thumb hurts too a little." Red groaned rubbing his bottom, grimacing in pain as he did. "It doesn't hurt that bad though. I think it may just be bruised." Red met Leslie's eye. As soon as he did he was greet with a soft slap to the face. Then to make him even more confused she pulled him in for a kiss. Once they parted Red gave Leslie an inquiring look.

"The slap was for scaring me and the kiss was for not getting hurt." Red smiled.

"Well, in that case. I'm sorry and you're welcome." He leant in and kissed her cheek. "I have to get ready for my next ride."

**July 14, 2001**

"You picked a good honeymooning spot, Pur. I must say, I'm impressed with your knowledge for other cultures."

"Mama didn't raise no dumbass." Purple said as he averted his gaze from the Mediterranean sea to his lover. "You'll be surprised with how much I know. I'm one of those reservoirs full of useless facts. It doesn't help me in real life. But if I'm ever on a trivial gameshow, I think I have an advantage." He dug his foot into the warm sand. "Here's a fun fact for ya. Did you know this beach is a nudist beach?" Tenn let out a hearty laugh.

"What are you implying?" She asked with a smirk.

"Well . . . We're the only ones here and . . . I know, you know, that we both know that we want to get naked and screw around like in one of those cheap, corny, romance films." Purple tugged at Tenn's bikini top strings teasingly. "What do ya say?" Tenn didn't say anything for a long moment. Finally she glanced back at her husband.

"I say . . . whoever is last to get naked gets bottom tonight." Tenn then shot forward to stand up and started to rip her bikini off her body. Purple stood as well, having the advantage of only having to take off his swim trunks. He pulled his shorts down and kicked them off from around his ankle as soon as Tenn got her top off. Her bottoms still on. Purple opened his arms to reveal himself to her to prove that he won.

"Eat your heart out." Purple smirked making fists with his hands and placing them proudly on his hips. Tenn just grinned and finished undressing. As soon as she was exposed she pushed Purple roughly toward the water.

"I may be bottom tonight, but this foreplay will destroy your self esteem."

"Why's that?" Purple asked. Tenn pushed him again, hard enough that he stumbled into the water.

"Because I can be one helluva bitch when I want to." Tenn gave Purple one last powerful shove. He fell back in a sitting position in the water. Tenn sat in his lap facing him, her legs on either side of his hips. "The battle of domination has begun, babe."

**July 16, 2001**

"The précis of your style analysis essay should introduce your author as well as the written piece you're reviewing and date. This will be the opener to the paper. The contents of the essay will include these three things; diction, syntax, and the use of figurative language your author implies in her or his excerpt." Red turned back around from the whiteboard he was writing on to his class. They all looked lost with the exception of a few students who decided that the instructions was the best time to take a nap. "Um . . . Any questions?" A few hands shot up. "Trixie?"

"Do you speak English?" She asked, earning a few chuckles from the class. Red rolled his eyes.

"I apologize. I couldn't comprehend your question. Your word choice was too simple." Red sat behind his desk. "Just write a paper about your author's writing style." Red crinkled up a piece of scrap paper into a ball and threw it at ZIM, who was one of the nappers. It hit his head. He stirred but did not wake until Tak elbowed him. "I suggest you all purchase a dictionary. You'll find that I can have an immense vocabulary and I'm not afraid to use it." As the kids started to write their papers, Red looked down at the blueprints that were just finished for their Irken home. He hired the top architect of Irk to design it. They'd have two hundred acres to roam. The house itself was four stories tall, eight bedrooms, two latrines for Leslie and Gaz's personal bathrooms, six showering and bathing rooms, even an indoor pool and spa as well as an outdoor. Red had found a perfect location to put the house. It would be placed a hundred yards away from the waterfront of the Terica ocean of The Irken country also named Terica. The house was placed on the far, far outskirts of Meijour so they'd have plenty of privacy. Red was proud and couldn't wait to hire a team to start building. It would take awhile, but it'd be worth it.

The man decided to get up and roam the classroom to see if anyone needed help. He stopped by ZIM and looked over his shoulder. The boy, no awake, was staring off into space and didn't have a single thing written on his paper yet. Red shook his head disapprovingly. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was time to switch classes.

"Alright, mates, we'll continue this tomorrow. Get outta here." Red told them. The kids all got out from behind their tables and filed out if the room. All except ZIM who remained at his desk in a heavy daze. Red squinted at his little brother and noticed that ZIM's lips were moving ever so slightly as if he were rattling off silent chants. Red approached his brother and waved a hand in front of his eyes. ZIM blinked and snapped out of it. "Ya alright, mate?" ZIM looked down at the table, shaking his head.

"I'm frustrated." Red sat on the surface of ZIM's desk.

"Why's that?" ZIM kept his gaze down.

"Jalokia's wants me to go on tour, I have loads of homework every night, I have to film either early morning before school or late at night, I never get to sleep in anymore, I can't keep up on baseball practice, I have a new album to record, and to top that all off, I'm going through my MPMS twenty-four-seven." Red snorted.

"Male Premenstrual syndrome?"

"I don't like the way puberty sounds. It's a gross word." ZIM mumbled. Red put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.

"It sounds like you've committed yourself to too many things, bud." Red said. "Why not put the tour and album on hold. Focus on school and baseball. The T.V. can wait for you. It's no big deal."

"You make it sound so easy." ZIM huffed, burying his face in his arms, resting his head down. "I'm exhausted because they won't let me sleep and now I have to face Coach Shili. I hate him! I honestly don't know why the studio thought gym was a necessary subject."

"Wait, who's _they_? Who won't let you sleep?" ZIM closed his eyes and shivered.

"Shadows." Red cocked his head to the side, completely confused. ZIM shook his head. "Don't worry about it." Red blinked and pushed it from his mind.

"Why do you hate Shili?"

"Cuz he doesn't act like a coach. He acts like a damn drill Sargent. He made me do twenty push ups for yawning." ZIM said. "And Miss. Itry! Did you know she was racist? We were talking about the African slave trade and instead of calling them 'blacks' she kept calling them 'niggers'! And when I called her out on that because I could tell A.J. was starting to get offended, she snapped a few racist remarks about greens."

"Well . . . What'd she say about greens?" Red asked.

"She said we were all arrogant, Jews. Called our people '_megra_'." Red's eyes widened. Like nigger, megra was excruciatingly offensive. Only instead of insulting dark colored people, it offended those who were olive colored, or green or of Irken heritage in general. "And she called me an Abo! And I'm pretty sure when she subtly called me, or rather our people, Firewood, she was referencing something about the Holocaust."

"She called you all of that?" Red asked, not sure if he believed ZIM.

"Indirectly, but yes. She did."

"Well . . . I'll talk to her or something. She probably didn't know the word, Abo, is offensive to Australian natives. Just . . . ignore it for now. You should get ready for gym class. Now get to it, bud, before your late." ZIM groaned.

"Can't I just skip it? I'll go to seminar later, I just want to skip gym." ZIM whined.

"Go, ZIM." Red ordered. The younger Irken sighed and stood from his seat, trudging out of the room and to his dressing room to change out of his school uniform and into athletic clothes for gym. After he put on a pair of basketball shorts and Nikes, he went out into the scorching Los Angeles heat. There everyone was gathered waiting for their gym class to start.

"Macale! Where's your shirt?" Shili asked.

"I forgot to take an extra shirt." ZIM explained, crossing his arms.

"I don't want you running out here half naked! Put your academy shirt on!" The coach demanded. Tak butted in.

"In ZIM's defense, he over heats easily. It's probably best if he left his shirt off." She said. Shili glared at Tak.

"I'm not talking to you, little lady." The big man said. Tak frowned. "Put a shirt on or you'll get a zero for the day." ZIM rolled his eyes.

"I don't give a shit." ZIM said. The others gathered around all looked back and forth from Shili to ZIM. The coach looked angry.

"Fine! Divide into two teams. Vicky and Dillon, you two are team captains." Shili said. Dib and Vicky split themselves from the rest of the group. "Choose your teams carefully. We're playing basketball."

"_Shiiiiiiit_." ZIM moaned, loudly. A few strange glances were castes his way.

"Dillon, you get first pick." Shili said. Dib scanned the group of kids. ZIM knew that Dib would pick him if it weren't for the fact that ZIM was downright terrible at basketball . . . and short.

"Pearl." He finally said.

"He chose a whale over me." ZIM whispered to Tak, making her snicker.

"Francis." Vicky said, looking at her nails, not really caring.

"Tak."

"Reggie."

"Timmy."

"Otto." Vicky said. ZIM waited to be picked until he was part of the last four to be picked.

"A.J." Dib said. ZIM threw his hands in the air.

"Dude!" Dib just gave him a sheepish look.

"Just hold on. I'll pick you next." Dib said.

"If we were playing baseball, I would've been fought over." ZIM mumbled.

"Trixie." Now it was narrowed down to ZIM and this kid with a large growth coming out of his face named Elmer, from Timmy's show. ZIM kept his eyes fixed upon Dib as Timmy whispered in his ear. Dib gave the boy a questioning and unsure look then nodded.

"Elmer." He said. ZIM's jaw dropped. Dib gave ZIM an apologetic look. "Sorry. Timmy said he was a really good shot." ZIM closed his mouth again. Vicky motioned for ZIM to join her team. Vicky called her team into a huddle. ZIM pouted. Vicky was on a varsity basketball team and could be very competitive. Where her character on the show was mean, she was actually bearable in real life, unless it came to basketball and winning and despite the fact that she was really slutty. She wasn't exactly the most pleasant person to hang around with, however.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do." Vicky started. "Usually there's only ten people on the court at a time. Five from each team. But in this game we're playing with a total of fourteen on the court. That way everyone plays." She said, looking at her team. "Here's the positions; center will go to me because I'm the tallest here. Power forward goes to Francis, he's got the muscles. Small forward is Reggie, she's very versatile on court. Shooting guard goes to Otto, he's a good shot. Usually the point guard goes to the shortest and smallest on the team." Everyone looked at ZIM. "But considering the fact that the smallest on the team is Zeiden and that point guard is one of the hardest positions, it'd probably be a dumb idea to put him there." ZIM scowled, insulted. "So that spot will go to the second shortest. Chester. Trixie, you'll be playing the made up position of backup center because you're quite tall too. ZIM . . . just don't get in the way. Alright?"

"Wow." ZIM huffed. "I feel useless."

"Okay, let's take the court!" Vicky called. The two teams all got into their positions. ZIM stood wherever Vicky told him to. A few older toons and humans gathered around the court to spectate for no reason but cheap entertainment. Shili blew the whistle throwing the ball in the air. Vicky smacked it away from the other center, which was Pearl from the other team. She passed it to Trixie who dribbled it up the court. ZIM stood still as everyone ran forward to assist her. He had no idea what to do so he watched at the other team stole the ball from Trixie and bounded in the other direction. Tak had the ball and was dribbling it directly toward their hoop. "ZIM! Get her!" ZIM jumped at Vicky's order. ZIM looked at Tak, he frozen in place. He still had no idea what to do. How do you steal the ball from someone?

Finally ZIM found his legs and bolted toward Tak, running directly in front of her, grabbing the ball from her and chucked it in a random direction. The ball sailed through the air to the out of bounds line. The opponents laughs as well as the spectators. Vicky placed her palm to her face.

"Gee, ZIM. I knew you were bad, but I didn't know you were _that _bad." Tak chuckled. She ran to retrieve the ball and throw it back into play. ZIM really didn't want to play. His team had the ball again and everyone was marked up except for him. He was wide open so Chester had no choice but to pass to ZIM. The ball hit ZIM squarely in the face for obviously not paying attention. The ball made impact with him with enough force to knock him down to his back. He groaned as Dib snatched the ball up and ran to the basket passed to Elmer and scored.

"ZIM, you're such a dweeb." Tak said, helping him up. "Are you alright?"

"My face fuckin' hurts." ZIM growled. Tak cooed.

"Poor smeet." Tak trotted back to her half of the court. She didn't play basketball, but she was indeed better than ZIM. Heck, everyone there was better than him. That's why he hated the sport so much. Vicky called for another huddle. ZIM joined in on the plan.

"Here's what we're doing, Trixie and ZIM, both of you get into scoring positions. I'm going to fake a pass to ZIM and hand you the ball Trix. You'll make the layup shot." They nodded. "Alright, team. Break!" Shili blew the whistle again and ZIM ran to the opponents half of the court and stood by the hoop. All he had to do was be a distraction really. He kept his eyes on Vicky as she got the ball and dribbled up the court. Swerving in and out of others. She got blocked by a wall of opposite team members all on her right side so she couldn't pass to Trixie. The only one open again was ZIM. Vicky hesitantly passed the ball to ZIM. He gasped as he clumsily caught the ball. Not really knowing what to do he turned to the hoop he was standing by just a few feet away and blindly threw the ball up to the round rim. ZIM closed his eyes looking away, not daring to see the no doubt horrible shot, until he heard a swishing noise and absolute silence.

"Whoa." One of the kids gawked. ZIM looked around in bewilderment. Everyone was staring at him.

"Wha- What? What'd I do?" ZIM noticed the basketball still bouncing directly below the hoop. "Did I . . . Was it . . . I just get a touchdown?" ZIM continued to look around. Vicky had a pleased look on her face. Tak, who was closest to him burst into laughter.

"Yes, ZIM! You just scored a touchdown!" She laid a hand on his shoulder. Everyone started to clap and cheer for him. ZIM beamed.

"Yay! He's not so hopeless after all!"

"Soon he'll be good enough for the NBA!" The other kids jibed. ZIM didn't care. He was just happy he made the hoop.

"Next time look, so you can see what you do." Tak chuckled. "It was a perfect swish."

"I . . . Me? I did? Holy shit! I . . . can't even . . . Me! It was me! I scored the baskety-hoop!" ZIM threw his arms around Tak. She smiled.

"Good job, Zeiden! You should be proud."

"Well yeah! I should have every right to be proud! I just won the game!" ZIM exclaimed. Tak cocked a brow.

"ZIM the game isn't over-" The younger Irken ignored her and just strutted out of the court, still happy with himself but not at all wanting to continue the game.

**July 17, 2001**

"I can't believe I made three errors."

"Don't be so down on yourself about it."

"No one should make that many errors in one game! I made three of them!" Red sighed. He was bringing ZIM home from one of his baseball games in the Angel's stadium. It was a tough game against Indiana. ZIM was starting pitcher and wasn't performing his best that day. He walked four boys in one inning and dropped a fly ball. "I've been making so many mistakes lately! I can't seem to concentrate during my games!"

"It sounds like you just need a long time to calm down."

"I don't need to calm down! I need Sam to come back and practice with me!" ZIM was shaking. He was furious with himself and Red was trying everything he could to cool him off. ZIM decided to change the topic to get his mind off the game. "Your ass still hurt?"

"Yes, actually." Red responded. "Don't tell Les. She'll want to take me in for an X-ray."

"It's been four days. I highly doubt that it's just a bruise anymore." ZIM pointed out. "Birthing Sapphira probably made your tailbone weak. The rodeo just did it in for ya."

"It's bruised, ZIM. Some bruises can last a long time." Red said.

"Does it hurt right now?"

"Well yeah, but . . . Okay, you're right. My coccyx is sprained, but not fractured. Don't tell Leslie. I'm serious." Red said. "I've broken every bone in my ass so I know how to deal with it." ZIM snickered. "It's not funny. It's embarrassing."

"You must be used to having a sore butt." ZIM said. Red bit his bottom lip, amused.

"That could be taken the wrong way, Zei-Zei."

"No! I mean considering you've been bull riding for years."

"Mmhmm. Yeah. My back is sore too. I hate sitting in those bleachers." Red mumbled.

"Don't worry. The playoffs are coming up. If we win three more games we'll make it to the finals and then the junior world series." ZIM smiled. "Wouldn't that be so awesome to play against another country?" Red shrugged.

"I suppose so." He said, pulling into their driveway. "Wanna know something else that's awesome?"

"Sure."

"The premiere date for the reality show is on the twenty-fifth of this month." Red informed him. "They took a poll to see how many people would tune in. Over two billion across the Irken galaxy. Ain't that something?"

"Yeah. It sure is." ZIM said. Red pulled into their driveway and turned off the truck. The two walked inside entering the family room. Red gave Leslie a kiss on the head and sat next to her. She had Sapphira in her arms.

"How was the game?" She asked.

"We lost. By two runs." ZIM muttered, slumping into a chair. "The coach had to pull me out because I was pitching so terribly."

"It couldn't of been that bad." Leslie looked at Red. He nodded.

"It was. Trust me." He said. "He pelted two boys with one pitch. While it was impressive, it still advanced the opponents a base."

"Hmm. Sounds like Zeiden just needs a little time off." Leslie said.

"Why is everyone saying that? I don't need time off. I need practice time. And lots of it." Red rolled his eyes.

"He's kind of melodramatic today."

"I can see that." Leslie said.

"I'm not melodramatic!" ZIM snapped.

"And crabby."

"I'm not crabby-"

"I think it's 'cuz his baseball pants are too tight." Red said, pulling at the belt holding ZIM's pants up.

"They're not tight-"

"What a silly. He needs to go to bed." Red laughed at ZIM's annoyed face. "Go sleep."

"Red," ZIM growled,

"Go sleep!" ZIM furrowed his brows.

"You're irritating."

"And you're sleepy." ZIM frowned heavily and left the room being much to annoyed by his brother to stay anymore. As soon as ZIM left, he called to the couple from the other room.

"Red broke his ass when he was bull riding!"

**July 18, 2001**

"Oh my God! This beard is so fluckin' itchy!" ZIM tugged at the artificial facial hair. "Why? Why would I change my disguise just to go out in town? I hate this! I look like a damn hobo!"

"Stop your bitchin'. It's only for this episode." Jhonen butted in, jokingly. "Now can you please stop acting like a diva and re-say your lines?" ZIM pulled the beard off.

"Do I have to wear this?"

"Zeiden . . ." Jhonen groaned. "You know what? One more complaint and I'll make sure you'll wear that disguise in a future episode."

"I can't help it! It itches! How do you humans put up with this filthy hair?"

"Yup, you're definitely wearing it again."

"Ugh! Jhonen, you suck!"

"That's a lie. Now put that back on and say your line again." ZIM's lips curled downward in distaste.

"This sucks ass." ZIM muttered. Jhonen sighed.

"Lets just go over the lines a few more times then-"

"What's this episode called?" ZIM asked looking at the front of the script. "_Walk of Doom_? . . . God, GIR, stupid shit getting me lost in the city."

"GIR's not the only stupid shit here." Jhonen said, jokingly. ZIM shot him a glare. "I'm kidding . . . GIR doesn't exist." ZIM scowled further. "Okay ZIM, I guess you've been rehearsing long enough. Go get changed."

"Thank you!" ZIM shouted, sarcastically. He stormed out of the soundstage and down the hall to his dressing room. He ran into Dib on his way. "Hey, D." Dib's eyes went wide.

"You grew!" He stated. ZIM sighed, standing two inches taller than him. ZIM motioned down at his feet. Dib looked. Platform shoes.

"I wish I grew, though."

"How was it?" Dib asked, looking at ZIM's attire. Tan trench coat, he was holding a dirty pink hat with a ugly, blue flower attached in his hand. Wig on head and contacts in eyes.

"Sucked." ZIM mumbled. "I have to dress like an old man for 'Walk of Doom' and I have to wear a skintight green screen jumpsuit for 'Dark Harvest'."

"Why?"

"Because for most of the episode I'll be fat and swollen with organs that I . . . ate, I guess. So they're going to put me in a suit and animate me differently so I can look fat."

"Huh. That does suck."

"Yeah, not only do I have to wear a green screen suit but the finished product will make me look hideously deformed."

"That is . . . too bad." Dib said. "At least your not deformed or hideous in reality."

"Mmm. If I was, I'd probably be grounded right now."

"Why do you say that?"

"I get out a lot of my punishments by doing this adorable puppy-dog pout. I had to use it last night when I dropped the F-bomb in front of Zee."

"Huh! I don't ever get in trouble so I don't have a 'cute face' to use whenever I'm in for it."

"Are you just a good boy all the time, or do you commit misconducts and your dad just doesn't have the heart to punish you?"

"A little bit of both. The worst thing I've ever done was fail a quiz after lying about studying the night before. My dad was more upset that I got a C on my quiz than lying."

"C isn't failing, Dib. I would know, I get C's all the time and still advance to the next grade." ZIM said. "Red hates lying. If I ever try lying, he'd know in an instant and it'd makes my punishments _way_ worse!"

"How does he know when your lying? I've heard you lie before. You're really good at it."

"Why, thank you. But apparently you never noticed how my antenna twitch whenever I lie." ZIM said taking off the black wig. Dib looked at the stalks protruding from his friend's head.

"I haven't noticed." Dib said. "Quick, lie about something." ZIM thought for a moment, looking Dib up and down.

"Man, Dib, I sure do like that shirt your wearing." Dib watched as ZIM's antenna immediately started to twitch.

"Okay well, first, I like this shirt and second, now that I know your secret to find out if you're lying or not, I'll just stare at your antenna." Dib narrowed his eyes at the appendages on ZIM's head. "Speaking of your antenna, Your left piercing looks like it's getting infected."

"Does it?" ZIM pulled his antenna down to look at it. He inspected the tip carefully. It did hurt a little. "Eh, maybe I should just keep it out for a little while." ZIM pulled the red diamond stud out and rubbed his antenna tenderly. "I have to go to Irk for a little bit. My agent wants to speak to me about pitching new movie ideas with my siblings."

"You're gonna star in another movie?" Dib asked.

"Yeah, if we pitch a good idea." ZIM said. "You may come of you want."

"What if they expect me to contribute to the conversation?"

"Then add your input." ZIM said. "Come on, it'll be fun." ZIM led Dib out into the California heat. ZIM took a deep breath in and exhaled loudly through his mouth. "Ahhh! Gotta love that smog." Dib chuckled and walked with his friend to his truck and got in on the passenger's seat. "We have to go to my house first. My sibs are waiting for me there." ZIM quickly drove them to his home as fast as the law would allow him. He soon pulled into the driveway and hopped out and went in along with Dib to meet up with his family.

"Hey kiddo," Red greeted his little brother upon entering. He gave Dib a sly smile. He laid his hand upon the boy's head and patted gently. "Hello, friend." Dib grinned back at him, not allowing Red to have the satisfaction of making him feel uncomfortable. "Are you two ready to go?" ZIM nodded.

"I have a few ideas to pitch. Hopefully you guys could help me expand on them so we can get a good solid plot."

"Excellent. Let's get those ideas out on the table then." Red started to tinker with the transporter setting the coordinates to bring them to the office building where they'd be spending the next hour.

**Later**

"Okay bare with me here cause this plan is outrageously weak. What if we did a post-apocalyptic movie where the only survivors of the Irken race are ones forced to live incognito because of . . . zombies roaming the planet!" ZIM suggested.

"Expand on that." Jalokia said.

"Okay, well . . . That's all I got." ZIM mumbled. "Told ya it was weak."

"I'm liking then apocalypse idea, but since zombie movies are so overdone, how about we replace your zombie idea with another race?" Red asked.

"Like who? What other race do we know could possibly be a threat to the Irken military?" ZIM wondered.

"The Vortians, Meekrobians, Hytons, Fuck-Heads-"

"That's politically incorrect." Purple cut Red off.

"Fine, Screw-Heads, Yrojans, I could go on." Red said.

"The Hytons are massive people. What if we used them?" ZIM said. "They all average around ten feet tall and they have a huge military." Dib looked from ZIM to the others.

"What if said Hytons declared war on Irk eventually rendering Irk nothing but a memory and the surviving Irkens are threatened everyday by Hytons. If any Irken was seen alive they'd be killed on the spot." Dib said. "And let's say the Irkens are secretively forming a revolt against the Hytons to claim back their planet that they now occupy using huge embassy's all around Northern Irk because that's where all the huge major cities, including your capital, are located." The Irkens in the room fell silent pondering in the idea.

"I like it." Purple said, simply. "We can expand on that later, for now, let's talk budget."

"We are getting well over a couple billion to fund this movie." Mevlo said. "So we have to make sure this movie isn't a total flub."

"Otherwise the revenue will be a lot less than the budget and we'll find ourselves in debt." ZIM said. "Damn, that'd suck."

"And that's why we need a perfect plot for this upcoming mov- . . . Why do you keep staring at me?" Jalokia cocked a brow at Red who was giving the producer an intense look.

"No reason, it's just . . . Your voice. If I ever had a rapist I feel as though he'd have your voice . . . You have a rapist's voice." Everyone turned their heads to give Red an inquiring look. "I find it pleasantly disturbing."

"How many joints did you smoke today, Red?" ZIM asked. Red glared at ZIM.

"Only two, but seriously! Listen to his voice! That's my rapists' voice, if I ever had one."

"Go to bed, Red." Purple said. Red looked from his friend back to Jalokia. Then without another word, left the conference room.

"Well . . . I just learned that my voice sounds like a rapists." Jalokia stated. "Now back to this movie."

"I'd like to go off Dib's idea." ZIM said. "I could write a premise for it and I'll email it to you later tonight because I feel as if this movie could have a big enough plot to be a major motion picture." Jalokia nodded.

"I expect a premise by tonight then. No later. I want the movie company to start planning on the writers, and what not." ZIM nodded. "Alright then. You may leave. Next meeting will take place this Sunday." ZIM stood along with the others and filed out of the room. They found Red again in the lobby of the studio.

"Why would you tell our producer he had a rapists voice?" ZIM inquired. Red shrugged.

"I was bored and wanted to leave . . . Plus I wanted to make him feel uncomfortable around me." He replied. "I think it worked." ZIM cocked a eye ridge.

"Why . . . do you insist on making people uncomfortable?"

**July 19, 2001**

"I don't know why you're complaining, ZIM. I think you look awesome in that green screen suit." ZIM furrowed his brow at Dib.

"Shut up." ZIM muttered. "These pants are squeezing my ass. I can just feel all the girls' eyes on my butt whenever I walk by." ZIM grabbed a handful of the tight fabric on his rear and pulled it down to relieve himself of discomfort. "It's still weird I get wedgies when I don't even have a butt crack."

"Ehh . . . Too much info, Zimmy." Dib said, handing a script to his friend. "Hey I think your dog just wandered out of the soundstage. Should I go get him so you don't have to walk out there like that?" ZIM craned his head to the exit.

"Yes, please. Last time I let Tyson run around by himself I found him later digging through the scraps from lunch." ZIM said. Dib went off to retrieve the dog as ZIM stayed on the stage. Gaz was on the other side of the room talking to the classmate girls. She caught his glance. He smiled broadly and waved at her wildly. "Hi!" Gaz rolled her eyes and went back to talking. ZIM frowned. He bent over to his book bag and took out his laptop to type some late homework before the school day began. They had an hour to shoot then the rest of the day they'd spend at school. Which he was not looking forward too. Especially since ZIM had to give a speech in world history. They were learning about the holocaust and ZIM found himself getting offended because Miss. Itry seemed to be on the Nazi's side, and ZIM, being Jewish, made it worse for him. She gave him the topic of concentration camp torture and that in itself was torture just to research on it.

ZIM saw Dib lead Tyson back into the soundstage by the collar. "Ty-Ty, 'mere boy!" ZIM called for him. The white, poofy dog bolted towards ZIM. The Irken grinned when his dog stopped right in front of him and gave him a big lick on the cheek.

"Your dog is huge, dude. He's up to your shoulder."

"He used to be taller than me." ZIM said. "He's strong. Watch this." ZIM jumped up on the dog's back. Tyson was unfazed by the extra light weight added on him. ZIM made a kissing noise and the dog started to walk. "He's been training to race in the Iditarod this winter."

"Has he really? That's crazy! How many miles is that?"

"I dunno. It's from Anchorage to Nome. You'll have to ask Purple. He tried racing the trail once but was almost killed from the weather." ZIM said.

"What happened?"

"He got frostbite and nearly had to amputate his hand and forearm. Not only that but he fell through a lake with thin ice. That made him hypothermic." Dib was awestruck.

"He's doing it this year?"

"Yeah! Well . . . technically next year in like, February or something." ZIM said. "He used to be a musher. That was his first job as a teenager."

"Wow. What is up with you and your family having dangerous hobbies? Why don't you guys do photography like me?"

"Because, without danger there's no adventure." ZIM said. "Whoa, Ty." The dog stopped walking. ZIM slid off him, giving his dog a scratch. "We have to shoot now."

**Later**

ZIM had his arms crossed over his body as he leaned back lazily in his chair. He was the last one presenting today in class and he was waiting for Miss. Itry to stop talking and tell him to come up and present. He was surprised Miss. Itry let Tyson stay in the class. Right now the dog was curled up in a ball in the corner, napping.

"That was a great example summary of Hitler's, 'Mein Kempf', Trixie, and how he explains his hatred toward Jews for being the devil's offspring. Right, ZIM?" ZIM pursed his lips, extremely annoyed. "ZIM can tell ya all about how Jews were accused of being the world's ghetto dwellers." ZIM gave his teacher a sarcastic smile, hating her more and more with every passing moment. She went on to drone about something else about Hitler's book and passing a few more subtle remarks about Jewish folk. "Zeiden, you're up for your presentation." ZIM's antenna perked at the mention of his name. He stood up and walked to the front of the class. ZIM wasn't really prepared but he was extremely good at winging it. He had taken several improv classes, after all.

"Alright, let's talk about my people." ZIM started, giving his classmates a huge smile. "1945 is when the 'Final Solution' phase of the holocaust began. That's the second phase of the two part holocaust. The 'Final Solution' was supposed to be the extermination of all Jews. Obviously," ZIM stretched out his arms to present himself to his mates. "They didn't do a good job. Anyways, a man named Mr. Hitlerski told his Nazi buddies that the Jews were bad people- Actually! He told them that we weren't even people! That my friends is called propaganda. Falsely accusing Jews for heinous crimes and convinced them that we were devil spawns. So his plan was to send Jews to concentration camps to all be worked to death! Hitler's first method of torturing Jews was to transport them to the camps in small, cramped cattle wagons. They'd go days without food and water so many Jews died already on the way there." ZIM said. "When they'd get to the camps both the men and women were stripped naked and humiliated. Then they were shaven because apparently, Jews aren't allowed to have hair, according to the Nazis."

"Is that why you're bald?" Francis asked from the back row. ZIM narrowed his eyes at him.

"No . . . I'm bald because my race doesn't grow hair." ZIM said, rolling his eyes.

"And because you Jews aren't allowed to have hair." ZIM scowled.

"That rule isn't true anymore. In fact, typical Jews tend to be very hairy people, with big beards and long hair that can be tied up in ponytails." ZIM said. "Anyways, after the haircuts, a few weaker Jews, whom the Nazis didn't think would do much work, were selected to be gassed right away. Thus they'd be thrown into a gas chamber and sprayed with mustard gas or Zyklon B."

"If you were apart of those Jews you'd be gassed right off the bat too." Francis said. He laughed with his buddies in the back as he explained his joke. "Get it? 'Cuz he's weak!" ZIM looked unamused and even a little offended. Tak turned around and gave the boys a hard look.

"Shut the hell up, before I shove my fist in your shit-eating mouth." She snarled. Tak turned back to ZIM. "Go on." ZIM smiled at her and her protectiveness. It was cute.

"Those who were not selected were usually starved to death." ZIM continued. "They were expected to do manual labour for hours and hours on end despite the fact that they'd be gradually turning weaker and weaker because they were malnourished. If anyone was not working hard enough, guards would beat them. A lot were shot for minor transgressions and some were even hung. Sometimes the elements of nature would kill them. It'd get so cold they'd freeze. Some died of heat stroke. I had a minor heat stroke before . . . It ain't fun." ZIM said. "This next part gets a little gruesome. Sometimes upon arrival of new Jews, the guards would pry women of their children, they'd swing babies and toddlers into brick walls cracking their skulls." The children of the class cringed at that fact. "Other times guards would use the babies as target practice. Throwing them in the air and shooting at them as they fall back down. If they didn't kill the child while it was in the air, the fall for sure killed them. A lot of Jews committed suicide by throwing themselves into the electric fence. The citizens of Germany was ignorant of what happened at these camps. They thought the camps were built to just simply separate Jews from their society. Unfortunately it wasn't." ZIM finished. A few hands went up for questions.

"How did your family survive the concentration camps?" Veronica asked. ZIM's lips pressed into a straight line.

"My family was never sent to a concentration camp. That happened before any of my siblings were born." ZIM said.

"You can't be Jewish! You're Irken." Some kid ZIM didn't even know, spoke up.

"Are you implying that Jew is a race?" ZIM asked. "Because it isn't. Judaism is a religion. However, the Jews came from their mother land Israel. And just so you know, I am approximately twelve percent Israeli. So to put it in a way so you can understand, I. Am. Jewish." He went back to his seat, not feeling like answering any more dumb questions. Miss. Itry walked by his desk and laid his speech analysis rubric faced down by him. She already graded his educational presentation. He flipped the paper up to see his letter grade. He nearly gasped when he saw the fat, red-ink, F on the paper. "Wha-? Why?" ZIM asked himself. He had all the required topics! He told them everything! He didn't sugar coat it! Red was going to kill him now.

"By now, you've all completed your presentations. So I want you guys to write me a paper of reflection on your presentation and how your grade was accurate to the way your presentation was delivered and the contents inside of it." ZIM was about to scream at her. He should've at least gotten a B! He literally did nothing wrong! He told them everything that was required in the rubric! "Once you're done with the paper, turn it in up here and you may leave." ZIM bit his lip hard as she dealt out pieces of lined paper. ZIM got a blue pen from his bag and as soon as he received a paper he immediately started to scribble down a letter of hatred for the teacher. Sure, he would get in trouble. But he needed to vent. And her injustice was nothing compared to the paper he was now writing.

**After School**

Red walked into Miss. Itry's room after being summoned by her a minute earlier. She needed to talk to him about something important pertaining to his little brother. He was expecting the worse, considering ZIM hated her and he lets everyone know it. Red found Miss. Itry by her desk with a paper in front of her.

"Sit down, Dr. Macale." She ordered. Red raised a brow but nonetheless took a seat across from her. "I had Zeiden give a speech today in where I believe he was neglectful to actually rehearse. He lacked a few things so I gave him a failing grade." Red groaned.

"Of course. I'm sorry, ma'am. I'll talk to him-"

"That's not why I called you in here!" She cut him off. He looked at her. "I asked the kids to write a paper of reflection on their speeches and here's his." She pushed the paper that was on her desk over to the Irken. He picked it up and read it, recognizing ZIM's neat, slanted handwriting right away. He began to read it in his head.

"_Reflection Essay by Zeiden Macale,_

_I straight up don't understand why you gave me a failing grade! I had all the requirements in my speech but apparently you didn't hear them all because your head was too far up your ass to listen to me._" Red bit his lip. This was going to get bad. He could already sense that. "_If you have a problem with who I am, fucking tell me. Don't do it subtly by failing me. That only just proves to me that you're a pussy. It's no wonder you're not married. You're not a very likable person. For Christ's sake, you pissed me off so bad today when you gave me that grade. No fucking reason! The speech was perfect! It was educational like you wanted and shorter than two minutes like you asked! You're only failing me because I'm Irken and you're nothing but a racist, old bitch. But then again, Tak is passing just fine, so maybe it's not the fact that you're racist, but perhaps sexist? Actually it can't be that either because my guy friends are all passing too! So what could it be? Because I'm fucking Jewish? Are you upset I wasn't a victim of the holocaust? Perhaps as one of those babies getting shot in midair like I reported on earlier? Or maybe it's just me personally. You pretty much indirectly told my crazy ass that I'm nothing but a dumbass every time I try to answer one of your fucking questions. What's up with that, you funky-ass bitch? So, I guess I can conclude that you're just a Nazi out to get this mothafuckin' Jew. You're a fucking bitch for picking and choosing favorites and I'm not gonna put up with your shit! Fuck the speech! Fuck this school! And fuck you!_" Red was cringing with anger and nervousness by the time he was done reading ZIM's filthy letter.

"That kid is suspended for the rest of the week! I demand that you deal with him accordingly! He's out of control and he offended me!" She yelled. "Your child is a spoiled brat! My God, if I were you I'd be sure that kids butt was black, blue and numb by the time I were through with him! I never been so disgraced in my life!" Red kept his mouth shut tight. "If it weren't for America banning corporal punishment in schools, I would have already dealt with him in front of the whole class! You leave me now and make sure that kid is straightened out before next week!" Red stood from the chair and walked silently out of the room.

"Wow," He muttered to himself. "She is a bitch."

**Later**

ZIM nearly fell out of his bed when his room door flew open. Red stomped in and grabbed him by the arm and yanked him up. Red's grip was like a vice on his wrists. ZIM's antenna slicked back, frightened. Red held ZIM's wrists with one hand as the other gripped the paper he wrote earlier that day.

"What the hell is this?" Red demanded. ZIM looked at it, pouting. He knew this would happen. "Well?"

"A paper I wrote." He mumbled.

_Well done, ZIM. Now you'll see just how much your brother hates you._

"Why would you write something like this?" Red shouted, throwing down the paper and holding each of ZIM's forearms in either of his hands. "Miss. Itry did not deserve that piece of garbage, Zeiden! She's not married because she's widowed first of all! She has nothing against you! She told me that you indeed did _not_ have all the requirements for the speech! And then you go off and swear at an elder lady like no tomorrow because you're a little ornery it didn't go you're way! Do you even know how big of a brat that makes you sound like right now?" Red shook him a little. ZIM whimpered under the glare.

"Red, you don't like her either."

"That doesn't mean you can disrespect someone like that!" Red roared. ZIM winced, looking away. "You are just like me when I was your age! And you know what? I don't _want_ you to be like me! I was an awful child! I don't want you to have a bad reputation! Look at me!" ZIM shifted his eyes to look at Red but kept his head turned to the side. "Why would you write something like that?"

"I . . . was just venting. I'm sick of getting failing grades." ZIM whispered, quivering. He wasn't sure what his punishment was going to be but he knew it was going to be bad. After all, this was his first month of school and he already got suspended.

"That is no excuse! You don't use this kind of language, whether it be in conversation or written on paper!" Red seethed. He pushed his younger brother back to his bed. "I expect that you give her a thorough apology tomorrow! In front of your whole class!"

"But-!"

"Shut it! I'm talking, Zeiden!" Red snapped.

"Red listen! She was-" ZIM was cut off by a gentle slap to his jaw.

"Hold your tongue!" Red seethed. ZIM's antenna slicked back, now scared and hurt. "Literally. Hold your tongue so you won't talk until I'm done." ZIM's frown got bigger. But nonetheless, he stuck out his tongue and held it in between his index finger and thumb. "You'll admit that you were being a brat and leave her alone! And for writing such awful words I'm gonna have you write an entire two page essay on why cussing is the unintelligent way to communicate. And thirdly, if your going to act like a toddler, I'm going to start treating you like a toddler. Until you grow up then I'll treat you how you want to be treated. Understand?" ZIM nodded. "Good. You're grounded for the rest of the month."

"What?" ZIM exclaimed, letting go of his tongue. "That ain't right, mate! She insulted me too!" ZIM felt Red's hand pinch his jaw tight to get him to be quiet.

"Get over yourself. For the next few weeks your grounded from everything. Your car, watching baseball games, hanging out with friends, your laptop, phone, _everything_. And you'll be going to bed at eight too for now on. I think part of the reason why you're so crabby is because your lacking sleep." ZIM scowled, ripping his face from his brother's grasp.

"I'm not crabby! You always say that! I'm fine!" Red rolled his eyes.

"Do not tell me you didn't sound at least a little bit crabby there." ZIM clenched his jaw furiously, yanking at his antenna. Red grabbed his hands and pried them off of ZIM's antenna to prevent him from hurting himself.

"Just leave me! I don't want to talk to you!" ZIM flopped belly down on his bed.

"Excuse me? I don't take orders from the likes of you, mate!" ZIM lifted his head and rested his chin on his pillow.

"Why do you hate me?"

"Hate you? Why do you figure that I hate you?" Red asked, sitting on the edge of his bed. ZIM was shaking. Red was sure he was crying. "Don't be so emotional, Z. You had this coming."

"I'm always in trouble."

"Because you always get yourself into trouble." Red said. ZIM pushed his face back into his pillow. Red rested his hand on the younger's back. "Just calm yourself down and go to sleep. You don't have school tomorrow but you do have work to do on Irk. What is it? A photo shoot?" ZIM nodded. "Okay, then. I'll be going with you." He stood to leave the room, shutting the lights off as he left.

"W-wait. Red, it's only seven o'clock!" ZIM called after him. Red ignored the boy, making his way down the steps to the living room, seeing Leslie on the couch holding his smeet. He took a spot next to them, putting am arm around his wife. She smiled at him.

"I read ZIM's letter." She said. "You gotta admit that some parts were pretty funny." Red chuckled.

"He sounded kind of thuggish, I thought."

"I straight up don't git dat boi." Leslie said, jokingly.

"Da boyz whack yo, but we luv his crazy ass anyway." Red added. Leslie laughed.

"My goodness, do we sound like white trash or what?"

"Speak for yourself, I ain't white." Red said. He leaned over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He then shifted over to his daughter and gave her a sweet kiss of her forehead. "I'm turnin' in." Leslie watched him as he left her, whispering to him as he went.

"It's very early yet, Hun." Leslie pointed out.

"Yes, but remember, I woke up at two this morning." Red scratched the back of his neck.

"Having bad dreams again?" Red nodded. "Maybe we should take you to the doctors to see if we can up your dosage on your nighttime medications."

"Nah. I'll just deal with it." The corner of Leslie's mouth curved down.

"Okay, baby. But if you get more and more sluggish during the day, I'm gonna bring you in. Red sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Alright." Red started towards their bedroom.

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

**...**

"ZIM?" Red called up the stairs. "ZIM, come on down! I want to talk to you!" Red furrowed his brows when he didn't hear a response. "Zeiden!" Silence.

"Maybe he's listening to music." Zee suggested, not looking up from her laptop screen on the couch. "Or sleeping."

"Mm, yeah. That kid sleeps like a brick." Red said. He then sighed heavily. "Or he's upset that I grounded him. I dunno. You'll never know with that kid." Red started to slowly make his way up the steps.

"Tell him to let out Tyson too. He's been whining." Zee said. Red nodded and climbed the rest of the way. Red leisurely walked down the hall stopping at his room to check up on Sapphira. The smeet was sound asleep on their bed, Leslie sitting on the mattress, reading.

"She been sleeping long?" Red asked. Leslie shook her head.

"I just put her down." Red smiled at his wife, lovingly. Leslie returned the smile. Red then continued down the hall until he reached ZIM's room. The door was closed tightly. Red softly knocked.

"ZIM, come out so we can talk." Still no answer. "Bud, c'mon, open the door." Red's patience was wearing thin. "Zeiden Macale Junior, last call mate, or you're gonna regret ignoring me." Red scowled when not the lightest of sounds were made. "Zeiden!" Red bit his lip, annoyed. "Alright!" Red grabbed the knob and barged in. As soon as he did he stopped dead in his tracks at the horrifying sight before him. Words. Words and drawings all over the walls. Everywhere! Drawn in what looked to be red ink. Red gasped, paling instantly. He looked to the bed and shrieked with horror. His brother was laying on the bed, drenched in blood. A blade, stabbed deep within his chest. Cuts scarred every inch of his body, all leaked blood. Red nearly crumpled to the ground. He staggered his way over to the edge of the bed. Wheezing, not believing his eyes. He looked down at the motionless body. "Zeiden . . . No, no, no." Red yanked on his antenna, closing his eyes in angst. "Zeiden! Why? Zeiden!" Red leaned over the corpse. "Zeiden, damn it! Why? Why would you do this?" A shaky hand gripped the bade lodged into the sternum. He quickly pulled it out. Red's eyes were wide and dripping with immediate tears. The enraged older brother threw himself over the body, scooping the small frame up and cradling it. "I'm sorry, mom!" Red cried. "I had no idea! I'm so sorry!" He kissed the boy's forehead. "Zeiden . . . Y-you didn't have to do this. It didn't have to end this way." Red squeezed ZIM's body, burying his face into the nape of ZIM's neck. A moment no later was when Red's eye was caught on something written on the wall in the Irken language.

_Love me_

Those two simple words. Red grit his teeth. "I do! Zeiden! I do! I'm so sorry!"

"Red!"

"Come back!"

"Red!"

"I'm so sorry."

"Red! Goddamnit!"

"Zeiden . . ."

"Red!"

Red's eyes flew open. He screamed when he felt his body being restrained. His head whipped to the side, blindly struggling to get out of the hold. He laid on his back in his own bed. "Red! Please!" Red stopped abruptly. His eyes wide, chest heaving, completely breathless. "It's okay, baby. You're okay." Red's antenna twitched at the soothing sound of his wife's gentle voice. He blinked twice as his gaze settled on her outline, hovering over him. Holding him at his wrists. His sight focused on Leslie's terrified face. "It was just a night terror, honey. That's all." Red, still not able to find his breath, shuddered. Tears streamed down his cheeks. His wife bent down to press her face against his cheek and neck, softly kissing him repeatedly, whilst reassuring him that everything was alright. She ran her hand over his chest where his heart was, feeling the rapid thumping of the organ. The other hand rested on his cheek, her thumb rubbing small circles. Leslie pulled away from the panicked Irken, letting him go of her restraints and allowing him to sit up. She embraced him and rubbed his back. Red was trembling. "What did you see, Red? What made you so scared?"

"Z-ZIM . . ." Red stuttered, finding it extremely difficult to talk. "H-he . . . Doesn't know-" Red cut himself off and started to whimper pathetically, like a scared child. Hiding his face in his hands in shame. "He's loved. Why can't he see that he's loved?" Leslie cocked a brow, not knowing what Red was talking about. She'll never be even begin to fathom that man's psyche. Leslie held him close, waiting it out until he was calmed down enough to speak again. "I . . . I want to see h-him." Red said through the whimpering.

"Sweetheart, he's sound asleep by now." Leslie told him. "It's two in the morning."

"H-he . . . He's hurt . . . I want to see if he's alright." Red said, attempting to pull away from his wife.

"Darling, he's fine. You were having a nightmare." Red looked at his wife with big, adorable, innocent-looking, eyes.

"I-I just want to see him." Leslie cooed, kissing Red's temple.

"Alright, babe. Don't wake him though. He had a tough day." Without another word, Red crawled out of bed and into the hallway. He crept down the hall until he came to his brother's room door. He hesitated before taking the knob in hand. Red held his breath as he slowly pushed the door open. Red peaked inside and sighed with relief when he saw the walls with their normal color, and ZIM sprawled out on his bed, belly down, making his nightly, adorable, soft snoring. Every now and then, the little Irken would make a whining noise that sounded like a lost puppy.

Red, relieved head to foot, made his way to the bed. There he knelt down and watched ZIM's facial features. The area where his nose would be would scrunch a little, his antenna twitching in his dreams, and a line of drool ran down his face from his slightly agape mouth. Red put a hand on the boy's cheek. He caressed the boy's smooth, warm face. Red closed his eyes.

"I do love you, Zeiden. I do."

**The Next Day**

"I can't believe you're making me do this."

"Get out of the truck and apologize."

"I was suspended from school! I'm not supposed to even be here! Why couldn't we wait till the week was over? Now I have to sit around the studio until you're done teaching." Red rolled his eyes waiting outside his truck's passenger side door for ZIM.

"Get. Out. Now." ZIM groaned and slid out of the big vehicle. The boy noticed something about his older brother that morning that was unnerving to him. Red seemed to be very out of it. In and out of a trance. A sad look in his eye and somber expression plastered his face. Other than that, Red was completely emotionless. His voice even had hints of monotonous tones that laced his every words. "And I told you, you're not staying here all day. Purple is leaving early to bring you to the dentist. And later you need to do that photo shoot."

"Those dental check ups are a waste of time." ZIM mumbled. "I never have cavities."

"You'll never know, Zeiden." Red said. He grabbed ZIM by the nape of his neck and made the boy walk in front of him while leading him to Miss. Itry's class. Once they got to the door ZIM was upset to see that she was already teaching the class he was in. Red opened the door and pushed ZIM in. All eyes turned to the two newcomers. Miss. Itry's eyes narrowed.

"You're not supposed to be on academy grounds, Mr. Macale." ZIM bowed his head and trudged to the old woman.

"I'm here to give you my sincerest apologies," ZIM lied. "I'm so sorry for the letter I wrote to you and I assure you, I don't think of you as a Nazi . . . or a bitch. In fact, you're a really wise and, ugh . . . intelligent elder and should be, re- . . . respected." ZIM stuttered, painfully in a bleak voice. It was as obvious as day that he didn't mean a word of it. Miss. Itry just scowled.

"Apology accepted." She sneered, also with a false tone. "Dr. Macale, get your brat out of here." ZIM pursed his lips tightly and stalked away from the teacher, subtly giving her the finger as he went.

"ZIM, that's the naughty finger!" One of the older boys shouted, as if trying to get ZIM in more trouble. Miss. Itry whirled around to see what ZIM did but Red already took hold of ZIM and led him out roughly. By the time they got to Red's empty class room ZIM's face was as red as his brother's eyes.

"You're a jerk!" ZIM snapped at Red. The older Irken ignored his younger brother and went to the white board and started to write on it. "That was the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me! My friends were in there watching me apologize to that old bit- . . . Witch! Tak was there! Everyone saw that!" Red continued to write ZIM's name. "What are you doing?"

"Starting next week Monday, you are to do whatever I say and do it in front of the entire class." He pointed to ZIM's name written in neat cursive on the board. "Once you have ten tallies under your name, your punishment is up and your grounding will be lifted no matter how many days you have left. Just keep this in mind, if your refuse to do something I tell you to do, you don't get a tally. In fact, one will get deducted. So remember, the more things you do for me, no matter how embarrassing, the closer you'll be to freedom." Red marked one tally under ZIM's name. "You already did one thing I asked you. Nine more to go, Zeiden." Red sat behind his desk. ZIM frowned deeply.

"What kind of retarded parenting method is this?" ZIM demanded. Red just smirked.

"Don't you have a dentist appointment to go to?"

**Later**

ZIM was getting annoyed by the dentists need to constantly hum. He's been inspecting ZIM's teeth thoroughly now for ten minutes. He had no cavities so he had no idea why the dentist kept looking at them and taking X-Rays. The dentist carried on with humming his little ditty and ZIM rolled his eyes. Finally the dentist pulled away and sat ZIM up.

"Well, Zimmy, you're teeth are clean and healthy. However," The dentist looked to the nurse in the room. "Can you get his brother in here?" She nodded and quickly retrieved Purple from the waiting room. Seconds later, Purple entered the small room and took a seat next to ZIM's. "ZIM we found that your wisdom teeth need to come out." ZIM's expression changed from annoyed to fearful. He hated surgery of any kind! Especially oral surgery. "Has your jaw been bothering you lately?" ZIM shrugged.

"I mean, it has but I thought that might have been puberty."

"Huh, well puberty might have been the cause of this. Making your wisdom teeth grow more than they should have." The dentist said. He turned to Purple. "Your brother should come in as soon as possible again to get them removed. How's a week from today sound?" Purple bit his bottom lip.

"Erm . . . I don't know how our schedule looks. We're always pretty busy. Except on Sundays and Saturdays."

"I don't normally work on Saturdays, but if you'd like to come in this Saturday, I'll be glad to make an exception. The longer we wait to get these teeth removed, the more pain he'll have in his jaw." ZIM furrowed his brow. Saturday? He should be at the synagogue on Saturday! Not a dentist's office! Saturday. That was only three days away. Great.

"Let's plan on Saturday then. Ten AM sound good?" Purple asked. The dentist smiled and nodded.

"Sounds perfect." He said, cheerfully. ZIM stood up from his chair and stalked out of the room. "Bye Zeiden. I'll be seeing you this weekend!" Purple left with ZIM out of the office and to the parking lot.

"Great. I just love spending my weekend numb and sore." ZIM mumbled.

**The Next Day**

"Right there?"

"No lower."

"Here?"

"Nuh uh. Over."

"Here?"

"The other way . . . Right there." Tenn squinted her eyes.

"Nothing is there."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"I don't believe you." Purple turned his head as far as it could go to look at his back with no avail. "Press it again." Tenn poked at his back, right on the right shoulder blade. Purple cringed a little at the pain. "Why does it hurt if there's nothing there?"

"Maybe it's internal." Tenn suggested. "What were you doing when you noticed it starting to hurt?"

"Lifting weights." Tenn gave him an, 'are-you-kidding-me' look. Purple sighed. "I dropped the soap in the shower and bent down to pick it up. That's when I felt it." Tenn chuckled.

"Don't drop the soap-"

"Shut up."

"What? That's funny."

"Not to the men in prison." Purple muttered.

"Hmm. Maybe you've been overusing it. Perhaps tendonitis. We'll have Zee check it out when she gets back from work. For now, just take it easy. Don't strain your right arm."

"But . . . My left arm is retarded and can't do anything." Purple pouted.

"Maybe you could have ZIM teach you how to be ambidextrous. Or just ask Red how to be left handed."

"No. That's stupid. I'll just use my right arm until it hurts too much to do anything."

"No. _That _is stupid. Relax your arm and let it recoup, okay? You need ice? I'll go get you some ice." Tenn left their room to quickly retrieve the ice and medical tape. She came back and put the bag of ice on his shoulder and wrapped it up with the tape making it stay in place. "Have you been practicing for the hockey season? Shooting pucks? Or was it while training with the dogs that could have possibly spiked this up? Have you been doing any repetitive actions?"

"Woman, I don't know. All I do know is that it hurts like a bitch and instead of kissing it better you wrap it with ice!" Purple said, irritatedly. Tenn smirked.

"Here then." She put her hand behind his head and pulled him in for a kiss. Purple smiled when their lips touched. Tenn stroked his bottom lip with her tongue then gave it a gentle nibble. She pulled back to stare into his big, violet eyes. "Better?"

"Very much, yes." Purple pulled her back to his face and kissed her cheek. "Do you wanna . . ." Purple pressed his lips against her neck and kissed her up to her jaw line. "Get a little wild?" Tenn smiled. She pulled back.

"Not when your shoulder hurts like that, babe."

"That's okay! I can be on the bottom two nights in a row! It doesn't matter." Tenn rolled her eyes.

"The answer is no, Peder." Purple pouted. "Don't make that face."

"If I don't make it, you won't cave."

"I'm not going to cave. What if you do have tendonitis? You're gonna make it worse by exerting yourself."

"I told you I can be on the bottom again tonight. I don't care." Purple pulled her onto his lap. "C'mooon. Give me a lil' sumtin'."

"Not when you talk like that, I won't. Besides, you didn't take your pills yet today."

"If I take them will you-"

"Nope."

"Then what's the point of taking them if we're not doing it tonight anyway?"

"I never said to take the Viagra." Tenn said. She kissed him between the eyes. "Save it for another night. Then we'll romp." She winked. She unmounted his lap and went to leave.

"Waaait!" Purple whined, chasing after her, ripping the ice pack off from his shoulder. "What if my shoulder feels better now? Because it does! See?" He raised his right arm over his head wincing in pain as he did. He put on a plastic smile. "No pain." He squeaked. Tenn's lips pressed into a straight line. She reached up and brought his arm back down to his side.

"Go to the doctor's office while ZIM is getting his teeth pulled. Have them check it out."

**July 23, 2001**

_What? What happened? Where am I? I can't feel my face . . . What's happening? I-I . . . I'm a dog. A furry one. Haha! Guys! Look at me! I'm a dog! I can feel it! It feels like I ate a poodle! Now I am one! Guys! . . . Guys? Why are you laughing? _

...

"He is so out of it." Purple snickered, staring down at the dazed ZIM in the surgery chair. ZIM's head rolled all around, eyes opening wide then squinting and repeating. His speech slurred from all the gauze in his bleeding mouth. Red was next to ZIM trying to hold his head still.

"I'm a doggy . . . I'm a doggy . . . My name is . . . Pricilla. Ahahahaha!" ZIM closed his eyes and tilted his head back, laughing hard at nothing. Purple had his Imp out recording the whole ordeal.

"This is going on the Internet."

"Oh my God! I'm a . . . dog." ZIM tried to sit up in the chair but Red held him back. ZIM suddenly pointed at the wall at a poster of an up close picture of perfect teeth. "It's snowing in that picture! It's offensive. They shouldn't have it up in here." He exclaimed. "I hope the Eskimos are okay." ZIM pouted. Eyes watering. This only made his brothers laugh harder. "They're going to die! They need to take down the picture!" ZIM's voice cracked as he started crying. "I tried so hard to save them! But Stalin got to them before me!" ZIM cried. Red tried to sooth him. "Purger! He's a purger!"

"Shhh, shh, ZIM, it's alright. It's okay. Don't talk too much. Your jaw will be sore."

"But the polar bears!" He screamed. His sobbing came to an abrupt halt when the nurse came back into the room wearing white scrubs. "The last of it's kind." ZIM said. "Your home has been destroyed by the Russians." He told the nurse. She just smiled being used to the side effects of the anesthesia. She pulled Red aside to talk to him. Purple stayed back to keep and eye and humor ZIM.

"I got you something." Purple said. ZIM snapped his head away from the poster to look at Purple. The boy gasped.

"Napoleon, when did you get here?" Purple stifled his laughter while presenting to ZIM a stuffed, plush dog, that resembled Tyson. A single thornless rose was pushed through it's collar. "I thought you died in the French Rev-" ZIM sudden slumped back in his seat being too tired to finish his sentence.

"Tak gave me this to give to you. She says she's sad that she won't be able to kiss you for the next few days." ZIM took the animal and flower and looked at them. He then took the rose from the collar and turned over to sniff the stem. "Why don't you smell the other side-"

"Who the _fluck _is Tak?" ZIM asked with the most stupidest look on his face.

"She's your girlfriend." Purple answered. ZIM's eyes widened, sitting back dramatically completely shocked.

"I'm married . . ." He said in wonder.

"No, no. She's your _girlfriend_. Not wife." ZIM looked back up to Purple and barked at the man. Purple's laughter came out in a harsh whistle. The Imp in his hand shaking uncontrollably. ZIM scowled at the amused Purple then proceeded to inspect the flower and dog more thoroughly. He opened his mouth, about to engulf the rose bud. "No, no, no! Don't eat it!" ZIM scowled at Purple.

"I'm going to put this in my shirt." ZIM mumbled, stuffing the plush dog down his T. Once it was successfully down, the boy noticed he had a lumpy, bulge from where the stuffed animal was on his chest. ZIM started to cackle insanely. "I have boobs!" Purple lost it. He practically fell off his chair from laughter at ZIM's antics. The whole time ZIM's eyes were half lidded and his speech kept getting harder and harder to understand. "You!" He shouted at Red as he reentered the room. "Where's my chew toy?"

"Umm . . . You don't have one." Red said.

"_Noooo_!" ZIM shook his head, vigorously. His voice crescendoing. Red out a hand in ZIM's head to make him stop moving so much. "Pricilla needs a new chew toy. A squeaky one- Holy shit!" ZIM sat straight up again, staring at the round light on the ceiling. "The moon is out . . . And it's not even Easter." ZIM stared at the light for a few more moments before attempting to howl at it. After his 'nighttime song' he burst into new sheets of laughter. "Ahahaha! Ugh . . . Uhhh . . . Where did ZIM go? I need to ask him a question." ZIM looked at Red, then gasped. "ZIM! Is that you?" Red bit his lip trying not to laugh. "Dude! I was looking all over for you!" Red didn't say anything. He scooped ZIM up in his arms. The boy was flattered by this. "ZIM, you're so nice." Again, another fit of contagious laughter. ZIM reached up to touch Red's face all over. Red walked out to the lobby with the boy in arms. He tried to make ZIM as relaxed as possible in his arms. ZIM glared at the people waiting in the lobby as he was carried across it to the exit. "We all need to join forces to save that polar bear!" ZIM told them. The patients had no idea how to react to it so they sat quiet. Red placed a hand over ZIM's mouth and made his way out to the parking lot. Purple following behind, still recording all of it. Red was about to turn to talk to Purple when ZIM demanded something again. "I need a chew toy." Red smirked.

"Do we need to pick you up some more dog food too?" ZIM's eyes widened again. He looked at Red with an astonished expression.

"I can understand you . . ." ZIM whispered.

"Well . . . Yes, I sure hope you do. You speak English don't you?" ZIM kept his gaze on Red then let his neck relax. He rested his head on Purple's shoulder.

"I want my chew toy."

"Don't worry, Hun. We'll get you your chew toy."

"I want it now."

"We'll get it. We need to go to the pharmacy first."

"Why?"

"Because Purple's shoulder hurts. He needs medicine." ZIM sat straight up.

"Purple! Oh my God! Is she alright?"

"She- I mean, he's fine, ZIM. He's right there." Red motioned to Purple by tilting his head. ZIM followed Red's indication. He looked at Purple. The other man waved politely at ZIM.

"ZIM, you're a dumb fuck. That's Napoleon. Did you invite him along?" Red was about to scold ZIM for the vulgar language, but then decided against it. ZIM was too drugged up to know right from wrong.

"What the hell is he talking about?" Red asked. Purple shrugged being too amused to answer with words. "Listen, ZIM. Do you know what just happened to you?"

"You got me fixed, didn't you?" ZIM yelled angrily, getting in Red's face. Purple snorted. Red smiled, shaking his head.

"No, no, ZIM, we got some of your teeth removed." ZIM's eyes went wide.

"What?"

"Some teeth needed to come out. They were hurting your jaw." ZIM pouted and started to cry.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because they were hurting you." This only made ZIM cry harder.

"They only hurt me because they cared! I never asked for this! I won't be able to live anymore!" ZIM shouted, before promptly falling asleep against Purple.

"Holy shit, that kid went out like a light." Purple said. The two men laughed together.

"Ahhh, gotta love that kid." Red mumbled. "So what did the doctor say you have?"

"She said it was tendonitis." Purple answered. "She was very . . . hands on too." Red chuckled.

"Uh oh. Don't tell me you have even more people hitting on you." Purple shook his head.

"God, I hope not. I'm married now. Girls shouldn't be coming on to me."

"Tenn should put you in a chastity belt. That way she could keep the key with her at all times and won't have to worry about you getting gang raped by a bunch of hoes." Purple smirked.

"Shut it, Red. My God, you speak nonsense every time you open your mouth."

"Nuh, I speak . . . Yeah, I guess you're right." Red mumbled. He heard his Imp vibrate loudly in the cup holder of his truck. Red looked at the caller ID. It was some type of Irken company calling. "What do you want?" Red asked rudely, answering the phone. A pause on the other end.

". . . _Uh, have I reached Red Macale?_"

"Yes! What do you need?" Purple cocked a brow at Red's irritated tone.

"Whoa man. Who lit the fuse on your tampon?" Red shot his friend a glare.

"_Uh, ahem, well, Dr. Macale, I'm one of the head photographers for the clothing company, 'Be Real', and we were interested in speaking you as a-_"

"Model? Yeah, sure whatever. I got nothing better to do. Send the contract to my agent. Tell her I okay'd it and to stamp my signature on." With that note Red hung up the phone and looked at Purple, questioningly. ". . . Who lit the fuse on my tampon?"

**Later**

"We're hooooome! Don't even worry! I saved the polar bears from the Russians!" ZIM exclaimed, stumbling into their house. Red right behind him. "Where's my wife?" ZIM demanded. "I want my wife. Tyson! Tyson, get your ass over here! . . . Tysooooon!" Said dog came rushing in. ZIM smiled and hugged the big animal. "Oh honey, I missed you. Give me a kiss." ZIM puckered his lips and allowed Tyson to lick him all over his face.

"ZIM, go rest. Sleep off the anesthesia." Red told him. ZIM turned around and glared at Red.

"I have business to attend to." Red raised a brow.

"Business? What kind of bus-" Before Red could finish his sentence, ZIM laid himself on the floor, sprawling out his limbs.

"My body is ready!" He exclaimed to his dog. Tyson cocked his head to the side, sniffing ZIM's face and neck. Red picked ZIM up by his arms, hurriedly.

"ZIM, that's inappropriate." Red hoisted the boy up and set him on his hip. He carried ZIM through the house and into the living room. He laid ZIM down on the sofa. "Please, just rest, okay? Your jaw is gonna be very sore tomorrow." ZIM pouted. A tear escaped from his eye.

"But . . . I don't wanna be sore." He whimpered, pathetically. Red cooed.

"Aww, my poor smeet." Red kissed his head. "You sleep now." ZIM closed his eyes, sighing slightly. Red smiled warmly down at the innocent face.

"He should change his gauze soon." Red craned his head to the side.

"We'll change them when he wakes up, Les." Red plucked his daughter from out of his wife's grasp. The infant looked up at her father with wide eyes. "Hey, baby girl." Red nuzzled her. She cackled, placing her tiny hands on his face. Red grinned. "You happy to see me? You're probably getting really sick of being with mommy all the time, I bet." Leslie playfully smacked Red upside the head. Sapphira clapped her hands then stuck one fist into her father's mouth. Red gagged a bit as Sapphira pulled on his lower teeth. Red chuckled and closed his mouth over her tiny hand, pretending to bite it in a playful manner. "Wha wath hur teth rethult?" Red asked through the hand. Leslie cocked a brow and pulled her daughter's hand out of his mouth. "What were her test results?" He asked again.

"Ah, well, good news and more good news. Her spina bifida is so mild that she'll probably only walk with a limp. They ran a few scans on her and found nothing else. The doctor said that your Irken DNA has so much human DNA that it has very little effect on her health. But it's still too early for other things she may have. We noticed that she has a facial tick." Red beamed at the news.

"A mild facial tick ain't nothing compared to being in a wheelchair for life." Red said happily. "My healthy, young smeet!" Red embraced the smeet closer to him and rocked her. "Sooo cuuute!" Leslie laughed.

"You're so zealous."

"Mah, bay-bay! Mah bay-bay so cute!" Red blew a raspberry on the child's cheek. This made Sapphira chortle. Red's eyes softened tremendously. He felt Leslie lay a hand on his mid back, and kissed his jaw. Red smirked, turning his head to catch his wife's lips. Leslie grinned, opening her mouth slightly to deepen the kiss. Red did the same, savoring the moment by closing his eyes. Leslie put her other hand on the side of his face, nibbling his bottom lip. She caressed his cheek with her thumb as she moved her lips over his jaw and to his neck where she buried her face into his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I love ya, Reddy-kins." Leslie smirked, knowing that pet name reminded him of his stalker. Red scowled.

"Hey, now. I thought we were having a moment, then you had to go and say that-" Leslie hushed him by pressing her lips against his again.

"I'm sorry, babe." She whispered. They must've forgotten all about the little boy supposedly sleeping on the couch,

"You two are disgusting."

**July 25, 2001 **

"Red, hurry up! We have an hour left to get ready!" Red groaned when he heard his wife's voice call to him from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Just a sec! I gotta rinse!" He yelled over the sound of running water from the shower he was taking. Red slowly turned under the shower head getting the suds on his body off. When the soap was gone he shut the water off and sighed, feeling the cool air touch his hot skin. He shook his head a bit as he opened the curtains. When he reached for a towel he screamed with horror falling back on his butt in the shower, eyes wide and terrified. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He screeched at a woman sitting on the vanity. She smiled broadly.

"Just like the old days, eh Red?"

"Why are you here, Adelaide?" Red demanded, pulling his legs up to his chest to cover his naked body. The obsessed woman just chuckled.

"I used to do this when we were dating. Remember, Red?" Red stared at her in disbelief, jaw dropped, eyes wide, heart racing. "After you left, Dural let me go up into your old room and look through some of your stuff. I didn't know your birth name was Kelly! And what's up with Eliasetto? Are you partially Italian?" The bathroom door bursted open.

"Red, are you okay?" Leslie entered, with a panicky voice. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Adelaide smiling down at her husband. Leslie pursed her lips together tightly, trying to stifle her laughter. She covered her mouth with her hand, highly amused.

"Addy, get out!" Red's cheeks were burning a hard blush. The crazy lady looked from Red to Leslie.

"Okay, I'll be in your room waiting for you." She told him. Red, still shocked, watched her leave. Once the door closed, Leslie burst into laughter.

"Sh-she followed you here, _hah_, all the way from Australiahaha!" Red's features went from shocked to anger. He stood up and snatched a towel up, wrapping it around his lower half. He then grabbed Leslie's shoulders and shook her a little.

"Shut up." He hissed at her. "This is beyond creepy, Leslie, it's _far _beyond creepy. She's _stalking _me. She's tormenting me. I'm scared now. What if she chloroforms me at night while she's here and molests me?" Red whispered harshly. "She needs to leave!" Leslie rolled her eyes and pushed him away.

"She's not gonna molest you." Red furrowed his hairless brows.

"If she doesn't molest, she'd rape."

"Babe, she won't molest or defile you in any way. She's a bit crazy, but she's not one to go and break the law for her own pleasure gain."

"That's what you think. She's violated me before! It was a mild violation, but a violation all the same."

"What kind of violation?" Leslie asked, skeptically. Red stared at her for a long time trying to remember the time where Adelaide assaulted his body. "See?" Red bit the inside of his cheek, annoyed.

"You don't know her like I do. I'm positive she's jealous of you and I wouldn't be surprised if she killed you so she could have me."

"Oh, calm down, Red. You're being dramatic." Red shook with frustration.

"She followed us all the from _Australia._ That's thousands of miles away! I have a fucking right to be dramatic!" Red exclaimed. Leslie covered his mouth with her hand.

"Relax, I'm sure she has a better reason for being here, other than you." Red pulled away from Leslie's makeshift muzzle.

"Doubtful."

". . . Lets go ask her." Leslie pulled her husband out of the master bath and into their room. There, they found Adelaide rummaging through Red's drawers and other belongings.

"Excuse me!" Red crossed his arms. Adelaide whirled around to face him. She was wearing one of his button up shirts. "How did you find out where my temporary home was?"

"Lard Nar told me." Red clenched his fists, gritting his teeth.

"Lard Naaarrr." Red grumbled.

"Yeah, I came along with him." Red's antenna perked.

"He's here?"

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"He's downstairs-" Red bolted out of the room taking off toward the steps.

"Red! Put on clothes first!" Leslie called, running after him. Red flew down the stairs, found his prey and ran toward him. The Vortian was sitting by the coffee table in the living room with Red's brothers and sisters. Lard Nar saw the furious Irken running his way. Before he could react though he was tackled to the ground. The Vortian groaned when his friend straddled him and held him down.

"You stupid son of a bitch! Do you realize what you've just done?" Red screeched. Lard Nar struggled to get from under the raging Irken.

"Mate, you're wet and naked! Get off!" He pleaded.

"Red, release him!" Leslie ordered.

"No!" Red said, stubbornly. Leslie went behind him pulling at his towel to tug him off. Finally Leslie managed to pry her husband off. She held him around his torso to prevent him from doing a pile driver on the poor Vortian. "Why would you tell her where I lived?"

"She kept bugging me! I was gonna come to America by myself but she insisted she come with me to see you!"

"When you're done with that towel, can I have it?" Adelaide asked coming down the steps.

"How'd you get in my bathing room without anyone noticing?"

"I climbed through the window, silly." She touched his cheek. He pulled away, disgusted.

"Addy, what did I say about climbing through my windows?"

"Oh, that was so long ago! Lets see, ummmm . . . Oh yeah! You said, 'Don't do that'." She said, proud of herself for remembering. Red stared at her, jaw slightly agape. He was in complete wonder at all the stupidity she brought along with her from Australia. She probably had to carry all that idiocy in a separate suitcase. She wasn't one to be outwardly stupid and creepy. But when it came to her ex boyfriend, she went dope.

"Hey Addy, would you like to stay here with us during your visit?" Purple asked with a smirk. Red did a sharp intake of breath. He turned around to face his friend.

"Yes! Absolutely!"

"You're the fuckin' square wheel on my car!"

"What?" Before Purple could question him further, Red did a rather impressive double flying side kick to his torso, knocking him over. Red then proceeded to wrap his hands around Purple's neck. "Red, get off before I scream rape!" Purple gagged when Red's hand tightened, crushing his windpipe. Purple sputtered his next words. "Dude, your naked body . . . is laying on me."

"Red Elias Macale! Get your ass off him!" Red felt his antenna get yanked back roughly. He cried out, tears flowing from his eyes, as he landed on his back on the floor. He gazed up at a angry-looking Leslie. "Come with me." She hissed. Red pouted, pathetically. He sat up, glaring viciously at Purple.

"This isn't over." Purple just laughed with Lard Nar, brushing off Red's threat.

"You better go follow your wife before she makes you sleep on the couch." The violet-eyed Irken joked. Red shook with anger. He glanced to Addy who was completely oblivious of the whole ordeal. The Irken in trouble stomped up the steps with his wife. Leslie led them to their master bedroom. She opened the door, letting Red in first. She followed him in, closing the door tightly behind them. She turned to face Red.

"I wasn't going to rape him . . . He's not my type." Red muttered. Leslie rolled her eyes.

"Thank you for stating the obvious." She took a step closer to him, pressing a finger to his bare chest. "One,_You _could have hurt him, idiot! That kick was impressive and all but don't ever do that again. Two, You welcome guests into homes. Addy and Lard Nar are guests and you're treating them like shit."

"Addy snuck in! She was an uninvited guest!"

"So? Lard Nar came unannounced too! But you don't have a problem with him being here." Red scowled.

"Leslie."

"Yeah?"

"She was in our bathing room."

"Yeah."

"While I was showering."

"Uh huh."

"Then when I was going to get out."

"Yup."

"She was in there, _staring_ at my naked body!"

"Can't blame her. You have a sexy body."

"Leslie, she's a psychopath! She followed Lard Nar to where we live here! All the way from Australia! That's creepy!"

"A little bit." Leslie crossed her arms. "Last thing, Red." Red sulked bitterly at Leslie's need to correct him. "You went down stairs where everyone was, Lard Nar, Tak, Gaz, your sisters, and your brothers, naked. Wearing nothing but a towel. And ZIM's friends are here too, ya know." Red's eyes went wide.

"What? Nuh uh, where? I didn't see them!"

"They watched the whole thing, Red. They were in the room over." Red's cheeks burned.

"It's all Adelaide's fault!" Leslie pursed her lips at Red's toddler-like behavior.

"Dress yourself then help me prepare Addy and Lard Nar a room."

"No! I refuse to make you happy at this time." Red sat on the ground. Arms crossed, pout on his face. Leslie's patience for him was wearing thin.

"I'm gonna count to three, Red. You better be getting dressed before I say, 'three'." She said, going to her dresser and pulling something out of it. She walked back to him with that something behind her back.

"Leslie, I'm not a smeet!"

"You're acting like one!"

"I'm not gonna do shit for that crazy bitch!"

"One!"

"Leslie, stop, I'm serious!"

"No, Red, _I'm _serious. Two!"

"Quit it! You're making me nervous!" Leslie stood there in a challenging position. Red staring up at her, scared.

". . . Three!" What she did next was so fast that Red had no time to react or even comprehend what was going on. She grabbed his forearm and flung him forward. As soon as he was laying on his stomach she whipped out a pair of handcuffs, that they use of other purposes, and cuffed his hands to one of the bed posts behind his back.

"Leslie!" Red yelped. "Leslie, stop this! Please!" She pulled him up to his feet. "These cuffs are for playtime, not humiliation!"

"It's your own fault, Red. Try being mature for once."

"What the hell are you doing?" Red demanded. Leslie grabbed the towel around his waist and yanked it off. He gasped. "Leslie! Please!" She smirked and threw the towel to the side nonchalantly. She walked to the exit. Before she left she blew her husband a kiss.

"Love you, Red! I'll see you again shortly!" She slammed the door closed, leaving a disgruntled Red, shivering, wet, and naked in their room. He called after her in an unsure tone.

". . . Love you too!"

**Reality Show Premiere **

"My wrists hurt."

"It was for your own good."

"How so?"

"If you weren't cuffed to our bed then you'd probably try to kill someone again."

". . . Was ripping off my towel necessary, though?"

"Yes. The embarrassment was your punishment." Red rolled his eyes at Leslie. They were hand-in-hand on a red carpet leading to the Tajq Hall in downtown Meijour. Reporters, camera crews, and fans were all lined up and down the way behind velvet ropes. All screaming and crying out for mainly Red, Purple, Gaz, and ZIM. A few fans, however, were shouting Zee, Tenn, and Leslie's names. They usually liked to stay out of the spotlight, but they really couldn't hide from it all the time.

"Can we just go into the Hall and leave this noisy crowd behind. My head is pounding."

"Aww, poor smeet." Leslie cooed. Red looked over to see how his brothers were doing. Purple had girls all over him. ZIM was steering clear of the fans and being accompanied by Tyson, whom ZIM wanted to bring last minute. ZIM was looking at his feet. He didn't even look happy. He seemed sad even. Red couldn't imagine why. His thoughts were interrupted when a fan jumped over the rope and waist-high, steel fence and ran toward him, only to have a security guard step in front of Red and grab the crazy fan and drag her out. Red shook his head.

"Where did you say Lard Nar and Addy will be during the premier?"

"They're just staying home." Red furrowed his brows.

"She'll be raiding my underwear drawer when we get back, you know that right?"

"Red, you rarely wear underwear anyway!" Leslie poked fun at him. Red scowled.

"Do too!"

"Are you wearing underwear now?" Red looked at Leslie, lips pursed. He didn't say anything for awhile.

"Shut up." He finally said shamefully, lowering his head. Leslie couldn't help but chuckle.

"Ahh, my adorable, lovable, dorky, husband." She cupped his chin and kissed his cheek, which, for some reason, their audience cheered at.

"I'm not dorky. I'm a stud."

"Red! Reeeed! Red over here! Please, oh God, please, over here!" Red couldn't help but turn at the sound of that screechy high voice that was heard over all other's. "ZIM! ZIM and Red! Here!" The brothers shared a glance and walked over to the flailing fan girl with their girls. "Oh my God! Oh! My! God! I can't believe-" The girl started to hyperventilate. Her violet eyes wide on the brothers. A shaky hand reached into her pocket as she pulled out a small, three inch tall, ZIM figurine. "I made this out of a clay slip." She said handing it over to Red.

"Hmm. Very nice. You got all the details. His chin, eyes, structure . . . and look!" Red held it between his index finger and thumb. "It's life size." Red quipped. ZIM scowled and punched his arm. Red handed the figure back to the girl. As he passed off the object, the girl grabbed his wrist.

"Can I have a kiss from the two of you? Please?" Red nodded, ZIM shrugged. Red leaned over the fence to kiss the girl's cheek. He then had to boost ZIM up so he was able to reach the crazy fan. Red shook his head when the girl when into another fit of hyperventilating. He wouldn't be surprised if she passed out. A lot of fans did.

"Hey Red," The man look over his shoulder to his friend who called for him. "C'mere a sec." Purple said, holding his wife's hand. He had Tyson heeling by him. Red walked over to him with Leslie. "Mevlo is here and she's kind of mad."

"Kind of mad?" Red question. Purple's eyes were wide as he nodded. "Well, what for?"

"Something about posing for an underwear ad." Red cocked his brow. Leslie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Underwear ad? I didn't agree to do an underwear ad." Purple just shrugged.

"I don't know anymore than what she said, dude."

"Oh God." Red sighed heavily. "I can't please anyone anymore, can I?" He felt someone tug hard on his black suit coat. He turned to come face-to-face with Mevlo.

"Red Macale, you pose for that underwear magazine, people are gonna start thinking differently about you. They'll think that you're not that innocent."

"I haven't a clue what you're talking about!" Red insisted.

"On the twenty-third you got a phone call from a photographer who works for, '_Be Real_'." Red tilted his head to the side, not remembering. "You said to send the contract to me and I'll sign it for you. He recorded your phone call. You gave him permission to have me sign it. Now you have to pose nearly nude in front of a camera. Those pictures will be everywhere! Down town big screens, billboards, magazines, malls, everywhere!" Red was speechless. A look of shock on his face.

"You didn't sign it, did you?"

"Yes, I signed it! With your signature stamp. And you know what else?" Red pouted at the fact that there was more bad new. "The contract asked for you _and _Purple. He's gonna get pulled in because of you." Red stood there, speechless. Leslie and Mevlo glaring at him deeply. Red shifted slightly, not liking the fact that he was royally screwed.

". . . Oh."

"Oh? That's all you can say?" Mevlo asked. Red shrugged. The agent sighed exasperatedly. "You'd better hope that you and Purple both are comfortable in front of the camera wearing nothing but a thin, tiny piece fabric around your butts." With that note, she turned on her heals and stormed away.

". . . Well damn."

"You're an idiot."

"We already know that."

"What are you gonna do now?" Red looked over to Purple with Tenn, talking to some fans.

". . . I'm going to . . . Embarrass Purple." Red grinned.

"Red! Don't you even care that-"

"Sh! I just thought of something good!" Red hurried away from his wife and stopped by ZIM and Tak. Red pointed to ZIM's dog. "I'm borrowing this." ZIM gave him a funny look but said nothing. Red beckoned for Tyson to follow him. Red crouched by the animal. He pointed at Purple and started to whisper to the dog. "Get 'im, boy." Red then made a kissing noise and Tyson obeyed the command, running straight towards Purple.

"Oh God! What did you do, Red?" Leslie asked, panicked.

"I'm just having a little fun." Red smirked. "Hey Pur! Tyson has a present for you." Purple turned around to face his friend.

"Say what?" He asked. He then jumped, yelping at the sharp pain emitting from his behind. Purple whirled back around to face the animal that took a bite of his rear but ended up loosing his balance and falling down on his back. A large, white fur ball jumped on his stomach and licked his face repeatedly. "Uck! Tyson! Tyson, God! What did I do to you?" Purple sputtered and gagged when he felt the dog's tongue lick the inside of his mouth a few times. "Zeiden!" Purple rolled over on his side and started to dry heave at the fur and dog slobber in his mouth. Finally someone pulled the dog off and he blushed when he heard laughter erupt the crowd. He scowled and shot the nastiest of glares at his friend. Red was kneeled over, crying from laughter. Tenn helped her husband stand. Purple brushed himself off, getting an idea of his own. He peeled off his black suit jacket and handed it to Tenn. "Hold this for me, would ya dear?"

"What are you do-." Before Tenn could question Purple, the man ran full speed at Red. Then mocking his friend from earlier, jumped and did a double flying side kick, hitting Red in the spooch hard enough to make him fall back. Purple got up, rubbing his sore shoulder.

"That was for earlier!" Red groaned in pain as reporters, photographers, and fans took pictures of the ordeal. All screaming with joy at the sibling-like brawl.

"Oh, this isn't over yet, bud." Red squeaked. Purple flicked his hand, brushing off Red's comment. He returned to his wife and took her hand in his.

"Let's go inside before Red gets up." Tenn rolled her eyes, not surprised at all that the two men were acting like three-year-old brats.

"_By the way! We're posing in our underwear for magazine!_" Red called in English so the Irkens did not hear. Purple spun around. Red was grinning cockily.

"Say what?"

**June 26, 2001**

"And this is where we'll be getting the 'wild' animals for the movie from. I'm bringing you here so you can get used to the animals and they can get to know you too." Jalokia said, leading the way into a large animal shelter-like building. The sound of wild, exotic Irken animals chirping, barking, wailing, and hollering, lingered in the air. "The movie will have two main trainers. They're very great at working with animals and teaching people how to handle them. We'll be meeting them soon enough. They're also the stage designers and prop setters. So you'll be seeing them a lot when we're filming."

"Who'd you say the director was?" ZIM asked. Dib stood beside him.

"Skoodge's father will be directing. I'll be co-directing and producing the film." Jalokia told them. "Skoodge also landed a minor role in the movie." ZIM smiled, happily.

"Good. Haven't talked to him since the beginning of the month."

"Would you like to meet your costar, ZIM? You'll be working with her more than half the movie."

"Hell yeah. Lets meet 'er." Jalokia and company walked down a corridor with cages and pens lined along either side of them. Different Irk native creatures in every cage. ZIM cringed a few times at the snakes. Irken snakes tended to be huge. Sometimes bigger than the Earthen anaconda.

"Just a warning, she's very zealous and is very overprotective." Jalokia said.

"So is Red. I think I'll survive." ZIM quipped. Red scowled at his little brother. He shifted Sapphira is his arms so he could playfully flick ZIM's antenna. Jalokia walked up to an enclosed habitat. One you'd find at a zoo. Jalokia pointed at the far end of the habitat. They squinted to see where he was pointing at. All they could see was a giant lump of reddish-brunette fur on the ground behind a rock and patch of vegetation.

"There she is." Jalokia smirked. "Rhea and Sira will be here shortly to let you into the exhibit." Red looked at the producer.

"Wait. We're not going in there with that beast are we?"

"Well of course! That beast is one of the stars! You have to get to know her eventually." Jalokia said. "Oh and your trainers aren't Irken either. I thought I'd let you know that." Purple cocked a brow.

"Then where are they from?"

". . . Ever play the game _Ratchet and Clank_?" Jalokia asked. Purple shook his head.

"I only play M rated games. I like the blood and gore." Purple said, nonchalantly. Jalokia, as well as the rest of the company, gave him a funny look. "I'm kidding . . . I like them for the boobs." Tenn scowled, hitting her husband hard upside the head. Jalokia shook his head.

"Well these girls are from planet Fastoon. You know, from the Polaris galaxy?"

"The galaxy next to Ekkotallia galaxy?" Red asked.

"Yes! They're Lombaxes!" Jalokia told them.

"So, wait, I think I've heard of them before. They're like cats, right?" Red asked, looking to his wife who seemed elated.

"Oh I love cats!" Leslie exclaimed. Red frowned.

"You'll get along fabulously with Rhea and Sira then." Jalokia said. "Anyway, I'll be heading back to my office. Rhea and Sira will acquaint you with the animals." The tall man left the party of Irkens and three humans behind. They turned their attention back to the creature inside the pen.

"What kind of animal is this anyway?" Red asked. Everyone shrugged.

"Can't tell from here. She looks like a large mound of fur." Purple observed.

"That's Avalyn." A new voice came from no where. The group looked over to the entrance and saw a golden furred Lombax, no taller than five foot, in the doorway. "She's our Ve'Kur. Equivalent to your Pitbull breed, humans." She said to the three humans there. The poised feline approached them. Leslie's eyes lit up. Red groaned at her reaction.

"Aww!" The woman cupped the cat hybrids face with her hands. The Lombax's eyes went wide with shock. "Ooh! You are just so cute! Look at you!"

"Hey!" Red interrupted. "You never do that to me anymore. What is this?" Leslie rolled her eyes, looking at her husband. "I expect that affection tonight." Red adjusted his daughter in his arms.

"You're such a whiner." Leslie turned her attention back to the Lombax.

"Ma'am, I'm flattered that you find me cute." She grinned at the human. Leslie released the cat-like creature. Gaz looked inquiringly at her mother.

"You don't normally act like that, mom."

"I love cats. I would like a cat but we have ten dogs now." Leslie mumbled. Red gazed at the exhibit again.

"Hate cats." He muttered. "Sooo . . . that's a Ve'Kur?"

"Yes!" The feline said, happily.

"You mean, like the dogs with no eyes?" Red asked. She nodded. "And are as tall as me?" The Lombax nodded again. ". . . And kill an average of three-thousand people a year." The Lombax didn't reply this time. "Do I want that thing near us? Especially since I have an infant and four kids here." Red motioned to Gaz, ZIM, Tak, and Dib as well as Sapphira in his arms.

"Probably not . . . Your daughter is adorable, by the way. Looks like her parents." She answered. "I'm Sira. Rhea is on her way."

"Can I . . . see just how big that Ve'Kur is?" ZIM asked. Sira looked from the boy to Red. The older brother shook his head. The Lombax smiled.

"Of course! She's highly trained." ZIM looked ecstatic.

"Noooo, no, no." Red said, putting a hand on ZIM's shoulder. "I don't want my little brother to be some animal's snack."

"I can assure you with one hundred percent certainty that he'll be fine." Red frowned. Everyone had their eyes on him.

"Don't be a overprotective freak, Red. Let the kid have some fun with the _dangerous_ animals." Purple said, putting emphasis on the key word. Danger.

"No. First of all, I'm not overprotective, I just have specific limits for ZIM. And two, what you just said was really stupid."

"And you're stupid for thinking Ava will eat anyone." Red gasped, jumping at the voice directly behind him. He turned to face whoever it was. He looked down and saw it was the twin, Rhea. "Ava is a gentle giant. She wouldn't hurt anyone unless provoked- . . . Awww! Sira! Look at the smeet!" Rhea ran toward ZIM. The boy had a look of confusion and embarrassment.

"I know! Isn't he adorable? I was just thinking that!" Sira put a hand on ZIM's head. "He's like a mini-that guy!" She pointed at Red.

"Ohhh! You're just the cutest thing ever! I see you on T.V. all the time, but I had no idea just how small you are!" Rhea chirped, pinching ZIM's cheek. "You too." She pointed at Red and Purple. "I thought you guys were supposed to be the Almighty _Tallests_, not the Almighty Less than Average Heights!" Red and Purple gasped, clearly insulted.

"Well, miss, I'll have you know that we are only four inches below average for an fully grown Irken man!" Purple said.

"Yeah! And we're taller than most children at the age of twelve!" Red added. Leslie snorted. The men looked at her. She stifled her laughter.

"I'm sorry. You guys are just making your vertically impaired height problem worse." Red scowled.

"You're to talk! You're, what? Half a foot shorter than me." Leslie gave him an, are-you-kidding-me, look.

"Babe, I'm half an inch shorter than you." Red huffed, exasperatedly.

"That . . . doesn't mean anything." He hissed. Rhea shook her head.

"You two fight like an old married couple." Rhea looked at ZIM again. She got down on her knees to be eye level with him. "Aw! Can I just give you a big squeeze? Just to get it out of my system? I haven't seen something as adorable as you in awhile." ZIM didn't know what to say. He slowly nodded his approval. Rhea beamed and scooped the child and stood up giving him a big bear hug while swinging him left and right. "You. Are. So. Cute!"

"I. Am. So. Sick!" ZIM wheezed.

"C'mon, Rhea! Stop hogging him!" Sira said.

"Can I be released?" ZIM squeaked. Rhea cooed at the boy and set him down.

"Sorry. We're kind of big fans. And you're just so sweet and innocent looking!" Rhea patted ZIM's head.

"Yyyeah. Thanks." ZIM said. "Can I see the Ve'Kur now?"

"ZIM, I-"

"Yes! I'll take you in!" Rhea cut Red off. The man shot the trainer a glare. Leslie put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle rub.

"Just have faith in these girls."

"How old are you two anyway?" Red questioned.

"Nineteen." Sira said. "We've been trained with Irken animals all our life."

"Why wouldn't you train with your own home planet's animals?" Red asked. Sira and Rhea looked at each other.

"We don't know." They said in unison. Rhea took ZIM's hand and led him to the enclosure's entrance. She swiped a card through a security box. The black box beeped with a small green light blinking signaling they could go in. Red narrowed his eyes at the Lombax leading his brother in. Red handed off Sapphira to Dib.

"Watch this. I'm going in too." Red followed the two in the habitat. It was humid and muggy inside. He caught up to ZIM and walked alongside him with a hand resting on the younger's shoulders. "I swear Rhea, if that thing even goes out of line in the slightest, I'll-"

"Your threats don't scare me." Rhea interrupted. Red had a look of shock, then a slow smirked crossed his features.

"Well aren't you just an audacious, little, space kitty?"

"Well aren't you an overprotective idiot." Rhea retorted.

"You're snippy."

"You would know." Red pursed his lips. "I read your online biographies when I found out I'd be working with you guys. I know all about your troublemaking, smart aleck past." Red grinned.

"Then you should also know that I can be one helluva asshole. I made kids like you cry before using only words." Red said. Rhea returned the smirk and brushed her hand in the air. "Now lets just see this beast and get this over with." Red suavely bent down and scooped up ZIM in his arms.

"I can walk."

"I'll do the walking for you." Red said. ZIM scowled crossing his arms, knowing that Red only wanted to hold him so he couldn't touch the Ve'Kur. The three advanced on the large rock the dog was behind.

"Ava! Time to wake up, girl, your new friends are here to see you!" Red stopped a couple yards away from the rock. He saw the tuff of fur stir from behind the rock. The beast slowly stood up, veering its head upward, smelling the air. It then stretched its muscles and pointed its snout directly in Red direction. The man froze. ZIM beamed. The eyeless animal stalked toward the two Irkens.

"She can't . . . see us, can she?" Red asked, nervously. The monstrous creature stopped in front of them no more than a few feet away.

"In a way, she can see better than any of us. Her ears and nose helps her find her way around. As well as the vibration in the ground." Rhea explained. Avalyn cautiously approached the Irkens. Red stood still letting the enormous, curious, creature sniff him out. The thing on all fours stood up to his eye-level height, this not including its long, pointed ears. It's body length had to be no less than eight to nine foot. ZIM grinned widely when the dog sniffed and licked him. ZIM reached out to touch the huge snout. Avalyn allowed him to touch her thick, soft fur.

"Heyya, girl! You is huge! What are you on?" ZIM cooed at the giant animal. Avalyn snorted and shook her head. Then without warning, she bared her prominent, sharp, canines and gently took the back of the collar of ZIM's shirt into her mouth. Red gasped when the Ve'Kur yanked ZIM out of his hands. Rhea cooed loudly.

"Aww! She thinks you're her pup, ZIM!" The tiny Irken dangling from the dog's mouth, cackled loudly. Red bit his knuckles, tensing up at the animal carrying ZIM away.

"Yeah, yeah. Cute. Can you get him away from her?" Red asked, panicky. Rhea rolled her eyes.

"You're acting like a worried mother. Trust me, if Avalyn thinks ZIM is her pup, then there will be no possible way for her to even think about hurting him. Ve'Kurs treasure their pups more than life itself and they're very territorial of them so you might not want to try to take ZIM. Especially right now when they just united." Red ran a hand over his antenna. He then sighed, annoyed.

"Alright! Whatever. You're the expert." Red stood back, watching as the Ve'Kur laid on the ground and set ZIM by her. She then proceeded to lick ZIM clean. The boy giggling, loving the animal more and more with every passing moment.

"Red! Red! Can we keep her?" ZIM asked. Red frowned.

"Oh hell no! That's not happening." Red pressed his lips together, tightly.

"Taking Ava home with you will probably be better than separating them." Rhea said, looking at her sister who was walking toward them.

"She's right. Steal ZIM away from her is like stealing a mama bear's cubs. But worse. Much, much worse. Ava will know you took him away from her, the next time she senses you, you'll have a death sentence." Sira told him. Red looked at the twins in disbelief.

"You can't be serious! We already have enough animals as it is. Ten dogs and a crocodile, whom I don't want ZIM hanging around either. And yet, he still proceeds to stick his puny hands in it's mouth. He's not smart around dangerous animals. He lacks the common sense normal people have."

"Ava is only dangerous if provoked." Rhea said. "Example, if I walked up to ZIM and picked him up right now and carried him away, Ava will feel territorial and would come after me. Now that she has made an emotional bond with ZIM, she thinks that he's all hers. Separate them, there's hell to be paid." Red groaned.

"We . . . We just _can't _have an animal like her on earth. She's huge! I'm ninety-five percent positive the earth authorities would try to pass laws to make Ve'Kurs illegal pets. Like having a monkey or tiger without a license."

"Then get a Ve'Kur license." Rhea said, simply.

"Humans don't know what Ve'Kurs are yet!"

". . . Right, and?" Rhea and Sira cocked their brows at Red, wondering why he's arguing so much. Red sighed.

"The answer is no. We're not taking that thing with us. Our home probably isn't big enough for her anyway."

"Red, we have a three story home not including the basement. Four levels! Four levels of which she can roam." ZIM stated. "Not only that, but the rent is almost up so we were gonna move to an even bigger home anyway, right?" Red rubbed his forehead, trying to rid the headache he currently had. "And not to mention the other hugenormous home we're building on Terica, Irk." Red brushed off the comments. "Come on, Red! Please?" Red scowled. He hated getting hounded by people, specifically his brother and people he didn't know that well. Red finally came to a conclusion.

"Alright. Majority rules. Lets take a vote." Red smirked, knowing ZIM's desires will easily be out voted. He turned to the entrance of the habitat where everyone stood. "All in favor for keeping the damned animal." Red's jaw nearly dropped when he saw every single hand fly up into the air. Especially Purple who was jumping up and down, saying, 'Oh! Oo! Yeah! Yeah!', like an elementary school boy who wanted to answer a question he knew. Even Dib was assisting Sapphira in raising her hand. Red's eyes narrowed at them. He then threw his hands in the air. "Fine! Be that way! I wanted to keep the stupid thing anyway!" Red crossed his arms, seething. Red turned to the twins, who were smiling broadly. "I hope you're happy."

"We are!" Sira said. "Follow me to sign the adoption papers, then you'll be set to go."

**July 27, 2001**

**Night**

_Useless._

'No.'

_Bastard_

'Please. Stop.'

_You'll soon see the reaper. We'll be sure of it._

ZIM said nothing. He was so happy earlier that day, but then they came back to him and started mocking him and making fun. Bringing back bad memories of everything bad ever said to him. His siblings' voices echoed through his head. Bad things that they've said to him. Red's voice seemed to be the most prominent of them all.

_He always hated you. He says he loves you, but he doesn't know what love is. You don't ever love someone that killed your mother._

ZIM did a sharp intake of breath. Sitting in the corner of his dark room, he stared off into space listening to them. His new pet laid in the center of the room, sleeping with Tyson, whom she took a liking to, and now is treating him very kindly.

Shadows on the walls caught ZIM's eye. They danced about in a jibing manor. ZIM narrowed his eyes when he saw a red dot on the top of the wall by the ceiling. The dot started to drip down leaving behind a crimson trail. Then another dot formed, and another. Soon a rainfall of red washed over his walls creating an eerie ambiance.

_Montao wer telk op sher._

"Montao wer telk op sher."

_You pick up on the Devil's Language quickly. Good thing. It'll come in handy when you meet him soon. _

"Cona moii too sha beliberant." ZIM muttered. Staring at nothing. The shadows of weird shaped figures danced around him. "Lezzrah beruma has oit werk etalocoh."

_Why don't you draw me a picture in red._

ZIM blinked once, still in his trance. He then stood up and walked over to his desk top like a zombie. Inside the drawer he found a pair of scissors.

_The wall is your canvas. _

"Ona qual feh hydrahek ek mittonomy . . ." ZIM continued to ramble as he sat down on the floor by his bed facing the wall. His eyes were vacant. He took the scissors and broke it into two halves. Both halves each had one side of the blade. "Merci ohn youji kahn aba. Aba. Ama. Ama." ZIM stared at the wall as his hand compulsively moved the sharp part of the blade along his flesh. He then pushed it down hard into his wrist. Cutting open the skin and let the blood flow from the new incision. ZIM gasped at how surprisingly good it felt. He tilted his head back and moaned from the sweet, sweet pain emitting from his arm. He closed his eyes as his hands moved without him knowing where they were going. His fingers were dipping themselves into the pool of blood on ZIM's arm and then they'd touch the wall and move in certain ways.

_That's a nice picture._

ZIM opened his eyes. The drawing before him in his blood was that of a dead Irken laying in a messy pool of blood. A knife stabbed deep into his chest. It was him.

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>If I may direct your attention to my profile. There's a new poll up. Read it and vote! Much thankfulness!<strong>_

_**Down to business. Remember that these annotations can be important so please always read them. **_

**First off, Rhea and Sira . . . They ain't mine. Kazehana23 and I, whilst pm-ing each other as usual, kind of merged them into this story. So now we have kitty aliens in the story . . . Whoo! Haha. I know a lot of you are Rachet and Clank fans. Me, personally, I have never played or seen the game so I dunno. Anywho! Go to Kazehana's profile and go to her DA link and look up the Lombax twins. I said it before, She's an amazing artist so give her art a few comments and favorite. She'd appreciate it, I bet. **

**Fun Fact! I said this in chapter twelve. That Purple was supposed to be a sibling of the Macale family, but I changed it to him being Canadian. However, before I thought of him being Canadian, there was a period where he was supposed to be Irish. In fact, I started writing the chapter where he first appeared with him from Ireland. In chapter twelve as well, I wrote that there was also supposed to be a guy named Logan. I scrapped all of those ideas and now am satisfied with how I wrote the story. **

**Question! Seems like things are getting serious with ZIM! . . . The question is, who do you think will first find out about ZIM's distress? I'll make it multiple choice.**

**Dib **

**Red**

**Purple**

**Gaz**

**Tak**

**Or none of the above? **

**You decide! Leave a review if you feel so inclined. Or shoot me a PM. I dun care. Just enjoy the freaking story. **


	24. Lost

**Hi Mikki! It's so good to see your ugly face here after a long, unwarranted absence. **

**Yeah, yeah. I know . . . get over it.**

**Enjoy this chapter! It's average length but you'll consider it to be very long anyhow! Cuz that's how I is, and that's how you be. #hashtag#whitetrashswag**

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><p><strong>July 28, 2001<strong>

"Why are you wearing a long sleeved shirt? It's a hundred degrees out." ZIM looked at Dib and shrugged.

"Felt like it, I suppose." ZIM lied.

"Dude, don't you overheat easily? I don't want you fainting on me."

"I'll be fine." ZIM said in a monotonous tone. Dib's lips curled down.

"Are you alright? You haven't been yourself lately."

"I'm fine."

"You sure? Some people just say their fine when their not."

"I'm fine, really."

"ZIM, I can't help but not believe you-"

"I'm fine!" ZIM snapped. Dib bit his lip, cowering in ZIM's truck seat. ZIM's eyes softened. "I'm sorry, mate. That wasn't called for."

"It's alright, ZIM. I won't bother you anymore." ZIM went back to keeping his eyes on the road. "Sooo . . . Did you get the homework assigned last week done?" ZIM shook his head.

"I don't do my homework." He said. "It's a waste of time."

"But, it helps you pass."

"They said I won't need to pass." ZIM muttered. "They said I won't finish." Dib cocked his head, looking at ZIM with great concern.

"ZIM . . . It is very hot out. Maybe you should change into-"

"Merackma bru tola!" ZIM yelled at Dib once more.

"Wh-what? What did you just say?" Dib asked. "You know I don't speak Irken." ZIM looked back at the rode.

"Merackma bru tola." ZIM whispered to himself. "Merackma bru tola. Merackma bru tola." He said over and over as if meditating the phrase. Dib scooted as far as possible from ZIM.

"Z-Zeiden . . . What are you saying? I don't understand."

"Merackma bru tola."

"What does it mean?" Dib asked again. It was no use. It was as if ZIM couldn't hear him. "ZIM . . . Please tell me what's wrong." ZIM lips continued to move, repeating the foreign phrase countless times. Dib was both scared and frustrated.

**Later**

"Red, I need to talk to you." Red looked up from his teacher's desk where he and Purple were both grading papers.

"Hello, friend!" Red said cheerfully at the sight of Dib. "What do we need to talk about?" Red propped his head up in his hands. Dib took a seat in one of the desks in front of Red. His eyes shifted back and forth from Purple to Red.

"Can we talk privately?" Dib and Red gazed at Purple who wasn't paying much attention. They watched the oblivious Irken for awhile until Purple lifted his head, brows arched.

"Huh?"

"Leave." Red said, simply.

"Oh." The other man replied, then without another word left the two alone. Once the door clicked shut, Red turned his attention back to Dib.

"So my dear friend, what needs to be discussed?" Dib fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat.

"It's ZIM." Dib whispered, voice shaky. "He's been acting funny." Red nodded.

"I know. It's been scaring me too." He sighed. "I'm gonna have to talk to that boy later on." Dib scratched his head.

"Umm . . . You're fluent in Irken, right?" Red rolled his eyes. "Uh, sorry, that was kind of a dumb question."

"What do you need translated?" Red asked walking to the front of his desk and leaning against it.

"Can you tell me what, _Merackma bru tola,_ means?" Red pursed his lips.

"Sorry bud, but that ain't Irken."

"Well . . . Okay how about your family's Irken-Aboriginal dialect? What's it called? Irkenirakee?"

"It's not Irkenirakee either."

". . . You know Hebrew too right?"

"Yes, but it ain't Hebrew nor is it Yiddish either. And it isn't Latin." Red said. "I haven't the slightest clue what that language is." Dib urged his brain to remember what else ZIM had said in that weird language, but there was no other phrases besides that one. "Why?"

"Well . . . ZIM said it and I was wondering if you could tell me what it means."

"ZIM said it? He doesn't know any other languages besides, Irken, Hebrew, Irkenirakee, bit of Latin and French . . . and English. And like I said, that phrase wasn't any of those." Red pondered on that for a moment. "Hmm, it's either gibberish or a new language ZIM is picking up on." Dib shook his head.

"But ZIM was like, _chanting _that phrase. Many times." Red stared at Dib for a long minute.

"After English class we'll both confront him about it, how's that sound?" Dib nodded.

"Okay."

"Good. Now get your ass to your next class. I don't want to have to write you a late pass." Red said, walking back behind his desk.

"Mr. Macale, this is my next class."

". . . Well how convenient."

**Later**

"ZIM, if you would please pay attention, I'd greatly appreciate it." ZIM didn't look up to Mr. Crocker from his drawing. Crocker's class was the only class the studio was allowing him to take currently considering he was still suspended, but the studio recognized that ZIM was far, far behind and needed to catch up. He continued to fiercely draw blindly. He didn't know what he was sketching. His hand moved before his mind thought. "Mr. Macale, please!" ZIM ignored the man. His hand just started to move more rapidly. His breathing become more shallow and audible. "Zeiden, that's quite enough!" ZIM gritted his teeth, clenching his right hand hard as his left continued on its rampage on the white paper. ZIM found himself breathing heavier and heavier. "I've had enough of your nonsense, child! Do you want me to get your brother in here?" Crocker started walking to ZIM's desk but ZIM was oblivious to this. ZIM's eyes closed letting his hand do what it wanted. They wouldn't tell him what he was drawing until they were done.

_It's a masterpiece. Look, ZIM, look! It's beautiful._

ZIM's eyes flew open wide with fright, he gasped deeply, pulling away from his desk. He tried catching his breath. The pencil in his hands breaking in two. Something grabbed his shoulders but he twisted away by standing from his desk. He backed away until he ran into another desk, occupied by a classmate. "Zeiden Macale! Whatever you're trying to do, I assure you, now is a very inappropriate time to be doing it!" Crocker half yelled at the Irken. ZIM leaned against the other desk, chest rising and falling rapidly. He shook hard. Crocker narrowed his eyes at the boy then looked down at ZIM's desk to see what he drew. Crocker's own eyes went wide at what he saw. Images of an Irken getting killed in gruesome ways. Limbs being torn off, one-by-one. Hanging by the neck from a rope. Bullet through the forehead. Standing in front of oncoming traffic. Jumping onto railroad tracks with a racing train coming right toward him. Then words. Foreign words scribbled down all around the paper. The paper was a graphite mess. ZIM gulped and threw his body over the desk and covered the paper. He crinkled it up into a ball. With one last look at his teacher, ZIM bolted from the room.

_Now you've done it, child. Idiot. We drew you a pretty picture and you insult us by destroying it. No good nuisance._

ZIM kept running until he was out of the soundstage and into the California heat. He ran and ran until he reached the main building of Nickelodeon Studios where he bursted through the front doors and ran till he reached his dressing room, bumping into a few stars on the way.

_And way to make a scene. You just love to have everyone's eyes on you, don't you? Whore. Attention whore. _

ZIM leaned against his wall where his shadowy 'friends'danced their traditional dance. ZIM slumped down, sinking to the floor.

_You ruined our picture so we want you to make one for us. Paint it in red. We love red. _

ZIM pouted and buried his face into his hands. He started to sob.

_Roll up your sleeves, whore. You have work to do. _

ZIM's shoulders shuddered as he cried. "I'm sorry." He whimpered to them.

_Sorry isn't going to cut it for us, child. You need to cut it for us. So cut it. _

ZIM nodded and stood, making his way over to one of his drawers. Inside was a five-inch blade he kept around for utility purposes. Sharpened and ready for use. ZIM held the object in his shaky hand. He rolled up his sleeves and pressed the sharp end of the knife down on his skin. He let out a sigh and added more pressure. Then, with one fluid move, he swiped the blade over his wrist. ZIM groaned.

_How does it feel? Better than sex?_

"I wouldn't know."

_And you'll never be able to know. Keep going, we need more paint for your art. _

ZIM held his breath and slid the blade over his skin again. Blood seeping out of the wounds and covering the knife. ZIM bit his lip, loving the feeling of the cuts. He needed more. He wanted the feeling to continue. He switched wrists so the blade was pressing on his left arm. ZIM made a saw-like motion with the knife, cutting himself deeply. ZIM couldn't withhold a moan escaping his mouth.

_Well look at the whore now. Pleasing himself like that in front of his friends and not drawing the picture that we want. Procrastinator. _

ZIM stopped in his sawing. He dropped the knife. Both wrists now dripped with blood. He looked down at the carpet. That would no doubt stain it. He looked at the wall and sat facing it.

_Draw us a new idea, child. One that's creative. One we haven't seen before._

"Yes, sirs." ZIM whispered. ZIM used his fingers to paint the swirls and lines and dots. Adding explicit detail to his violent drawings.

_How about we sing our song, child? Remember how it goes?_

ZIM nodded, not taking his eyes off the wall. "_Lonely, pitiful, boy. Drowning in his sorrows. Breaking his back from hatred. He now can see he's worthless. Good for nothing pest. Rope wrapped around his neck. A stupid hindrance. Knife deep in his chest. Worthless boy. Taking a drink of bleach. Throwing himself off the tower. Down, down to the pavement. Boy's blood is a covenant with the devil. Now he can go to hell._"

_Mm Yes. The boy did deserve it, didn't he?_

"Yes. Boy did deserve it."

_What was the boy's name again, child? _

"Zeiden Macale Junior."

_Yeeessss._

ZIM jumped at the sound of his Imp ringing loudly. He scrambled to his feet and darted to the phone laying on the sofa. He picked it up, answering it. "Yes?" ZIM asked, hurriedly.

"Zeiden, where did you go? Crocker said you ditched class again!" ZIM looked down at his bleeding arm. He wasn't surprised to hear Red's voice when he picked up.

"I-I . . . I was just-"

"No excuses! Where are you?"

"My dressing room."

"Okay, you stay right there. I want to talk to you."

". . . Okay." ZIM hung up and looked wildly about him. For anything that would help clean himself up before his brother got there. He went to his drawer again and looked inside. He found a t-shirt of his and used that to stop the bleeding. He pressed the fabric against his wrists, hoping the bleeding would stop in time. But it was no use. He was cut too deep for the bleeding to stop anything soon. ZIM needed to find an alternative. He rolled his sleeves down and looked for one of his leather jackets. He pulled the heavy jacket over himself and looked to see if any blood was visible. He needed to wash his hands. ZIM wiped as much blood off his hands with the t-shirt as he could before he heard his door open. ZIM, threw the messy t-shirt into the drawer again and slammed it shut. He then whirled around to face his company. Red stood in the doorway, arms crossed. Dib was right beside him. ZIM looked from them to the blood stain on the carpet. He took a step forward and stood over the stain. He hoped his body also blocked the view of the painting on the wall.

"ZIM, sit down." Red ordered. ZIM stood still, shaking his head. Red frowned slightly and grabbed ZIM's shoulder leading him so ZIM was backed up to the couch and took a seat. Red and Dib took a place on either side of him. "ZIM, Dib and I were wondering about something."

"Like?"

"Well, first of all, why are you wearing clothes for cold weather on a hot day?" ZIM kept his arms at his sides. He sat stiffly in his spot.

"I'm hypothermic, Red. You know that." ZIM said, quietly. Red's brows furrowed.

"_Okaaay_." Red looked at Dib who shrugged. "Now explain why you kept repeating, _Merackma bru tola. _What does that mean?" ZIM's mouth pressed into a straight line.

"I-I don't know."

"Dib said you were repeating it several times."

"No I didn't."

"Well you must know something about it." Red insisted.

"No."

"You're hiding something." ZIM closed his mouth tightly. He put his hands behind his back when he felt blood drip down over his hands.

"Okay, okay, _Merackma bru tola _means . . ."

_Tell the truth._

ZIM closed his eyes sighing. "It means, 'celebrating boy's death'." Red tilted his head to the side.

"What does that suppose to mean?"

"It's . . ." ZIM didn't know what to say. He shifted his eyes left and right. "We gotta get to our next class." ZIM said.

"ZIM, don't change the subject. What does it mean?" Red asked, sternly. He held one of ZIM's shoulders so he wouldn't go anywhere. "And what language is it?"

"It's . . ." ZIM searched his brain for a lie. Any lie would do! Once he found one, his only concern would be his twitching antenna that spasmed every time he fibbed. ZIM sighed, lowering his head. "Okay so I turned to this new meditation to keep my peace of mind. The language is called, _Power of the Mind_. Made up by the founder of this meditation process named, . . . Loraine Smith. She's a wise monk who moved to the states to teach her ways of peace and enlightenment. She developed a language that is soothing to the ear and rolls off the tongue easily." Red and Dib were speechless. The older brother had no idea what to make of it. Red was convinced that his little brother _couldn't _of been able to make that up on the spot.

"Mmmkay . . . Maybe I'll have to look into that _Power of the Mind _crap. Just to make sure you're not following a cult." ZIM shook his head vigorously.

"Her methods are very little known. Good luck with that research." With that said, ZIM dashed out of the room, leaving Dib and Red behind. Dib looked up to the older Irken.

"That was . . . odd . . . Your brother is odd."

**June 29, 2001**

"Nana, I can't just drop everything and come back. I've got a job here and- . . . Yes I know I work at the ranch too but- . . . She'll be right, nana. We've had things like that before- . . . Would you just let me talk?" Red groaned, frustrated. His nana called him at one AM to tell him he needed to come back because they were having a crisis with the livestock. "You do realize that just because its noon where you are that doesn't exactly mean it's noon where I am . . . I don't care if you don't like my damn attitude! I'm trying to sleep! . . . You can't use that threat anymore, nana, I'm not a child." Red rolled his eyes. He caught a glimpse of Leslie staring at him highly annoyed. "Look, I'm going to hang up now, nana. Hire some more jack and jillaroos if you and the rellies can't handle it." With that being said, Red hit the 'End Call' button and fell back to his mattress. "God damn." He mumbled.

"What was that all about?" Leslie asked, laying back, snuggling up to her husband.

"Cattle got struck with a disease. Nearly two hundred are sick, thirty died. The eight hundred other cows are fine. But nana is off her rocker on the situation."

"Why'd she call you?"

"Guess she wanted all hands on deck to take care of it. I think another reason was because I vaccinated the majority of our cattle growing up." Red sighed, heavily. "She's goin' to be royally pissed off when we see her again. She does not take that kind of disrespect I showed toward her lightly. She'll probably whip me in the ass with her cane like she used to when me or one of the other cousins acted up." Leslie lifted her head off her husband's chest.

"I'm assuming it was mostly you." Red cracked a smile.

"Why you say that?"

"Oh I don't know, probably because you have an extraordinarily sketchy past."

"I wouldn't say _extraordinarily _sketchy-"

"Oh yeah? You wouldn't say that, Mr. I-Had-At-Least-A-Thousand-Girlfriends-In-High-Scho ol? Or how about, _My birth name is Kelly_. And let us not forget, _I'm a pro bull rider and I like to keep it a secret for a decade_. And don't get me started on the tattoo you had on your ass."

"It wasn't on my ass! Lower back . . . and I cut it off." Red rubbed his eyes. "Ugh, I'm exhausted, can we just go back to bed?" Leslie chuckled.

"I always seem to know how to shut you up."

"The hell you do. You don't control how much I speak-" Red was cut off by Leslie's lips pressing against his. His eyes went wide at the unexpected gesture. It took a few moments for Red to realize that Leslie just proved her point further. After another couple seconds, she released. "That wasn't fair. You were physically shutting me up."

"It's all the same, Hun." Leslie turned over on her side to go back to sleep. Red grinned and pressed against her back, holding her tightly. Not too much longer later did Red's Imp ring again.

"God dammit, nana . . ."

**That Morning**

"Looks like we're going back to Oz." Red announced, upon entering the kitchen. He caught his siblings' attention.

"What for this time?" Zee asked.

"Livestock epidemic." Red muttered. "We're going there to work our asses off. Nana demands it. But it's okay because we can bring Addy with us and leave that crazy bitch there." Red sat on the counter, looking around. "Where's our Zei-Zei?"

"Still sleeping. He's still suspended so no school for him." Red looked at the clock on the stove.

"It's eleven though." Red pointed out.

"He probably didn't get to bed until the early AM's." Zee said. She watched as Purple entered the kitchen. "Guess what, Purple-Nurple!" She smiled widely at him. He casted a tired look at his in-law. "I have a date with your high school buddy!" Zee told him excitedly. Purple gave her a questioning look, then shrugged it off.

"Grapa? He's a dork." Purple muttered. He sat on the counter next to Red, grinning at Zee. "But he's a sweet guy. One that won't go abusing children like your last boyfriend."

"Oh don't even get me started on him!" Tenn piped up. "I can't believe you guys were engaged." Zee curled her lips down, as if she tasted something bitter.

"Yeah. No more jackasses for me, thank you." She said. All heads turned toward the entrance of the kitchen. ZIM just stumbled in wearing a hoodie.

"What are you doing wearing that, mate? It's hot." Red said. ZIM kept his gaze to the floor.

"The air conditioning is freezing." ZIM mumbled. He crossed his arms tightly as he picked a seat on Zee's lap. She wrapped her arms around her little brother.

"Aww, I'll keep you warm, smeet." ZIM squirmed uncomfortably when his sister's arms came into contact with his wrists. He showed no emotion, however.

"Well have fun on your date tonight . . . Pur and I will be . . . standing half naked in front of a camera."

"Yeah! I can't believe you would agree to something-"

"I didn't know, Peder! I'm sorry!"

"You best be! I know I have a sexy bod and all, but shit, I don't need everyone gazing upon me."

"Well both of our sexy bod's will soon be exposed to the public. Get over it. Besides, it's not like a porno or anything. Think about it in a different way. Like the clothing we'll be modeling will probably cover as much skin as a swimsuit would." Red said. "I mean look at me right now. I'm only wearing a pair of athletic shorts. Same diff, right?" Purple shook his head.

"That's not the point. Point is, both of us."

"Yeah . . . and?"

"We'll be standing half naked together. Who knows what kinds of poses the cameraman will make us do. Don't you think people will get the wrong idea?" Red brushed his hand in the air.

"We're both married."

"People are idiots, Red." Purple mumbled. Red stared at him for a moment longer. He then nodded in agreement.

"Sorry, mate. We'll just have to deal with it." Purple rolled his eyes.

"Hate you sometimes." Purple looked down at his Imp. "Oh and check this out," He handed his phone over to his friend. Red looked at the screen and started laughing uproariously.

"Gotta love Irken media!" It was an online news article about the incident on the red carpet at the premier. The reporters were over analyzing the ordeal, thinking it was some sort of silent feud between Purple and Red.

"Yeah that's not the only thing, though. Did you neglect to read the reviews about our little reality T.V. show thing?" Red glanced at Purple.

"Were they bad?"

"No. Opposite actually." Purple pointed to another article on the phone and brought it up so Red could see. "Read it out loud." Red scanned the review.

"Mkay," He rubbed his eyes before starting. "_We could have only just imagined how strange the Macale's were before the premier of their reality show. Now we get an inside look of their day-to-day life. From the bizarre, and not to mention random, acts of the youngest Macale, lovable ZIM, to the equally odd, yet somehow charming, adventures Red and Purple seem to embark on every day. We also get a glimpse of the Macale sisters who usually tend to stay out of the spotlight. We discover these girls are smart, gentle natured, and definitely have more common sense than their brothers. However, the show wouldn't be anywhere as interesting without ZIM's wacky moments of hyperness. A time where he acts as though he's had a triple shot of espresso and almost literally bounces off the walls with unnecessary excitement about little things. Or the unwarranted fist fights Purple and Red get into when they get bored or playful. Things always seem to run amuck in their large, Earthen home. The only thing that keeps from their humble abode from running into the ground is the strict rules and strong leadership of Red's faithful wife, Leslie. A human who is kind and all around pleasant to be around. The show kicked off to a great start. It only goes to prove to us how down to Irk the Macale's are. All thoughtful and considerate to everyone. Putting others before themselves. And most of all, possessing wit and charm to continuously keep us entertained. It's no doubt that this reality show will be a big hit for viewers everywhere. It's no wonder that the Macale's are Irk's number one most famous family _. . . I didn't know we were number one. That's neat."

"You're missing the big picture." Zee said. "People love the show. That's the bottom line." Red continued to scroll through the reviews.

"Ehhh not everyone. There's one review here that's pretty damn negative. But it's alright because he isn't a critic. Just a typical parent." Red said.

"What did the wannabe critic say?" Tenn asked.

"_I had to stop watching this atrocity after twenty minutes. It's simply too hard for me to comprehend that any family that stupid is so rich and famous. The youngest child is a joke. The eldest, sure he's smart, but he's so over the top in everything he does. He makes a simple task, such as making toast, look like it's a trip across the mighty Terica ocean during a hurricane. The only people in this family who even have the slightest glisten of intelligence is the sisters. And they don't even do anything! Don't get me started on that Peder Kinley, fellow. Not only does he assist Red and his stupid antics but he somehow makes them even more stupid. He, like Red, is very smart, being retired biologists, but they don't do their brains much justice by acting like smeets with overly active imaginations. Eventually ZIM will get sucked into their idiocy and soon they will be nothing more than a trio of idiots. It's seriously a wonder how these guys got to be number one on pretty much every chart, from singing to acting, on Irk._"

"Hmm . . . Harsh." ZIM muttered. "Eh, I've heard worse though. Read a hate letter from some guy telling me I'm a worthless piece of shit." ZIM looked off to the side. "Of course, I'm used to being called that by now." Red frowned.

"Now don't you go thinking your worthless because people say you are. What do they know?"

"I don't know what they do know and what they don't. It's all a matter of opinion anyway." ZIM sighed, sliding off his sister's lap.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Red watched as his little brother went off into anther room. As soon as he was sure ZIM was out of antenna-shot, he turned to the remaining people. "Guys, something is totally up with that kid. He's been acting so . . . so very odd lately."

"When doesn't he act odd?" Tenn asked, nonchalantly. Red shook his head.

"No! This is a different odd. I don't know what it is, but I'm hoping to find out soon."

**Later**

"Oh yes! That'd be hot! It's all about the sex appeal after all!"

"No, no, no! That piece would be too loud. We need something more down played so it doesn't distract us from the product."

"I like my idea better."

"Save it for another time." Red rolled his eyes. He stood in front of a white screen, studio lights shining down on him. Five different photographers were bickering about how Red should present himself. He was currently sporting the first article of clothing they had for him. Black, boxer briefs that hugged his wide hips and rear end. At least they were comfy.

"He's got very feminine hips and legs." One photographer said to another.

"He's like me and Kenny. A hermaphrodite. That's how it is with all of us." Red sighed, exasperatedly. They talked about him as if he wasn't there.

"Red turn a little so we can get your backside. You have a very nice, grabble ass, you got to flaunt it." One photographer said. "And we need to make men think that if they get the underwear you're wearing, then they'd have a fantastic ass too."

"That's false advertisement, isn't it?" Red asked, rhetorically, as he turned slightly so the photographer could get a profile side view. He poked his rear out ever so slightly. "Make sure you get this full voluptuous rumptuous." Red smacked his own posterior.

"Yes! Beautiful, Red, darling! Now lay yourself on that platform over the sheet." Red walked to the opposite side of the white screen to the platform with ivory satin sheets to cover it. He laid himself down on it as if it were a couch. "Yes, now lie on your back. One arm behind your head, then your other hand resting over your chest. Good! Now bend one knee up. Yes, yes. Now the other leg stays resting down. Great! Let me just snap a few pics. I wanna see a loving look on your face. Imagine your wife walking into your bedroom. She's wearing your favorite, skimpy, lingerie. She's making her way across to you and she's about to put her body all over yours to kiss you! Very handsome! Very sexy! Stunning. Stunning! Yes! I love that romantic look in your eye!"

"Christ, do you ever shut the hell up?" Purple asked, coming up from behind the photographer. He had a wad of bubble gum in his mouth. The man holding the camera jumped at the other model's voice.

"Excuse you. You're next, so get used to it." He went back to Red. "Now lets see seduction, Red! You're a good looking guy! Use your charm, good looks, and poses to get some women to come 'round. Open yourself up so you look inviting."

"I'm not a slut. I only open my body to my wife." Red told him. "How many more pictures do you need?"

"Don't rush art, Red." The photographer said, simply. Red scoffed.

"Huh, art." Red chuckled quietly when he saw his best friend stick his gum on the main photographer's nice, expensive-looking suit. This went unnoticed to everyone else but the two modeling Irkens.

"Now give me a new bolder pose." Red smirked. He switched positions so he was laying on his stomach. He rested his head on the sheet and brought his knees up so his butt was in the air.

"No! No! Stop that."

"What? This pose ain't doing it for you? How about this." Red stood up and bent over the platform. He placed his hands on the surface and popped his hip in a sassy manor. The head photographer placed his hand over his face in frustration. All the while, the other photographers kept snapping away. Red sat on the platform again facing them. He leaned back, propping his body up on his elbows. He crossed his legs like a woman would. The head sighed and shook his head.

"Just . . . just stop. Kinley, you're up with him now."

**July 30, 2001**

"And so what did we learn from this experiment?" The kids of the class just stared blankly at Purple. Complete silence lingered in the room. Not a child dared answer him for they had no idea what they had just witnessed. "We learned that we shouldn't feed infants cornstarch." The kids looked to one another. "Any questions?" One lone hand went up. "Yes?"

"What was the point of all that?" Trixie asked. Purple sat on the desk top.

"There was none. I was just killing time." Purple looked over to Red.

"New experiment! ZIM! You're gonna be our guinea pig." ZIM groaned, getting up from behind his desk. Red was gonna embarrass him again. ZIM was still in trouble from the letter incident. His punishment of doing whatever Red told him was close to ending. He got six tallies under his name now. Four more to go.

"Why aren't you guys teaching us anything useful?" ZIM asked. Red shrugged.

"Why not? We just finished the chapter, now it's time to fuck around." Red closed his mouth tightly when he heard his class gasp. He gave them a sheepish smile. "I mean . . . I actually wanted to say . . . Sorry. Okay? I sometimes forget my surroundings and say whatever the hell I- . . . heck I want . . . Don't tell on me." Red told them. ZIM stood next to his older brother.

"What do you need me to do?" ZIM asked, annoyed.

"I need you to hold this text book over your head." Red thrusted a biology book into ZIM's hands. "And we're gonna see how long you can do that until your arms get tired." Red took out his Imp and brought up a timer.

"Is that it?" ZIM asked. Red scoffed.

"Nope! You got to do it while on one leg and spinning. Now when I say go, you may begin. Ready?" ZIM shook his head. "Go." ZIM rolled his eyes and lifted the book over his head, standing on one leg and slowly attempted to spin with that one leg. Red went on to talk about other unimportant things that made the class laugh as if Red was some sort of stand up comedian. Five minutes have passed and ZIM's arms were getting tired. If Red makes ZIM's arms sore, then tomorrow's baseball game was going to be hell. ZIM finally dropped the book down, standing on both his feet. His arms were tingling. "Had enough?" ZIM nodded. He then finished the act by wrapping his arms around Red's waist giving him a hug.

"I wuv you big brovver." ZIM mumbled. Red patted his head and told him to sit back down.

"Now, randomness aside, our next chapter will be on significant figures. I always hated doing that in school. But it'll be a pleasure to see you guys suffer through it instead of me." Purple said. He glanced back at the clock on the wall. "But it'll have to wait until tomorrow. Get lost you guys." The students all stood up and grabbed their belongings and hurried off to their next class. "Hey, ZIM, c'mere a sec. You too, Tak." The two Irkens looked to one another then walked back to the other older Irkens.

"What's up?" Tak asked. Purple opened his mouth to respond but Tak cut him off. "And don't say the ceiling . . . Or the light . . . Or clouds." Purple frowned at her.

"Well . . . You're annoying." Purple muttered. "But seriously! This is awesome! Scientists on Irk came up with a new invention that allows Irken bodies to become mutated into a different species." The younger Irkens raised a brow.

"Where are you going with this?" ZIM asked. Purple grinned widely.

"We're going to their research lab and they want us to be the first Irkens to try it out. Just so the invention can get more publicity from us. As a reward for being the first, they'll give us each our own transforming device. But before they can give us that device they have to custom make it to match our DNA."

"Is it safe?" ZIM asked.

"Since when did you start to care about something being safe or not?" Red asked him. ZIM just shook his head. "Yes. It's been tested on corpses of deceased Irkens. They managed to change one body into a Vortian and another one into a Plookesian."

"Sounds like fun. When are we going?"

"Right after school. By the way, you two are gonna be late for your next class if you don't make it there in less than a minute." Red said.

"Can't you write us a late pass?" Tak asked.

"Don't feel like it. 26, 25, 24, 23 . . ." Red started counting down. Tak and ZIM bolted from the room to make it. "Hah! What sillies." Red and Purple shared a glance and a moment of silence.

"Wanna go do donuts in the parking lot?"

"Sure."

**Later**

"We'll first start by taking some blood samples so the machine can scan and decipher your earthen nationalities. It will then have you encoded to a model of what you will become." One of the scientists by the name of, Cher, said.

"Will it be a hologram?" ZIM asked.

"No. You'll be mutated into the species. You're internal and even some external organs will remain the same. But other than that you'll be completely human." She responded. "We'll start with the Irken oldest here." Everyone looked to Red. His antenna slicked downward against his head in fear.

"Uhh . . . How about Purple? He's only, like, a month younger. He can go first-"

"Don't be a pussy." Purple mumbled.

"You're the bigger one. You cry whenever you get stabbed with a needle!"

"Do not!"

"You do so, liar!" Red grunted when his wife smacked him upside the head.

"Just do it, Red. You can trust these guys. They're all smarter than any earth doctor." Leslie told him. Red sighed.

"Fine."

"Good, now if you will please remove your clothes-"

"Hold on! I didn't know that was part-"

"You can keep your pants on. But I'm going to have to stick my hand down your pants." Cher said. Red's lips curled down in distaste.

"Why?"

"Cuz we can't have the clothes in the way of the electrodes and I.V.s and all our fun equipment." Red bit his lip and removed his shirt, boots, and jeans. "Thank you, now if you will, go ahead and lay on our examining bed." Red hopped up on the bed and laid back. The woman laid what looked to be a thin white blanket on his waist down. Cher proceeded to stick electrodes and other things Red couldn't identify on his body and legs. She then grabbed his arms and stuck needles in his veins to draw blood. To the side of the bed there was a giant computer with multiple screens all showing different data and statuses. The screens showed different numbers and words that seemed foreign to any ordinary guy. One screen however has perfectly clear, readable Irken lettering and numbering on it.

"What's that for?" Red asked pointing to that particular screen. The scientist grabbed Red's extended arm and placed it back at his side.

"You must stay still." She told him. "And that screen depicts the different human molecules and nationalities you have so that will give you your outward appearance." Red gazed at it. "So it says, seventy-five percent Aboriginal Australian. Twenty-five percent Egyptian, but you were originally Israeli and that's where you probably got your religion from. I wouldn't be surprised if you had ancestors who were Jewish slaves even though they were Egyptian."

"I knew I was partially Egyptian, but I didn't know I was a whole quarter Egyptian and Israeli."

"You must've have some Egyptian blood in you that occurred somewhere up the line of your family tree. There were Jews in Egypt at one point, so that could be it. So technically you're twenty-five percent Israeli-Egyptian, if that's even possible, and your family probably has slave history." Cher said.

"I have to look into that family history. It would come from my dad's side. He still has family members in Egypt and South Africa . . . Damn, we should really visit them sometime."

"That's awesome cuz now I can get a tattoo of a hieroglyph and it won't offend anyone because we're Egyptian by blood!" ZIM said, excitedly.

"Yeah! Only, guess what? You're not getting a tattoo!" Red said, mocking his brother's tone. ZIM crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at Red's own tattoo.

"Oh, I so am." He muttered, quietly, turning away from Red. "I'll have the Eye of Horus on my arm and you won't even know." ZIM started walking away, talking mostly to himself. Red rolled his eyes. ZIM always wanted a tattoo, especially ever since Red got a tattoo on his chest of the stars on the Australian flag, he thought he could get one too all because Red was pressured into getting one.

"And then it says, one hundred percent Irken." Cher told him.

"What Irk province?" Red asked. The scientist studied the data.

"Oh that's cool! It's telling me you're from Irken country Vōltaniae from the large island province of Mårcio. It's equivalent to the human Romans. In fact, it's nearly exactly the same. Turns out you guys are cousins. Mårcs speak the Latin language the Romans did, only it's a slightly different dialect. However, unlike the Romans, the language is not extinct there. Ya know, that's a rare breed of Irken. But I guess I should've seen that heritage in you, with your darker green skin, longer and thicker than average antenna, body build and facial structure, and rare red eyes. Not many Irkens have red eyes, ya know."

"Yeah, yeah, he's a dime. Now I'm excited to see how he'll look as a human." Leslie said.

"Right." Cher walked over to a counter top and grabbed what looked like electrode pads but only with three small needles that would get stuck into the skin. "This will sting a bit." She told Red and she started to place the pads on his chest, sides, and legs. She then took a metal head band with wires attached and placed it around his forehead.

"Will . . . the process of making me human hurt?" Red asked, quietly. The scientist looked at him as if he were stupid.

"Well yeah!" Red's eyes went wide. He looked to Leslie.

"Is she being serious? Is she joking- Are you joking?"

"Of course not! I wouldn't lie about that! Red, every molecule in your body will be mutated and the human DNA that already exists in you will take over your Irken molecules and transform them to give you the appearance of a humanoid by scanning your molecules to find your different ethnicities so you look like your nationality. Now hold still. When I pull this lever the mutation will begin."

"Now wait a moment! I'm having second thoughts!"

"Too late." Cher pulled the lever down and a static shock coursed through Red's being. His body went stiff and erect. He couldn't move any muscles and he couldn't make a noise. Cher went on to inform the others what was happening to Red, stage by stage. Red began to feel tingly and different. His body started to get colder, because of the fact that humans have a cooler body temperature than Irkens. The inside of his mouth began to feel different. He could feel strange sensations growing on his body, face, and head. He, in no way, could be conscious of his surroundings. Right now, the only thing he felt was intense pain. An internal pain. His lungs felt like they were getting smaller and it was starting to get hard to breath. Even Red's joints seemed to dislocate and get placed in a different spot. After what felt like an eternity, the pain started to gradually die. Red, with his eyes closed and chest heaving up and down, laid there motionless. He could hear people talking. And someone was touching him. His eyes opened. He was shocked to see that his peripheral vision wasn't as strong. In fact, his entire vision wasn't as strong. In his mouth felt like a fat piece of tender meat. He looked to his side to see who was touching him. It was Leslie. She was looking everywhere on his body, completely astonished. Her hands tracing his figure. Cher came into his view. "Ready to see your new shell?" She asked. Red didn't respond. Everything seemed to be fifty percent quieter, making it hard for him to hear. He couldn't find himself to speak, or move. He had his wife and the scientist assist him up.

"Ish sho . . . differ-ent." Red slurred not being used to the new tongue just yet.

"C'mon, Hun. We're gonna go look in the full body mirror." Leslie held him as he unsteadily stood on his feet. Red felt like he couldn't look anywhere except straight ahead. Leslie practically dragged him to the other side of the room so he could look at himself. As soon as he was placed in front of the full body mirror Red gasped.

"Ah mah gawd, I beati-ful." Red smiled. His body was now that of a human man. Same height, same weight, but everything else was different. He had hair! Inch long hair all messy with the color of the purest midnight black. His eyes were almond shaped, probably tracing back to his Egyptian origins, and were a dark, brown color that shimmered underneath the light giving him natural puppy-eyes. His skin was a deep, dark, rich, chocolate brown tone. His body structure of being lean yet muscular didn't change. His abs and pecs were visible as well as his wider than normal hips. The tattoo on his chest didn't stand out as much as it did with his green skin, because the black ink blended with his dark bronzed skin. His facial structure had fine semi-chiseled features and a little, button nose. Normal sized eye brows, however, there was the thinnest of lines in his left brow that didn't grow hair by the glabella.

"Whats up with that?" Leslie poked the line in his brow. Red inspected it closer.

"Scar? . . . I dunno. I got cut thar when I were a kid." Leslie didn't respond. She went back to gawking at her husband's new body. He had perfect high cheek bones with a strong jaw line. Black facial hair stubble revealed that he had a nice goatee and thin sideburns that ran into the goatee. Leslie ran her hand through his hair.

"It's so soft! It's like bunny fur!" She said. "You are so handsome!" Red turned his head toward her.

"Wah I not handshome before?"

"What? Of course you were! It's just, this is a new you I've never seen before. It's nice." She told him. Red jumped a little when he felt someone slap him on the back.

"You're a sexy piece of ham, now it's my turn." Purple smirked. "You need some competition." Purple allowed himself to be tended to by the scientist with Tenn by his side for the process. Meanwhile, Red continued to fiddle with his extra fingers and pull his hair, surprised that even though the hair was apart of his body it did not have any feeling unless you pulled it too hard. The couple turned their attention to Purple getting undressed and put on the table with the cords and wires. Cher pulled the lever again and a bright light blinded them as the transformation began. Moments later the light died down and left behind a human male with the same reaction Red had after the mutation. Only this man looked different. Tenn helped Purple off the bed. He leaned on her as he staggered to the mirror to see himself. The other man gasped at his new body.

"Howy shet. Dis ish meh?" Purple admired himself. Cher was reading the screen again.

"It says that you're fifty-five percent French, thirty-five percent Yu'Pik, and ten percent Russian." Purple's head snapped to look at the scientist.

"Russian? I purt Russian?"

"Looks like it." She responded with a smile. "Hundred percent Irken from the Irk country Terica, and more specifically from the humid subtropical, province Bygonia. Similar, landscape-wise and climate-wise and culturally, to the earthen country Greece."

"I's like an Greek?"

"Just like me!" Leslie chirped, excitedly.

"Yay! We Greek Geeks!" The man high fived his friend's wife. Purple looked back to the mirror. His body type and facial structure was like Red's. And also like Red, he sported a goatee and sideburns, however, Purple's was slightly thicker and not a black color but rather a dark brown. His skin tone was a light, golden, brown and his eyes were very unique in color. They were a deep blue with the slightest traces of violet in the mix and where big and round in shape, giving him natural, adorable puppy eyes. His hair was a bit longer but thin enough to be easy to style. It was very textured and was a rich, medium brown color with hints of mahogany undertones. Like Red's, his hair was also in a mess on top of his head.

"That. Is. Awesome." ZIM said, awestruck. "Can I do it now?"

"Sure thing, kiddo. Be warned though, it hurts." Cher told him.

"It's fine." ZIM brushed a hand in the air. "Can I . . . keep on my shirt though?" Cher lifted a brow.

"Why?"

"I'm hypothermic. I get cold really easily."

"Uh, okay. I'll still have to pull up your shirt because the electrodes shouldn't be touched by any fabric. And if you want, your pants can stay on too since they're shorts and shouldn't get in the way of anything. Your shoes must come off though." ZIM, with relief, removed his Vans and hopped on the table.

"When will we get our own individual transforming devices?"

"Once I transfer your guys' data and DNA makeup into the devices." ZIM laid himself on the bed, pulling up his shirt and let her dress him up with the equipment.

"What will they look like?"

"It's a small, steel, tubular, device that will latch onto your forehead and temple. There will be little prongs that will stick in your skin and mutate you as fast as you can say, 'human'." ZIM smiled and relaxed as much as he could.

"I gotta get use to dis tongue." Red said, sticking it out. His eyes went wide with sudden realization. "Oh! I wonder if . . ." He trailed off as he looked down and snuck a finger underneath the elastic band of his boxers. He pulled them open so he could peak down there. "What? I thought I'd get- . . . I don't even 'ave pubes!" He then lifted his arm to look at his pit. "What is dis? I don't 'ave arm pit hair either. Or leg hair. I a man! I supposed to be hairy!"

"Well, Red, it's impossible to make you one hundred percent human. The only hair we can give you for now is the ones on your face and head." Cher said as she was working on ZIM. "Your blood is still that red color with the hint of blue in it. And notice that you still don't have finger or toenails." Red inspected himself a little more carefully. Some things a typical human would have were missing.

"I really wanted that sexy chest hair. Oh well at least I got boobs and a belly button." Red mumbled, poking the small hole on his stomach.

"They're called nipples, Red." Leslie corrected him. Red looked at her then at his chest then at her chest and back at his.

"I like boobs better." He said. "Hey will this be okay for his health." Red turned to face the bed with his little brother on it. He lost his balance and went down. Leslie helped him up.

"You're getting used to your new tongue quickly. Your legs aren't doing as well though." Cher said.

"Yeah, yeah, answer my question."

"It'll be fine. He'll feel the same pain you did but that's all. That is unless he's gotta higher or lower pain tolerance."

"What if the static shock sends him into a seizure." Red asked.

"It shouldn't happen." Cher told him. She pulled the lever and ZIM disappeared in the bright light. Moments later the light waves disappeared, leaving behind a humanized ZIM. The boy groaned.

"Dat hurt. Damn." He rolled over off the table and landed on the ground.

"Aww!" ZIM felt himself get hoisted up by the wrists. He cringed at the pain of his arms being gripped. "Look at you, baby! You're so adorable!" Leslie led him to the mirror and showed ZIM himself. ZIM grinned widely when he saw his human form. His skin tone was a shade lighter than Red's, but not too noticeable. His hair was peculiarly colored since his skin tone was dark but his hair was a dark brunette, black at the roots with some natural streaks of black. It was short enough to spike and had lots of volume. His eyes were unusual like Purple's, being dark, dark, brown nearly midnight black. His body wasn't changed, it was still petite, dainty, yet fit. He had a baby-face facial structure giving him a really cute appearance especially with his big, shiny dark eyes that were also almond shaped like his brother's.

"And the computer is telling me that you have the same exact heritage as your brother. As it should be."

"This is cool! We should get Zee over here to try it." Red said, looking at his phone for the time. "Another day, maybe. We gotta get home and make sure Lard Nar didn't break anything. That is if he's even alive." Red glared at ZIM. "With that new pet beast of yours, there's no telling." ZIM just smiled.

"I'll send you the individual devices as soon as I'm done with them." Cher told them. "So that way you can change back and forth from your Irken state to your human form."

"Speaking of changing back. How do we change back?" Purple asked.

"This form right now is only temporary. In an hour you guys will be back to normal. Your body will just phase back to your Irken self. However when you receive the devices, you remain human until you want to change back."

"Sweet." Purple said. "I'll wait here so Tenn can get her's done. You guys go on ahead." Purple told Red.

"Alright then. We're going home." Red said, redressing himself. "Take us there, Zei." ZIM took out the transporter device and zapped them home. As soon as they found themselves in the garage of their house they heard a gasp. Looking to the side to find Lard Nar in the same place.

"Leslie, who are these guys?" Lard Nar asked. Leslie smirked knowing that Red and ZIM would have a riot fooling Lard Nar.

"Well if you _must _know, this is my ex boyfriend, Kymberley . . . Easton, he's visiting from Michigan. And his son, Ash . . . er? Asher."

"Does Red know you're hanging out with your ex." Leslie scoffed.

"Nar, I'm a married woman. And he's a married man. We're more faithful than that." Lard Nar inspected the two of them closely.

"Kymberley?" He questioned. Red cleared his throat and spoke with a new voice that was surprisingly convincing fake voice. He ditched his usual thick Aussie accent and traded it for a lousy Northern American one.

"Yeah. Parents didn't know if I was gonna be a boy or girl so they picked a unisex name. Obviously they were leaning more toward girl." Red subtly shot Leslie a glare for giving him a feminine name. Probably just to spite him and remind him that his original name was also quiet feminine. "Call me Kymber. It's more . . . masculine." Nar smiled at him. He reached out a hand.

"Well it's nice to meet the both of you." Red took his hand and shook it. "Do anything for a living?"

"I'm . . . Yeah, I-I'm actually a . . . circus performer." Red said, weakly. He saw Leslie give him a funny look from the corner of his eye. "For the Detroit circus team."

"Oh really? That's neat! What's your act?"

"I'm an aerial acrobatics artist. I'm pretty, uh, fearless, ya know? . . . I also stunt ride on horses."

"Well, that's something new! I never met someone in the circus." Nar said, amazed. Red nodded then decided to expand his lie to make it a bit more believable.

"Asher also participates. He does that . . . aerial hoop thing." Red said, loving how his best friend was buying all his lies.

"That is so cool. You must have a talented family then. Red stunt rides horses too on occasions. He likes to stand up on their backs and strike poses." Lard Nar said. "Where's Red anyway, Les? I need to talk to him."

"About?"

"Addy. She more or less just turned your room upside down looking for things that Red owns." Red held back a shout of anger, clenching his fists and biting his lip.

"This Addy chick seems a little . . . weird." Red gritted his teeth.

"Oh yes. Yes she is." Lard Nar agreed. "Just last night I was getting up to use the bathroom and I noticed Red and Les' bedroom door open. I peaked inside and saw her leaning over Red. I think she was touching his face. He's a heavy sleeper so he probably never knew." Red's eyes were wide. Leslie stifled a laugh. She nudged Red.

"It's a good thing Red doesn't know that she's been doing that again, isn't it?" Red shook his head.

"What. A. Freak." Red said, slightly traumatized. His teenager years of dating Adelaide coming back to haunt him.

"I'll go and find her." Leslie said.

"I'll come too." Red hissed, following her in. This left Lard Nar and ZIM alone. The two shared a moment of silence, before Nar broke it to spike up a conversation.

"So, Asher, what grade are ya in?"

"Seventh." ZIM replied, also altering his voice so their secret wouldn't be blown. He gave himself the slightest of lisps to be very convincing.

"Oh really? So is Leslie's brother-in-law. You'll meet him when he comes home from Irk. I can see you two being friends."

"I may not be staying long though." ZIM said. "In fact my dad and I are going home tomorrow morning."

"And where do you live?" Nar asked.

"Novi. That's where dad met mom. It's far from where dad grew up and dated Leslie. It's by Detroit."

"I see. So you a big city kid?"

"Meh, I don't prefer city. I like wide open spaces so I can breath." ZIM told him. "Claustrophobic."

"Wow. I seriously feel like I'm talking to ZIM. You seem a lot alike. Even sound a tad like him." ZIM bit his lip. He should start to say things ZIM would never say. After all, he is Asher now. "Play any sports?" ZIM inwardly smirked.

"I. Love. Basketball!" ZIM lied. "I love it to death! It's so fun!"

"Oh really? What position?" ZIM froze, heart pounding. He doesn't even know the first thing when it came to basketball.

"I . . . bounce around. I'm a very versatile player."

"You seem very short. You must be around thirteen right? I can see you playing point guard. That spot goes to the shortest usually."

"Uh yeah. Mostly point guard. I make a lot of baskets and I steel the ball and bounce it." ZIM said, dumbly. "Er, I also play soccer!" ZIM said, getting on a topic he was more familiar with. Red banned ZIM from ever playing soccer after his blindness incident so Lard Nar knew that the Irken ZIM couldn't play anymore. "Attacker and stopper. I do a lot in the midfield too."

"You're a little firecracker, aren't ya? Yeah. You'll definitely get along with ZIM."

"Oh I'm sure." ZIM said.

"Well, I was about to go inside and play video games. Join me?" ZIM snorted.

"You play video games?"

"Yeah. Leslie's husband and I, when we were younger, we'd play Irken and Vortian video games for hours when we weren't working. I worked on the ranch he grew up on as a harvester in the fall, planter in the spring, and a milker in winter and summer." Nar said, opening the door to the home. ZIM smiled and walked in with him.

"Okay. Yeah. I'll join ya for a game or two."

**August 1, 2001**

"Just whatever you do, don't tell Leslie."

"Red, where are we going to put them? We only have a lot. We don't have acreage."

"We have a massive dog living with us no problem."

"But that's an _inside _pet."

"It doesn't matter because we're moving out this month anyway. We're getting private land in the hills. We'll have more room right in the backyard of where we'll live. Besides, I'm moving them to Irk once our home there is built." ZIM crossed his arms.

"But we'll have to build fences and a stable."

"So?"

"So? That's extra work." ZIM mumbled.

"Huh! Get over it, princess. I've worked my ass off everyday since the age of five." ZIM didn't say anything back to his older brother. He was excited about getting the new pets, but he hated the work that they brung.

"What breeds are we gettin'?" ZIM finally asked.

"We'll see." Red told him, pulling into the dirt driveway of a ranch farm. The two got out and approached the owner of the ranch who sat on his porch smoking a pipe.

"Howdy!" The old man greeted.

"G'day. Came here to adopt some horses."

"Yes, sir! Got me some of the most expensive and rarest breeds out there. You think you can afford them?"

"Trust me. I got five million here that I can blow right now. Show me what ya got."

"Millionaire, eh? How ya make yer livin', son?"

"I'm a rancher just like you, mate. Although for some time I was a biologist." Red told him. "But I made my first million riding bull, actually."

"Mm. My son rides bulls, my daughter also participates in the rodeo. Barrel racer. Then I have another boy whose a jockey."

"Got a family business then, huh?"

"Yes, sir." The old man led the two Irkens to his stables. He then turned to them and squinted his eyes, studying them closely. "Say . . . Ain't I seen you on T.V.?"

"Possibly." ZIM said. "I have my own T.V. show on Nicktoons."

"Ah! Yes! My grandchildren often watch them cartoons here." He told them. "Funny, though. They're big fans of your little alien show but their ma don't let them watch it. Too dark for her taste."

"We get that a lot. It doesn't bother us any." Red said. As he entered the stables he glanced all around to the horses in their separate stable.

"Me. I just stick to my Bonanza reruns. Good ole show. Grew up with it." The man pointed to one of the stalls with a beautiful, pure, black horse inside. "This is a dime! She's a Friesian horse." Red's eyes widened.

"A Friesian? Damn! That is a rare horse. How much for her? I want 'er." Red said, ecstatically, not even asking a single question about the horses' temperament.

"She is a beaut, isn't she?" ZIM admired the silky, long mane. Never had he seen such a black horse. Not a single patch of another color could possibly be found. "She have a name?"

"Charcoal. Not a very elegant name for such a horse, but hey, it fits the bill." The old farmer said. "She's at the young age of two, by the way."

"She's still a filly yet then. Perfect!" Red said.

"You can take her off my hands for forty grand."

"Done!" Red said. "What else do ya got for me?"

"Well, I got a few Bavarian Warmbloods here."

"No way," Red turned to ZIM. "This is so exciting!"

"Calm down-"

"I freaking love horses! Don't tell me to calm down." Red hissed. "And seeing such rare breeds is just-"

"Exciting." The farmer finished for him with a smile. "This way." He led them to the Warmbloods. "We have a stallion here who used to be an award winning racehorse. Won several derbies and championships. A million for him." Red inspected the tan horse with a white snout.

"He looks strong, fast, and agile. He good with kids?"

"Only the best."

"Great. I want him too."

"How many do ya plan on gettin', boy?" The man asked.

"Five at most." Red said. "Three more and I'll be set." The rancher smiled.

"Well it's my lucky day isn't it?"

"Huh! Nah, it's just another payday for ya." Red said. "I see an Andalusian over there." The farmer looked back to where Red was referring to. Another stallion with an espresso colored coat.

"That horse, believe it or not, was imported from Spain and carried Queen Beatrix, of the Netherlands, on his back when she came for a visit."

"No way! It actually carried royalty? Are you willing to sell 'im?"

"I have no use for the thing. Fifty-five thousand for that one."

"Deal." Red searched the other stalls for ore horses that spiked his interest. "Oh! What about that white draft?"

"Mm. 'Nother endangered horse breed. That's the American Cream Draft. That mare will cost ya half a million."

"No problem." Red said. "One more horsey." Red eyed another mare at the opposite end of the stables, chewing on the wood. "What about that pretty thing, cribbing over there?"

"That's a broodmare." Red lips curled down.

"Oh. Then I don't want her." Red said. "I just want riding horses. Not strict breeding horses."

"Then what's the draft for?" ZIM asked.

"I figured it's good for pulling." Red said.

"What is she gonna be pullin'-"

"Oo. You gotta Hackney. She'll do." Red cut ZIM off and went off like a child in a toy store. The rancher nodded.

"Good for ya, boy. She's costin' ya twelve thousand. She was also a race horse for awhile. She wasn't an elite one, however. Come with me to fill out paper work. You, young man, you can go ahead and acquaint yourself with that Friesian I see you eyeballing." ZIM smiled as the man and his brother walked off. He went over to the black horse.

"God damn, I never seen anything like you." ZIM hopped over the stable gate and stood by the gorgeous animal. "Geez, you gotta at least be fifteen hands! I thought you were two!" ZIM stroked the long mane. "You'll be my baby. Red can have the others." The horse lowered it's head down to ZIM's level, allowing herself to be petted by him. He grinned, widely, loving the filly more and more with every passing second. "The farmer was right. Charcoal doesn't fit you. I'll make you sound like a derby horse and rename you, Envy Edge . . . Yeah. Sounds legit." ZIM kissed the horse behind the eye. "Can't wait to saddle you up." ZIM walked around the horse, making sure to keep a hand on her at all times so he wouldn't spook her. He truly never seen such a dark horse. She was just so . . . majestic. Ten minutes have passed when Red came back to the stables, calling to him from the entrance.

"Hey, mate! We gotta get back home! We're coming in a week to pick them up!" ZIM climbed out of the stall and walked back to Red's truck. "I see you've taken a shine to that Friesian."

"Can you blame me? She's gorgeous." ZIM stated.

"Yeah. I know. It's no wonder they're an expensive breed."

"Speaking of expenses. How much will this cost ya?"

"Over one point six million for all five. Then we'll have to out another couple grand toward hiring a crew to build a stable and fence. Then of course we gotta buy new tack and more feed."

"Red, Les isn't gonna be happy when you tell her you bought five horses. She only ever wanted a cat. Not ten dogs, a Ve'Kur, a crocodile, and five horses."

"Huh? A cat. We're Macales! We don't settle for less when we can have more! By the way, I'm also gonna buy a heard of cattle."

"You're wha-? Red! Are you insane? You want a ranch here in the middle of Los Angeles?"

"Why not? Fuck the city. I want to go back to the wide open fields of Kununurra! But no! I'm stuck in this hellhole- . . . Well, LA ain't that bad . . . It's actually quite lovely. It's just . . . I miss Oz."

"I miss it too, Red. But we're going back soon, right? To help nana?"

"Yeah." Red sighed. "She's gonna be so mad at me." He muttered. ZIM remained silent, and looked out the window.

"How many?"

"How many what?"

"Cows and bulls?"

"Forty cows, ten bulls."

"I see. At least you didn't make it a big ranch."

"To most people, that is a big ranch." Red said.

"Well to us, that's small. Considering that the fam's ranch has nearly nine-hundred cattle."

"True." Red looked to ZIM. "You've been wearing a lot of long sleeves lately. You hate wearing long sleeves."

"I think I might be getting a fever." ZIM lied. "My body has those icky chills." Red cocked and brow and reached over and pulled ZIM's head closer to his. He pressed his lips against ZIM's forehead to check his temperature.

"You feel normal to me." Red double checked by sliding a hand under ZIM's shirt and feeling the warmth of the trunk of his body.

"Then I don't know what it is." ZIM said.

"Huh," Red hummed. "Well, we'll just have to see then."

"Looks like." ZIM mumbled. Red casted a weary gaze in ZIM's direction.

"Zeiden," Red started. "Look at me." ZIM lifted his gaze from his lap to meet his brothers passionate eyes. "Are you well? Not physically but . . . mentally?" ZIM pursed his lips and adverted his gaze again.

"I'm fine." He whispered.

"I'm having a hard time believing you, mate."

"I'm fine!" ZIM snapped. Red gave ZIM a hard stare.

"Zeiden, I know you better than anyone does in this world. I know when something is up with you. You've been moody lately, sad, acting abnormally . . . or rather what was normal for you. I even noticed your diet change. You're supposed to be on a strict diet for your epilepsy but you've been veering off that lately too." ZIM scowled. He didn't respond to Red. The older brother just shook his head. "Babe, if you're upset at anytime, feel free to talk to me." ZIM slowly nodded to let Red know he was listening. "…Alright."

**Later**

Red backed up as the enraged woman stalked toward him. "You spent over a million today? On horses!" She bellowed.

"They were rare horses and-" Red found himself being pressed up against the living room wall. An audience of family members watched highly amused at Red's embarrassment. "They're really neat." He squeaked. His wife, face red and eyes wide, was tempted to smack him silly. As if he weren't silly enough.

"We have enough animals as it is!" Red gulped.

"Then you'll be even more upset when I tell you that I purchased fifty cattle too." Red said, quietly, now terrified. Leslie's face was unreadable. She stood there, completely frozen, staring at her husband.

"Y-you what? You what!" Red sank down. It was weird, Leslie seemed to grow taller when she was angry. She grabbed the front of her husband's polo shirt and yanked him up to her face. "You did not! No you didn't! Tell me you didn't!" Red pouted, taking a page out of ZIM's book and putting on his best puppy dog face. Leslie just glared harder. "Tell. Me. You. Didn't." Red trembled. When his wife got furious, he could do nothing but take whatever she dished out at him.

"I did." He whispered.

"Ugh! You fucking idiot! I can't believe you!" Leslie grabbed his jaw and pinched hard. Red cringed at her fingernails digging into his flesh.

"Honey, I'm sorry. I like cows." He said, childishly.

"You are so incredibly stupid sometimes, I just can't even-" Leslie shook her head. She glanced back at the audience beholding the fight. They were all snickering and joking. She let go of Red's shirt and grabbed him by his upper arm. "Bedroom. Now."

"You don't really seem like you're in the mood for that right now-"

"No, you idiot! That's not what I meant!" Red's antenna slicked back against his head in fright.

"Babe, I didn't think it'd bother you-"

"I'm one of the heads of the family Red!" Leslie shouted. "You always okay things with me first!"

"Well I'm the other head of the family! And I didn't think I'd need spouse consent to buy horseys!" Red cried. "I just wanted some horseys . . ."

"And the cows? You wanted fifty cows? What about them, huh?" Red pouted, sorrowfully.

"You wanna kitty-cat?" Red asked. Leslie threw her hands in the air, stomping away.

"A cat is all I ask for!"

**August 2, 2001**

ZIM let out a slow breath. Standing on the pitchers mound at the Angel's stadium. All he needed was one more strike out and the game would be over and they'd go to the finals. There were runners on third and second, absolutely ready to run home because they wanted to. They wanted to win. ZIM wouldn't let them win. His team was up by only one. All the batter needed to do was hit two RBI's and the opponents, the Salt Lake City Silvers, would win. The boy up to bat now was their team slugger. But ZIM was the firecracker of this game. Pitching furious fastballs and hitting several RBI's. ZIM sucked in air through his nose pores. He wound up for the pitch and threw a perfect slider. The batter swung and missed. The crowd roared. Two more strikes. The catcher made another call with his fingers between his legs. ZIM wound up again for a fastball. The ball flying at an intense speed. The batter didn't even swing, figuring the ball was too low. It was. The ump called ball. ZIM grunted with frustration. Another fastball was thrown and the batter, again, didn't swing. However, the ump called it a strike. Now the count was one, two. His teammates cheered him on. The crowd was on their toes, all screaming for the teams. ZIM tensed up. A look of pure aggressiveness on his features. His bottom lip was being abused by being bitten too much. ZIM, ready to just go home, got in his pose and with one swift movement, fired the ball like a rocket with blinding speed. The batter swung. ZIM held his breath as the bat connected with the ball with a solid crack. The ball shot back for a line driver just above ZIM's height. The Irken jumped, glove extended to catch the ball. He grunted when he felt the ball hit his glove with enough force to send him backwards. ZIM fell to the ground ungracefully, using all his might to pinch the ball. Finally the words were said that sent the crowd into an uproarious frenzy.

"Batter out!"

**Later **

"I'm such a freakin' master! Do you not see how amazing I am? Oh God, I can't-" ZIM sighed heavily. "I. Am. The god of baseball." ZIM said. "I totally didn't think I'd make that last catch, but bro, I owned this game! We're going to the playoffs! We're playing against other countries now!"

"Yes, I know, Hun. Keep packin', please. We gotta leave in an hour." Tenn said to her little brother. "Your friends are coming along, right?"

"Yeah. They wouldn't stop talking about it! It was nonstop blabbing about, 'We're going to Australia again'!"

"They're just excited, ZIM, that's all." Tenn stuffed ZIM's duffle full of his clothing. "Red! Did you go to the pharmacy today?" She called to her other brother in another room.

"ZIM out of certain meds?" Red called from another room.

"For his asthma and epilepsy!"

"I went yesterday! We're good!" Tenn turned her attention back to ZIM. He looked a little bummed that his sister wasn't as happy as he was about going to the finals. His back was facing her and he was kneeling over a few objects he was packing. A sly smile played on Tenn's face. She crept up right behind him and scooped him up in her arms. He let out a surprised yelp as her arms hugged tightly around his waist.

"I thought you did a fantastic job today! You totally owned the game!" ZIM smiled, brightly.

"I know! I totally did!"

"Totally!" Tenn tickled ZIM's sides and he squealed, laughing hard. He tried to reach behind his back to push away from Tenn but she was too strong. He managed to wiggle out of her grasp. He then playfully fought her back. Tackling her legs. She fell over as his shoulder rammed into her thighs. The two rolled on the floor wrestling the other to see who'd come out on top. ZIM was on the loosing end. Tenn pinned ZIM to the ground and began to attack his sides again.

"Teeennnnn! Stoooo-hahaoop! Pleee-hehehease! You is killin' meh! Yous killin' mah ana-to-my!" Tenn just laughed with him. She bent down and blew a big raspberry on his tummy, sending him into a contagious fit of laughter. At this point, tears were streaming down his face. "Hahaha! I-I can't! I can't! Please! Ahhahaha!" His laughter started to quiet down as his breath was running out and his face started turning blue from lack of oxygen. Tenn stopped and let him calm down. "Ah mah gawd! Ah maahhh gawd."

"Hahah, you are something else, my boy." Tenn let him up and kissed his cheek. "You're the weird child."

"Oh yeah? What about Red?"

"He's a whole different story." Tenn said.

"Don't we know it." Tenn just chuckled and stood. ZIM got up as well. "Rhea and Sira a watching Avalyn for us right?"

"Yeah. Well, they're actually house sitting. They'll be living here when we leave for the week."

"Good. I trust them but Red . . . Hoo! He's got something against Rhea. I don't know what it is."

"That's our Red for ya. I think you're done packing. Lets go start loading the truck."

"ZIM! Your friends are here!" Zee's voice called up to him in his room.

"Tell them to take their shit to Red's truck and I'll be there in a minute!" ZIM shouted back. "I'm gonna go downstairs to see them."

"Okay, you do that, Hun." Tenn said. ZIM left his room, leaving Tenn alone. She zipped up ZIM's bag for him and placed it on his bed. That was when her eyes caught a glimpse of something on his wall. She walked to the opposite side of the room and looked closer. ZIM drew stick figures and other foreign words on the walls with red paint. She sighed. "Oh kid, what are we going to do with you?"

**Meanwhile**

"You're letting them house sit to spite me, aren't you?"

"What? I would never!"

"You so are."

". . . Yeah, you're right. But only because I love you _sooo _much!" Leslie pinched Red's cheek hard. He scowled, swatting her hand away. He was laying on his back on their bed. His daughter laid on his chest sleeping, soundly. Leslie was looking down at him. "They're nice girls. And you'll be seeing a lot of them so get used to it."

"Those twins are bad news. I know it. They already got ZIM to adopt a monster."

"That monster would've ripped you to shreds if you tried taking her pup away."

"He's not her pup! He's mine! . . . Or . . . my parents- You know what I mean!" Red snapped, sitting up straight, holding his daughter. Sapphira whimpered, her eyes opening ever so slightly at the sudden movement and loudness. Red gazed down at her. He put the palm of his hand over her fuzzy hair, petting her antenna, lovingly. He smiled as she purred softly. He felt a hand rest on the small of his back.

"You are so precious." Red cocked a brow and whipped his head to the side of the bed. Addy was crouched by the bedside, her hand on his back. Her head rested on her other hand. Red's eyes were wide, staring at her for a long time before slowly turning his head to look at his wife.

"How long was she sitting there?" Addy suddenly jumped on the bed with the couple, sitting very close to Red.

"Lard Nar and I were planning on staying with you guys for awhile longer. Like when we get back from Australia."

"Uh, no. You're staying in Oz. Lard Nar may come back, but you got to stay." Red told her. "Why are you in my room?"

"It's okay! I'll pay for my own plane ticket coming back!" Addy chirped, ignoring the question.

"No, that's not what I meant." Red said. "You need to stay. Go find yourself a boyfriend when we get home." Addy chuckled.

"Boyfriend? Silly! I can't keep a boyfriend if I'm in love with someone else." Addy said. She placed her hand on his shoulder. Red groaned, looking to Leslie for help. The woman was just smiling at him, not giving a care. Red sighed.

"Adelaide,"

"Yes, babe?"

"Leave."

"Okay! I'll be back in a minute." The eccentric woman hopped up and walked out of the room with pep in her step. Red hugged his daughter close, as if she were a stuffed bear.

"That woman scares me."

**Later**

"Five horses? What the heck? Why did you buy those? No one in the city owns a horse!"

"Tim, I'm not a city slicker like you. I like farm animals." ZIM told him. "And sorry to say this but, you'll be surrounded by animals when we get there." Timmy sat back in his plane seat. The five boys were all sitting by each other on the private jet the Macales booked. "Anyways! Red let me have the Friesian one and she is so beautiful! It's . . . I don't . . . I don't even know what to say. She's just so awesome!" The boy's all glanced at each other.

"Sorry that we're not excited with you. We just don't know the first thing when it comes to horses. Or farms in general." Dib said.

"I'm quite educated on it!" Chester chimed.

"What do you know, Chestnut? You may play a hick on our show but you don't have an ounce of country in your bones." Timmy said.

"Guys, lets look at this as a learning experience. We get to see how Irkens farm and irrigate." A.J. said. Timmy scoffed.

"I'm going to see Tenn and Zee working in nothing but sports bras and short-shorts." Timmy said. Chester high-fived him. ZIM scowled deeply but before he could do anything, Purple walked up to the brown-haired boy and got in his face.

"You lay your eyes on my wife, and I'll throw you as a piece of meat to ZIM's croc." Timmy just sneered at the man.

"Yeah, right. I'm not afraid of you." Purple narrowed his eyes. ZIM shook his head.

"Dude, you never underestimate Dr. Kinley." ZIM said. Timmy rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I may not throw you to the crocs, but I'm perfectly capable of crushing your body."

"Oh yeah? Your threats mean nothing to me." Purple just smirked. He then turned around and simply sat on the small boy. "Oof! Ugh! I can't breath! Get off! Get off!"

"Huh! Pussy! What? Can't handle one hundred-ten pounds on your lap?" Purple asked, shifting so the bones in his butt dug into Timmy's thighs.

"You're killing me!"

"Lets make it two hundred and twenty pounds! Red get over here and sit on this chair with me!"

"Actually, Poipul! I still have some of dat pregnancy fats on me. I weigh one-twenty!"

"Even better to suffocate him!"

"No I don't need two fat asses on me!"

"Boy! Red and I have a BMI of sixteen point seven! You're just too puny to handle us."

"What? You guys are severely underweight! You should get on a new calorie diet-" A.J. was cut off by ZIM.

"The majority of Earthen Irkens are underweight. Don't be too surprised because my BMI is just a little over fifteen." Dib and A.J.'s jaw dropped.

"I have no idea what you idiots are talking about! Get him off!"

"Promise me you won't be creepin' on my girl." Purple said.

"Guh! Fine! I won't be creeping! I'll just . . . stick with Zee then!"

"Tell him that's not good enough, Pur!" Zee called from a few rows up. Purple didn't leave Timmy's lap.

"Fine! Fine! I'll behave!" Purple smiled, satisfied. He got off and walked back to his seat with Tenn who playfully slapped him then laid a kiss on his cheek. With all Timmy's screaming, another screaming sounded. This time it belonged to Sapphira. ZIM sighed.

"Can't get no peace, can I?" ZIM watched as Leslie passed the smeet to Red to take care of. It seemed the only way to get Sapphira to stop crying was to hand her to Red. It must be that birthing parent/child bond.

"_Kookaburra dai en vahe oei fran-tee, mury mury qing o vahe boe es hik. Lowcc, kookaburra, lowcc, kookaburra, muy ya lyf moos bei._" Red sang the old Australian nursery rhyme in Irkenirakee softly to his daughter. Adelaide was sitting in the row behind Red, she was looking over his shoulder to the smeet. She was saying something to him, Red was ignoring her. Lard Nar was sitting with Addy. Red made it very clear to Nar that Addy _will not _follow him home again. Lard Nar made no promises because he planned on coming back to America with Red for awhile longer. Red's voice soon soothed Sapphira and her crying subsided. ZIM smiled at the sight of his niece's serene face.

"Aww, _bo vou_." ZIM said.

"What?" Timmy asked. "What did you say?"

"It's none of your concern. If you don't speak my language, don't worry about it." ZIM said.

"You speak fifty different languages, ZIM." Timmy muttered.

"Overstatement. I speak five and a half." ZIM said simply. He then changed to a random topic. "So Red is finally letting me compete in the rodeo. But he's only letting me do campdrafting, cutting, breakaway roping, and calf roping. I even get to use my Friesian! I'm so excited! The judges are going to love her!"

"What's campdrafting?" Dib asked.

"Ehh, hard to explain. It's extremely confusing to someone who didn't grow up with it." ZIM told him. "It's an Aussie sport. That's all you'll need to know."

"Sounds like fun. Will you be competing during our stay there?" Dib asked.

"Nope. Don't wanna get hurt before going to the baseball finals." ZIM said.

"And how do you know you'd get hurt?" ZIM gave Dib an, are-you-kidding-me, look. "Right. Sorry. Stupid question." ZIM smiled. Dib knew him so well.

**August 3, 2001**

"Ugghhh, I'm having the _worst _jet lag ever." Red moaned. He was letting Leslie drive the rental car so he could sleep. The only problem was, he never was able to sleep in a moving vehicle. He laid on his side on the passengers side, seatbeltless. "My head hurts." He whined, cracking open an eye to look at his wife. She was barely paying any mind to him. "Give me attention!" He suddenly snapped, sitting straight up from his reclined seat. Leslie shot Red and glare.

"Knock it off!"

"You're ignoring me! I don't like that! It makes me feel neglected."

"How old are you?"

"I'll answer that rhetorical question by saying, thirty-three. But age doesn't matter! Adults can feel just as neglected as children do!" Leslie didn't say anything. "Babies die if they don't feel love."

"You're not a baby, Red."

"And I could never be a baby either, because I'm Irken. And so what if I'm not a baby or smeet? I can die if I don't feel love too!"

"My patience is wearing for you, young man." Leslie said, through gritted teeth. Red pouted, slumping back on his side. A few seconds later he poked her. She wasn't phased so he tested his luck by poking her again. The only reaction he got out of her that time was a mere grunt. He waited another moment before poking her again. Still nothing but he could tell she was about to erupt any moment now. He extended his arm and poked her once more before she whipped her head to look at him with the most annoyed expression that could ever be presented on someone's face. "Poke me. One. More. Time." She said. Red just stared at her with a stupid look on his face. He poked her again like she asked. That did it. She pulled off to the side of the road and parked the car. She turned to him to let him know she wasn't joking around when she remembered that Tak, both her daughters, and Dib were still in the backseat.

"Oh don't mind us." Gaz said. "Continue." The other two kids nodded with grins. Leslie sighed heavily, defeated . . . That was until that pesky smeet in the passengers seat poked her again.

**...**

"Nana!" ZIM called out to the elder woman as she exited her huge home. The woman smiled at her youngest grandchild and walked toward him.

"Aww! My deru! Come here, child!" She opened her arms out wide and allowed ZIM to run into her embrace. "Aw, sweetie! I miss ya here 'round the ranch."

"I miss being here." ZIM told her. Nana kissed ZIM on the top of his head. When she looked back up she saw Red standing behind ZIM.

"I'm here now. You happy?" Red crossed his arms. His nana had a stern look. Her reddish-magenta eyes piercing him.

"Dju!" She shouted, as she smacked him in the thigh with her cane. Red yelped, jumping holding his now stinging leg. He then felt nana grab a fistful of his shirt and yank him down to her height. She got her face up close to his an snarled. "Don't. Ever. Hang up on me."

"But it was-" Another crack, this time to his bottom, shut him up, minus his grunt of pain.

"_Never_!" Nana let him go. He stood up to his regular height again, rubbing his now sore rear end. He looked to Leslie wincing.

"Geez I haven't been hit that hard there since we-"

"Shut up, Red. _Don't_ say another word." Leslie warned. Red just rolled his eyes. Nana pushed Red toward the stables.

"Saddle up the Quarter and ride out to the Green Meadow pasture." Nana told him. "Dural is there giving vaccinations. Help him."

"Please?" Red cringed at the glare his nana shot at him.

"Dju." She spat before greeting Leslie with a hug and kiss. Red frowned and went off to do his task. "That rotten boy. Sometimes . . ." The elderly woman trailed off. "You go ahead, make yourself at home again. I got to get back to work. Six more milkers died today." Nana looked down to ZIM. "Deru, go help your idiot- I mean, brother. You can take my Morgan." She told him. ZIM nodded and followed where Red had disappeared to in the stables. When the boy entered he found Red by a tall, bay-colored, standardbred. He was heaving his personal saddle onto the blanket over the horses back. He looked back to his little brother.

"What ya need, mate?" Red grumbled, irritated. ZIM smirked.

"What? You don't need to act all _butthurt_." ZIM cackled at his lame pun. Red shook his head and fastened the girth. "It was just refreshing to see you the one getting a slap to the ass instead of me." ZIM walked over to the stall that held the Morgan horse his nana mentioned. He opened the gate and walked in. "Can you hand me my saddle, Red?"

"You coming with me?"

"Yeah. Nana said."

"I'm coming too!" Tak pranced into the stable. "Nana said I could have the Warmblood." ZIM pointed his thumb to the stall next to him.

"She's in there. There's a thirty centimeter saddle over there you can use." ZIM went back to saddling up his own horse. When he was done he went to assist Tak. ZIM's friends walked into the stables looking for him.

"Dude! This place is huge! Your family owns all this land?" Timmy asked.

"Yeah. They owned it before Kununurra was even around." ZIM said. "A lot of people thought building a ranch here would be inconvenient since there wasn't a major city around for miles, but our family owns two cargo jets and that's how we transport our cattle."

"Who'd fly them? Did you have your own personal pilots?" Dib asked.

"I'm a pilot. I got my license when I was thirteen." Red spoke up. "Keep in mind that the jets we have are Irken not human built. A human pilot wouldn't know how to fly it. It's a lot more complicated."

"Will you take us for a ride in one later?" Timmy jumped. Red shook his head.

"They're both gone right now. I'm sure two of my cousins are somewhere in the country transporting a couple dozen feeder calves. Besides, I once took a jet out for a joyride . . . Didn't ask for permission and I didn't have clearance for the air traffic controller. I got back and nana was . . . not too pleased." The four boys nodded understanding.

"You guys have so many horses!" Dib said, looking about the stables at all the horses inside stalls.

"Yup. Thirty of 'em currently here in the stables. There's ten more out in the pasture." ZIM said.

"Are all of them rideable?" Dib asked.

"Yeah. Wait. No. We have a few wild broncs that Red uses for bareback bronco riding. I'll give you riding lessons in a bit. With the tame horses." ZIM told them. "You guys can hangout here and look around. I'll be back in an hour." ZIM set a bucket down by his horse and stood on it. He put one foot in the stirrup then mounted the horse.

"Which mansion is the one we're staying in?" Chester asked. ZIM rolled his eyes.

"They're not mansions. Their houses."

"Their freaking huge houses! Like seriously all of them are twice the size of mine!" Timmy said. "You Irkens can't stand to have small houses can you?" ZIM sighed.

"If you haven't noticed. We all have pretty big families. We need the room."

". . . Yeah, but still."

"Someone hand me that rope hangin' on the hook over there? I may need it." Dib looked at the post with a hook on it. He took the rope and handed it to ZIM. "You ready, Tak?" ZIM looked back at his girlfriend.

"Yeah babe." She said. ZIM made a kissing noise ordering the horse to move forward. Tak followed suit. Red watched as the two left before mounting his own horse. He looked at ZIM's friends.

"You guys don't mess with the animals 'round here. Got that? Nana ain't a happy camper at the moment." Red warned them.

"Sure thing." Dib gave him his word. Red nodded, having his horse walk over to a post with another hook on it and rope. He snatched up the lasso and had his horse trot out of the stables. It's hooves making clacking sounds on the cement floor.

"You guys can mess with the hogs, if ya want! But they'll probably hurt ya. Them are mean little fucks." Red told them. The man commanded his horse to gallop and he rode off in the direction of the field he needed to go to. The four friends stood in the stables, quiet.

"Those horses are huge!" Timmy exclaimed pointing to the drafts down the stall rows. "Lets play with them."

**August 4, 2001**

The Macale brothers sat upon the hood of Red's Ford pick up truck as the ZIM's friends played a mini baseball game.

"So," Red started. "How have things been going with you?" ZIM gave his brother an inquiring look.

"It's not like we haven't seen each other in a long while. Why do you ask?" Red shrugged.

"Just . . . wanna check up on ya." Red sighed, stretching a bit. "Well, I got to get back to work. I'll be in milking if ya need me, mate." ZIM weakly waved as Red left for the parlour. He looked out over the long, beautifully green, pastures that his family owned. ZIM drew his knees up, wrapping his arms around his legs and rested his chin on them.

"Horrible." ZIM answered the question for himself. "Things have been horrible."

**Meanwhile**

Red shook his head when he left his brother. ZIM was definitely hiding something emotionally. And he refused to open up and tell Red what the problem was. He also noticed that lately ZIM has been wearing only long sleeved shirts, jackets, or sweaters of some sort, which concerned Red for many reasons, one being that it was hot and ZIM gets heat exhaustion. Another reason was the fact that ZIM doesn't usually wear long sleeves. He never really liked them unless it was a sweatshirt.

Red entered the milking parlour and immediately saw Lard Nar crouched by a dairy, hooking the machine to her to draw milk. Red's long time friend looked up to him and smiled.

"Come to relieve me?" Red nodded and took the place of his friend.

"If anyone asks for me, tell them I'm here . . . Unless Adelaide asks, then tell her I got hit by a train."

"Gotcha." Nar said then left the parlour. Red groaned and proceeded with his work. Dipping the cow's teats in iodine, wiping them, then attaching the machine. Then he'd go to the next cow and repeat the process with another machine until the first cow was done, and so on. It was tedious. He'd rather be herding. He was good at that. Red bent down to the cows utter and was about to dip the teats in iodine when he felt a pinch to his rear. He gasped and whirled around, half expecting it to be Addy. Red was relieved to see his wife holding his child. Not only relieved, but pleased as well. He reached out for his daughter but Leslie pulled away.

"You just touched a cow. You're not holding her." Red furrowed a brow, but then smirked.

"Alright then. I'll hold you." Red said, wrapping his arms around his wife. She smiled as he lowered his head slightly so their foreheads were touching. He closed his eyes as Leslie kissed him where his nose would be.

"I wanted to talk to you . . . about something that I think is important." She spoke up. Red opened his eyes slightly. Their heads still in contact.

"And that is?" Leslie looked down. She shifted a bit, drawing away from Red to talk to him more properly.

"Well, ever since we had Sapphira, she's been a real blessing." Red nodded, grinning down as his daughter.

"She sure has."

"And I've been thinking, since she's healthier than what you predicted she'd, be that maybe we could . . . Uh . . . Well . . . Give her a sibling." Leslie finished, meekly. Red's features changed from loving to unreadable. He slowly released her from his embrace. He stared at Leslie without saying a word. His lips were pressed into a straight line. Red remained quiet. He took in a deep breath and just when Leslie thought she was gonna get an answer, Red looked down and turned away from her to continue working on the animals, as if he never heard the subtle suggestion. "Red?" No answer. He was ignoring her completely. This infuriated Leslie to no end but she didn't want to seem imposing to him so she tried her best to keep her cool for the time being. "I'd like some sort of answer." He didn't acknowledge her. He stood up and moved to the next cow and crouched beside that one. "I know you need time to think but you don't have to shut me out." Red froze in his task. He sighed heavily after a second, bowing his head.

"Why?" His voice came gently and quietly. As if he were intimidated.

"W-we could give Saph a playmate. She doesn't have to be an only child." Red went quiet again. A long few moments of silence passed. Even though he has his back to her, Leslie could see him fidgeting nervously with his fingers.

". . . As soon as you're able to conceive, then we will have another child." Leslie bit her bottom lip hard.

"Red, don't be insensitive. You know I'm barren."

"Well I guess Saph will have to be our only child." Red resumed work. Leslie finally snapped.

"Why are you being so selfish?" She roared. Leslie was startled at how fast Red got up and whirled around to face her.

"_I'm_ being selfish?" He shouted, the loudness of his voice shook Sapphira awake. "_I'm _the one being selfish? _I'm _being selfish because _you _want to use _my_ body for something _you _want?" Leslie shrunk back a bit. Red's voice was angry, but his eyes told her that he was scared. And there was another emotion running through him right now that Leslie couldn't exactly identify. Perhaps uncertainty? "Correct me if I'm wrong, Les, but that seems a bit contradictory for you to say!"

"Why are you so against having another child? What's wrong with a big family?"

"Nothing is wrong with it! I just don't want to use my body anymore for conception! Okay?"

"Well maybe human women wished the same thing! But they sure as fuck can't depend on their husbands to conceive because they aren't hermaphrodites!" Leslie pointed a finger at him, poking him in the chest. "You Irkens are practically the most perfect species in this universe. All are flexible, strong, smart, fast, talented, wise, both males and females have the ability, no, the _privilege_ to birth, you don't have to be hassled with the need to use the bathroom, you live for a thousand years, you have great bodies, you don't need to work out because your body automatically does that for you, you don't get blemishes, you don't sweat, you have senses that humans don't have, you can see in the dark! You all have gifts and you're taking them for granted! God gave you a womb to use! Not neglect! I think you're just being a stuck up asshole because your prediction that our daughter was gonna die wasn't accurate!" Red was lost for words. His mouth was slightly agape. Leslie's eyes were narrowed at him, her face was burning. He finally shut his mouth and glared daggers at her.

"If you want another goddamn child go find a man whore to make you one." Red hissed at her, turning away once again. Leslie was disgusted with her husband's attitude. She turned to leave but before exiting the barn she snarled back at him something that made him cringe.

"I _married _a man whore."

**Later**

"What the hell is your problem?" Red jumped at the sound of his nana's voice cutting the silence of the office he was in, in the parlour. He looked up from the paper work he was doing to look at his grandmother.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I saw Leslie come out from here twenty minutes ago, crying." Red sat back in the office chair. "Don't try to explain what happened to me either cuz she told me the whole thing." Red looked angry for a second but his eyes softened immensely at the memory of the fight that took place just minutes ago. He looked up to his nana with a face that looked close to tears.

"You don't know how many looks I got." Was all he whispered, then put his elbows on his desk and buried his face into his hands. Nana's own features also seemed to soften a great amount. She walked over to her grandson. She was really shocked to find that he was sobbing silently. She could tell by the tears seeping through his fingers. She always knew he was very sensitive and emotional. He had mood swings like a teenage girl. It was a bio-chemical in his system that made him unstable this way. He couldn't help it. If he felt a need to cry, he'll cry. It's impossible for him to hold it back.

"Oooh, dju." She rested a hand on his back, the other drew his head over to rest on her stomach. "Smeet, don't cry." She bent down to kiss his quivering antenna that slicked back to his head. Nana cleared her throat. "Red," The crying man almost immediately ceased in his whimpering. He hasn't heard his nana say his name in a long time. He felt two fingers place themselves under his chin and lift up his face to look at her. "Honey, I won't ever be able to know what it was like for you. Humans don't get Irkens, so if they see a Irken who has a rounded belly, of course they'll give you looks, especially if it's a male Irken." Red shook his head.

"But it's not just that." He choked on a sob. "It's the judgement in their eyes when they see that my wife is a human. And it's not just me who goes through that scorn. Leslie probably gets it much worse than I do. People think she's a disgusting extraterrestrial xenophile because they see us holding hands as we walk down the street. Especially when I was pregnant. I saw so many weird looks geared toward her. I could only imagine what they were thinking. Maybe something along the lines of, 'she probably has a dick' or 'they're more than likely transgender'. We don't have that on Irk because it's common, but humans just don't get us. I've heard several people whispering about me in disgust. They think I'm an abomination." Nana closed her eyes, knowing he was right. Red was the first and only member of the family who underwent the first alien marriage and the first male pregnancy. He was all alone and he had no one to grieve with. "I think I made a mistake for marrying her." Nana's eyes shot wide open, she grabbed Red's chin and pinched it hard, forcing him to look at her.

"Don't you _ever _say that." She growled. "That woman is one of the best goddamn things that's ever happened to you. She's changed you. She broke you from your childhood's misdeeds and made you into a better man. How dare you say it was a mistake." Nana released him from her grip and pulled him in for a tight hug. "And she gave you another thing that you could consider one of the best things in your life. She bestowed you with a child. A beautiful child. The first Irken/human hybrid child. You two made history. It's in the books now." Red whined and pressed his face into her abdomen. "You go see her and show her how grateful you are for her." Red stiffly stood. He walked to the door, his nana right behind him. Red stopped in the doorway. "What's the matter, dju?" Red turned to look down at his grandma.

"Thanks." She smiled and nodded.

"Anything for you, honey." Red returned the smile and left.

**...**

What was she thinking? Asking him to conceive yet another child when he didn't even want Sapphira to begin with. How stupid was that? Leslie laid on her side on their bed, head propped up in the palm of her hand. Sapphira laid beside her, soundly asleep. The woman ran her hand through Sapphira's hair that matched her hair color. Leslie smiled a tad when she saw her daughter's antenna twitch ever so slightly. Her daddy's did the same when deeply slumbering. Leslie heard the door open. She held her breath as footsteps approached the bed. She felt the weight of someone new joining her on the bed. Leslie felt a hand rest on her hip and trail up her side all the way to her face where a thumb sweetly caressed her cheek.

"What do you want?" Her voice croaked. She didn't look at him.

"I want to apologize." He answered. Leslie paused. She pouted and laid on her back so she could look up at her husband's face.

"I should be the one apologizing." She said. Red laid beside her. Both turned their heads to look at the other.

"Yeah. You should be. But I was first to apologize . . . So I win." Leslie couldn't help but chuckle. She was glad to have him as hers'.

"I put you on the spot and I was kind of greedy." She added. "I never took into consideration what you feel about having a child. And the very last thing I said, it was so uncalled for and totally inappropriate of me. I didn't mean to bring in who you were into the picture. I just need to focus on who you are and why I love you so much."

"Want me to list the reasons?"

". . . Not right now."

"Okay."

"It's just . . . ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted a huge family. With at the very least four kids. But when I found out I was barren, I was devastated. I never thought I'd be able to have kids of my own. I turned to adoption. I now have Gaz and I love that girl to death. But I just don't have the same connection with her than with Sapphira. It's something about birthing your own child." Red scoffed.

"_You _weren't the one birthing, Hun. That was all me. But I see what your saying. It's being actually related to your child that makes the difference." Red said. "Put Saph between us. I wanna see both my girls." Leslie sat up and picked up Sapphira and laid her down by Red. He smiled. "She's got such thick hair already." He played with the strands in his fingers. He had an expression that told Leslie he was deep in thought. "Okay." Leslie gave Red and inquiring look.

"What?" He glanced up at her. His crimson eyes twinkled.

"Lets have another smeet." She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was she in a dream right now? Is he being serious? An overwhelming joy invaded Leslie.

"Really?" Red nodded.

"But we're going to have to wait. I'm pretty sure Jhonen doesn't want an Almighty Pregnant Tallest." Leslie snorted.

"More like, Not So Almighty Pregnant Not Very Tall Yet For Some Reason Is Casted To Be The Tallest Anyway." Red squinted his eyes at her, pursing his lips.

"I think that title might be a bit superfluous." Leslie laughed, kissing his lips briefly.

"Well what is currently being filmed now? Are you in the episode? Or any upcoming episodes?" Red thought a moment.

"I think they wrote a bunch of episodes already. Or their drafts rather . . . I don't think I'll be in another one for twelve episodes."

"That's plenty of time!"

"Keep in mind that they're not full thirty minute episodes. They're fifteen minutes each. So technically it's six episodes." Red laid there, staring at the covers of the bed. "Wait, I lied. I'm in this upcoming episode."

"Is it a big scene?" Red smirked.

"Nah. I already memorized all my lines."

"How many?"

"_Me too_." Leslie cocked a brow down at him.

"Huh?"

"_Me too_. That's all I have to say. At the beginning of the episode. Then I just stand there at the end of the episode giving ZIM stupid looks."

"That shouldn't be too hard. You always give ZIM stupid looks."

". . . Heh yeah, I do." The couple laid in silence. Listening to the soft breathing coming from their daughter. "What made you want another smeet so quickly after our first?" Leslie gazed at Red. Face serious.

"It's gonna sound weird to you." She turned away.

"Honey, I live with the definition of weird. ZIM's in the room over. Tell me." Red urged. Leslie looked back at him.

"It was like a month ago, at a fair on the pier. I was with your sisters and we were just looking around for awhile until we were about to pass a psychic booth. The woman in the booth just suddenly shouted to me, 'congratulations on your newborn'." Red raised a brow. "Saph wasn't with me and I had no idea how she could have even known that I was a new mother. I stared at her and she continued talking and she was saying things like, '...and you'll have many more on the way. Many more'. So naturally I just had to stop and talk to her. And well . . . She read me my fortune . . . for twenty dollars." Red furrowed a brow.

"That's against both our religions, ya know?"

"I know but I couldn't help myself. I asked her how she knew I was a new mom and she never answered. She said that she knew a lot about people by just looking at them. Like it was freaky! She knew that it wasn't me who birthed our newborn and she knew that our child was a hybrid."

"So what was in your fortune?"

"She told me that I'll star in a movie with my family which seems likely. She said we'd move to Irk in a brand new home, which we already know. And she said that my husband will have ten daughters." Red scoffed.

"_Ten _more daughters? Yeah right!" Leslie scowled at Red a bit.

"Red, I think she may be right. She was right about every prediction so far. Why would she fall short on that one?"

"Because I ain't using my body to birth ten more smeets."

"She also said that two sets of them will be twins, then a set of triplets." Leslie added. She suddenly looked sad. "And that we'd miscarry three children. So it's technically thirteen kids that'd we'd have." Red curled his lips down in disgust.

"Why would I miscarry?"

"It happens Red. To even the healthiest of us." Red frowned. "I'm sorry babe. I probably shouldn't have told you that." Red sat up.

"And _all _are daughters? No sons? That seems very unlikely."

"Keep in mind, Red, that Irken men who birth smeet's are eighty-five percent more likely to birth a daughter. Vice versa with Irken women."

"Thirteen conceptions . . . There's no way. No way both you and I could have that many. It'd take too long."

"Well, maybe it's-"

"I don't believe a word of it. Two children. That's all we're having." Leslie watched Red. He looked a bit annoyed and frustrated. Leslie shook her head. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. She didn't push him any further in fears that she may make him scared and angry again. She already felt bad that she put him on the spot in the milking parlour.

"Maybe she meant that _you'd_ have all daughters. Not us. Maybe she was saying after I die and you remarry."

"I don't want to think about that." Red mumbled.

"Sorry, Sweets." Leslie also shouldn't have brought up that subject. She knew that there was always grief deep within Red, twenty-four seven, that focused on the day Leslie would die, and he'd live on for a few more centuries. Their age difference was getting noticeable already. He still looked like he was twenty and Leslie looked her age. She decided to lighten the mood a bit. "Babe?"

"Mm?"

"How come you never sing?"

"What do you mean? I'm a _singer. _I sing all the time. Concerts, record sessions, with friends."

"I mean to me." Leslie whispered. "Just to me." Red didn't answer. She asked him to sing to her personally plenty times before but he turned her down ever time. "You sing to Sapphira, ZIM, and even Gaz, of all people. So why not your own wifey?"

". . . I don't know."

"And I know you're not shy, I just don't get why you wouldn't-"

"Les," Leslie was cut off by Red pulling her over his body. She laid on top of him looking down at his face. "What do you want me to sing? I'll sing anything for you right now."

"Just . . . sing one of your songs that first settles on your heart when you think of me." Red smiled warmly. He held his wife close and softly began.

"A _wish led to a bud in our garden. We could make it happen, just the two of us together, we just have to take a chance. The seed has been planted and we wait so eagerly. But when I found out that our flower may not grow I was frightened and felt alone. But you held me close and you kissed me on the eye. I was scared to death but you told me we will be just fine. Our romance is the walk through the garden of life. Our bud bloomed into our daughter and we raised her in the light. The stone path is straight forward but there'll always be thorns. So I took your hand and walked, through the garden._" Leslie grinned and rested her head on his chest. Listening to his heartbeat that seemed to be in rhythm with his song. "_A small smile on her lips and we can tell so much about her. She's got her mama's eyes and her father's laugh. A thousand words can be written in the sand of the many woes we had before but now disappeared by the waves on the shore. All because our flower managed to survive the drought. We rest in a bed of roses just thinking about our many blessings. It's a beautiful thing when you watch your bud bloom strongly in love. All you have to do is walk that stone path and see for yourself. Your baby will grow._" His voice never wavered or lost its strength. He'll always have a powerful, counter-tenor singing voice. Something about him having a high registered voice melted the very heart of Leslie. It could go from soft and sweet to upbeat and preppy at any given time. She loved it. She could listen to him sing for hours on end.

"I like that one. It's new?"

"Yeah. It's something I've been working on with Jalo." Red answered.

"It's very poetic." Leslie mumbled. She raised her head to gaze at him once more. "Babe, if you really don't want to use your body anymore, you don't have to." Red's eyes softened.

"No, I want a big family too . . . It's just, Irkens my age don't have kids usually. A lot of them wait until they're at the very least fifty. But by that time for us, or you rather, it'd probably be too late." Leslie nodded, understanding. She kissed him on the cheek. The couple released the other from their embrace just as Sapphira started to fuss.

"Saph needs her daddy." Leslie sighed, getting off him. "I'll be outside, Hun." Red didn't say anything to his wife as she left. He picked up his daughter and rested her on his chest. Red put one hand on her back, the other gently rested upon her head. He kissed her antenna and whispered.

"We'll give you a playmate, baby girl . . . eventually."

**That Night**

"Something bad is gonna happen." Leslie groaned when she heard her husband's voice whisper to her. She was so close to sleep until he snapped her out of it.

"What, Red?" Leslie was shocked to see that Red looked like he was still sound asleep. Face pressed into the pillow, eyes closed, face relaxed.

"I don't want to go."

"Babe, what are you talking about?" Leslie watched as his facial features started to change. His eyes squinted tightly, teeth grinding, he had fistfuls of sheets, clenching them hard. It only took a moment for Leslie to realize that it was a night terror. A soft whining noise emitted from Red. Leslie scooted away from him just in case he thrashed.

"I don't want to go." He whimpered again. His body was quaking as if he were scared half way to death. Usually at this point Red would be full out screaming and fighting for his life, but tonight was different. He seemed to be in a calm terror, if that was even possible. Leslie took her chances and decided to wake him up. She rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Baby, it's just a dream." She said, soothingly. Leslie enlightened herself as much as she possibly could on the subject of night terrors and how to deal with them. She obviously had to prepare just in case Red ever has one. Red jerked away from her touch with enough force to fling himself off the bed. Leslie slapped a hand over her mouth, trying to hold back laughter. She heard her husband groan from the floor. She peaked over the bedside to look at him. He was awake now, but not exactly alert.

"How'd I get down here?" He moaned, loudly.

"You just fell off the bed, Hun." Leslie answered. "You had a terror again. I'm starting to get concerned. They've been coming to you more frequently." Red stood and plopped himself back down on his bed.

"God, why do I do that?" Red covered his face with his arms. He always got embarrassed when his body has terrors. Leslie ran her hand up and down his side. She felt his muscles underneath her palm tense up as her finger tips glided across his warm skin. A small smirk played on Leslie's lips.

"You ticklish?" Leslie grabbed his side. He snorted and sat up.

"Don't do that! You _know_ I'm ticklish." Leslie chuckled, squeezing his sides again. Red squeaked, trying to hold back startled shouts. "_Stop_." He hissed. "I'm gonna scream and wake everyone up . . . And they'll think we're doing something else." Leslie continued with her playful mood and pinched both his sides making him jump a foot into the air. Red shot her a glare. "God, I wish you were ticklish. I'd be showing no mercy." Red laid back again. Leslie smiled broadly. She used her hair to brush over his stomach. Red held his breath and tensed every muscle in his body. He swatted her hair away but it was no use. The man pouted and whined. "I just want to sleep." Leslie laid next to him again.

"Just getting back at you for the car ride here. Annoying, isn't it?" Red rolled his eyes. He poked her shoulder. "Oh hell no, we're not starting this again, _Kelly_."

"That's not my name." Red muttered.

"Well, what if I told you I liked that name better than Red?" Red scowled, looking at her.

"You _better _love the name I chose for myself."

"I love the name your parents chose for you." Red's face went from annoyed to slightly worried.

"Wait . . . Are you being serious?" Leslie laughed.

"Babe, I love _you_. Not your name." Red smiled.

"Good answer." Leslie rested her head on his chest.

"Unless your name is Gertrude. Then I might love you less." Red rolled his eyes. "Well, Red, I think we should try getting some sleep. Nana is gonna come in here in an hour or so and wake us both up and yell at you to do chores." Red groaned.

"I _hated _waking up at four AM every morning before school. Stupid nana made me do the morning shift."

"She loves you."

"I know she does."

"Though she doesn't act like it sometimes."

"That's obvious."

"You know what she told me the other day?"

"What?" Red asked.

"She said that she was so thrilled that she finally has a great granddaughter. She was waiting for years for one of you grandchildren to conceive. She's grateful of you." Red smiled.

"That's nice to hear. That means I'm her current favorite grandchild." Leslie scoffed.

"Yeah that's what it means."

**August 5, 2001**

"You're getting the vaccines."

"I'm not gonna drive all the way there!"

"Do you really wanna disobey me? I have authority over you. What I say, goes." Red groaned at his nana's statement.

"I came here to help. Not run half way 'cross the country to get medicine."

"Dju, we need it."

"Why can't you get it?"

"I'm not leaving the ranch when it needs me most. Don't be stupid." Nana told her grandchild.

"Driving all the way to Alice Springs? That'll take me over two days! I'm not making that journey!" Red snapped. Nana's eyes narrowed at him. "Is any of our jets here?"

"You. Will. Get it, dju." She snarled. "Do you need to be caned again?" Red gritted his teeth.

"Unbelievable! I can't even-" Red huffed, placing a hand over his face. "Fine! I'll go!" He pushed past his nana. He didn't make it far before she grabbed his arm tightly and pulled him back.

"I never said we were done talkin'!" She let him go and crossed her arms. "Take your papa's truck. It has a trailer hitched up with three horses and two camels in it."

"What for?"

"You may need them." She told him simply. Red had a pretty good idea as to why he would need them and was about to question her further but she cut him off. "You're leaving right now. Go say goodbye to your wife and get on your way."

"I'm not going alone." Red said, stubbornly. Nana gave him a stern look.

"Peder, darlin'!" She called to Purple. He looked up from his phone to her. "Will you be a sweetheart and accompany Red while he travels to the Alice?"

"Sure." Purple said, then went back to his Imp.

"Look at him. Always willing." Red scowled at his nana. "Don't give me that look, dju, or I will slap it off you." Red rolled his eyes. He yelped when he felt his side thigh get whipped hard.

"Damn it! Alright! Sorry!" Red rubbed his sore leg. "Let me go talk to Les. Then I'll go." Red walked away warily, from his nana. He found his wife talking to his sisters and cousins, holding Sapphira. "Babe," Leslie looked to Red. "I'll be leaving for awhile. Nana wants me to go to Alice Springs to pick up some medicine."

"Isn't that far? You're not going alone are you?"

"No, no. Pur is coming."

"Can I go too?" ZIM asked.

"Nah, bud. You have friends here."

"They can come too. They told me they'd like to see the countryside." Red looked down on ZIM, unsure.

"Well,"

"Please?" ZIM begged. Red sighed.

"Okay. But I seriously think you boys will be bored to death. It's a twenty hour drive there."

"I just wanna go to see the Alice again." ZIM shrugged. Red shook his head disapprovingly.

"Whatever you say, mate."

**August 7, 2001**

"I got to pee."

"Didn't you do that not to long ago?" Purple asked. He was driving while Red dozed off in the passenger's seat. Red being the one who decided to drive continuously to get to Alice Springs and Purple willing to make the drive back.

"Dude! You don't know how we humans function! It's been five hours since the last stop!" Purple slowly glanced back at the child.

"I don't know if you noticed or not but . . . We're in the middle of a desert!" Purple snapped. "Wait for another hour or so and- what a minute." Purple noticed the truck starting to slow down. "That's odd. I'm not letting my foot up." His eyes went wide with realization. "Oh shit. Shit. Shit. Shit."

"What's the matter?" Dib asked. Purple didn't answer him. Instead he punched Red in the arm to get his attention.

"Man! Tell me you brought the extra gas can!" Red rubbed his eyes.

"No I- Wait a minute. Why?" Red asked.

"We're out, idiot!" Purple said. Red became wide awake at that fact.

"B-but, we just filled up. . . Didn't we? Damn it!" Red cursed. ZIM slumped back in his seat.

"Red, this is the third time you got stranded in the desert." ZIM told him. Red groaned.

"Shit. Man, we still have ten hours worth of driving left." Red said. "It's gonna take us days to even reach the next town." Red pulled out his Imp to use his radar application. "My phone tracker is telling me that we're no more than eighty kilometers away from exiting the central desert."

"How long is that in miles?" Chester asked.

"Fifty." A.J. answered. "Is that a fifty miles we have to walk?" Red sank in his seat, frustrated and angry.

"Trust me, mate. It'll be more than fifty miles. Way more. When we get out of the Outback, then we'll have to trek the Kimberley which has rivers and waterfalls, gorges, animals, and all that fun shit."

"And keep in mind, my friends, that he knows from experience." ZIM added.

"Yes. I. Do." Red grumbled. He opened the door and slid out.

"We . . . We're leaving the truck behind?" Chester asked.

"We're not really hiking all the way back, right?" Timmy panicked.

"This is crazy! We're gonna die!" Chester trembled. Red opened the back door to let the boy's out.

"You won't die if you guys stick with us. Consider this an Aussie adventure." Red told them. ZIM nonchalantly got out of the truck and walked back to the bed of the truck to pull out their belongings and things they'll need. "Whenever I make a trip out to the desert or wastelands, I'm always sure to pack survival gear." Red helped unload the back. Red gave the boys a small smile. "It'll be somewhat fun. We have camels and horses."

"Do we have food and water?" Dib asked.

"Limited water. No food." The boys' jaws dropped. "But that's okay because we can hunt, can't we Zei?"

"Damn straight."

"Lets just saddle up and get ready to head out." Red jumped onto the back of the truck and made his way over to the tool box at the front. He lifted the lid and started to pull out a variety of guns. "Catch, Pur." He tossed a shotgun to his friend. The other Irken caught it with ease. Red kept the other shotgun. Both had straps for easy carrying. Red then handed a rifle to ZIM, also with a strap. Red then found three handguns, a revolver and two pistols. Red dug through the box for the holsters that went with them. He found the tan leather holsters and handed each Irken one. Red kept the revolver and gave the pistols to Purple and ZIM.

"How much ammo we got?" Purple asked. Red went back to looking through the box.

"Well, looks like you two will be getting five magazines each for your pistols, fifteen shells each for the shotguns, ten for the rifle, and I have thirty rounds for my revolver. I think we have more than enough." Red said, shoving his guns ammunition into the holster satchel and handing the remaining ammo to the other two. Red shoved the rest in the cantle and saddle bags and packs off the bed. "We have blankets, first aid kits, flashlights, flares, rope and rock climbing kit, hey! There's knives in the box too!" Red pulled out five, three to six inch blades all in their own separate holster. "One for me." Red latched a six inch on his belt. "One for Pur." He handed another six inch to his friend. "One for ZIM," he gave his little brother a five inch. "And the last two will go to A.J. and Dib because I know they'll use it only for defense." He handed three inch blades to the two brighter boys. Timmy and Chester scowled. Red jumped off the bed and went back to the front and pulled out his tan, felt, jackaroo hat. He placed the hat on his head. He reached in the backseat and grabbed ZIM's black, felt, jackaroo hat as well. "Here you go, mate." Red put the hat on his little brother's head.

"I'll help you get the animals ready." ZIM said.

"All I need you to do is put the cantle and saddle bags on the horses. The bags won't fit on the camels." Red opened the trailer door and hauled out the five animals. Two Arabian horses, one black, the other was a two toned bay and white color. The other horse was a white Lipizzaner. Red started to cinch and prepare the horses for riding, ZIM put the saddle bags on the horses back with the help of Purple.

"This will be like an old western movie, guys! Lets have fun with it!" ZIM said, excitedly. His friends didn't say a word.

"You four will ride the camels." Red said. "I'll tie them to my horse and I'll lead them so all you have to do is ride. Don't try to do anything else." Red ordered the dromedaries to kneel. The beasts made a grunting noise as they lowered themselves onto the ground. "Alright, boys. Crawl on."

"Where do we sit? They have a huge hump on their backs."

"The arches are semi-flat. Sit just before the hump." Red instructed. "Now get on." A.J. and Dib chose to ride together while Chester and Timmy took the other camel. Red helped the boys by hoisting them up onto the dromedaries backs. "Hold on boys." Red commanded the two animals to stand. The big, tan, beasts rose to their feet, the boys on their back swaying as they stood. Red took the lead rope from the first camel and tied it to his horses saddle. He then put his foot in the stirrup and mounted the animal. He clicked his tongue and the horse started on a medium speed walk. "Zimmy, stay close. Don't wander too far ahead."

"I'll keep you in sight!" ZIM called back. His horse galloped ahead, leaving the five others behind.

"What's your time?" Purple asked. Red looked at his phone.

"Nine in the morn."

"Meaning it's breakfast time!" Timmy called up to Red from the last camel.

"Child, we want to be prepared for tonight first before worrying about food!" Red shouted back to him. "It'll get cold. Really cold." Red looked back to the boys. "But for now in the hot arvo sun, I suggest you boys keep your head cool. Take your shirts off and make a durag."

"No way, man! Then our bodies will burn." Chester said.

"Your head needs to be kept cool. But if you wanna be like that, fine." Red said. "You're not my responsibility anyway."

"You guys, he's right. He's the expert here. This is his country, he knows it better than any of us." Dib said, taking off his shirt and putting it over his head to make the durag. "Besides, it's cooler with our shirts off anyway."

"Well why don't you do it, cowboy?" Timmy asked.

"I've got a hat, bud. But if you just want me to take off my shirt so you can see my beautiful, rippling muscles, then I will." Red unbuttoned his plaid, quarter length sleeve shirt and tied it around his waist. "Happy?" He asked with a sly smile. Timmy frowned deeply.

"How does ZIM live with you?" Red just chuckled and told his horse to go faster. They had a lot of ground to cover before reaching any type of civilization.

**9:00 **

"They should've been home two hours ago! That's what they told me, at seven they'd be home. But they never showed. And Red won't pick up his phone!" Leslie was in a panic. She was trying to talk with nana, but the elder woman seemed all too nonchalant about the whole situation.

"Don't fret, child. Dju is smart in the wilderness. He's gotten himself lost before by himself and he came out just fine. He'll certainly be fine now since he's got Peder, deru, and his friends with him, and they have horses! They'll be fine."

"Well I'm concerned for ZIM and Purple too! ZIM isn't that bright and Purple . . . well, he lacks common sense too."

"She's right. Purple is an idiot. And the other four boys never even seen the outback." Tenn said, just as concerned.

"Tenn, darling, you trust Red, don't you?" Nana asked.

"No! He messes with dangerous animals all the time. He takes risky chances. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he was chasing down a killer kangaroo right now!"

**Meanwhile**

"Gallop! C'mon! ZIM, ready your boomerang!" Red shouted to his brother. He was riding full speed towards a troop of massive Red Kangaroos. Red was attempting to cut one kangaroo off from the rest of them. ZIM was galloping another way where he wanted Red to heard the lone roo to. Red managed to cut one off from the troop. The big animal bounding hard, trying to escape Red and his steed. ZIM made his horse halt. He waited, boomerang ready in his left hand. Ready to be thrown. The kangaroo was coming right toward him. ZIM knew the roo was gonna fake him out at the last minute, suddenly changing directions. ZIM was ready for it. When the animal was close enough to ZIM, he hurled the boomerang indirectly at its' head for the curve. The beast went down when the powerful weapon collided with its temple. The kangaroo thrashed on the ground but was too much in a daze to stand. Red pulled back on his reins, stopping his horse. He jumped off and drew his knife. He pushed his knee down on the animals spine in his neck and swiftly cut its throat, killing it almost immediately. He let out a long breath. ZIM jumped off his horse and met up with Red. "Good on ya, mate." Red gave ZIM a high five. "You always had a good arm."

"Eh, I'm sure you could've done it just as well as me." ZIM said. Red chuckled.

". . . I could've done it _better _than you." ZIM rolled his eyes at his brother's lack of modesty. "Well, lets get this boomer loaded on the horse and head back to the others." ZIM nodded helping Red pick up the massive kangaroo. "Remember how to skin a roo?"

"Yes, ma'am." ZIM grunted as he lifted the animal onto the back of Red's horse.

"Good cuz I'll need your help." Red climbed onto his horses' back. "Follow me." ZIM got on his own horse and followed Red back a half a mile to where the other five guys were. When they were close enough, Red called to them. "Ever had roo meat before?"

"_Roo_ meat?" Timmy questioned.

"Yeah! Like the kanga kind of roo?" ZIM said. "It's real good. You gents should like it." ZIM dismounted his horse and assisted Red in removing the animal and placing it on the ground. "Should we let it bleed out?" ZIM asked. Red shook his head.

"No time for that. And besides," Red looked about the barren landscape. Reddish colored sand, a few dried up shrubs, and mountains in the far, far distance. But other than that, nothing. "There's not a tree in sight to hang it on." Red pulled out his knife and threw it deep into the animals fat leg. The younger American boys cringed at the sight. Red kneeled beside the beast and started to mutter Irkenirakee words as he sliced the kangaroo open. ZIM kneeled on the other side and started to do the same. Skinning the animal of its fur also muttering their dialect.

"Uh . . . What are ya guys doing?" Dib asked.

"Shh. It's just a weird formality." ZIM said then went back to muttering.

"Like are you praying to your land gods and animal spirits?" Timmy questioned further. ZIM and Red both ceased in their cutting, looking at the child. ZIM shot him a glare.

"We're Messianic Jews. We don't believe in those false gods." ZIM went back to work.

"We're praying to Yahweh, thanking him for letting us have a good hunt . . . Duh." Red told them. "It's kind of like praying before you eat. Only we're praying while we make our food. It's something our family has done long before nana was even born." The boys nodded understanding. The boys looked to Purple.

"What? I'm used to this." He stated. The four boys sat back and watched the two brothers work. They watched as they then started to carry a conversation in Irkenirakee and when they asked Purple to translate, he simply told them that he didn't know the dialect but he recognized a few Irken words. Other than that, the convo was totally private between the two.

"_Uck ryka rom kuhewa deruo fermicka kon a le._" ZIM held up an intestine between his index finger and thumb and wiggled it around. Red looked disgusted.

"_Messag! Messag ya prano u gandu weth huliok._" Red made a wild hand gesture to ZIM as if to say, 'Throw that thing away'! ZIM just smiled widely and threw it at Red. The older brother screamed and jumped up when the organ slapped him in the face. "Zeiden! _Fermicka alah urk termiol! _You're so grounded! _Tonai ura iviperan quan dai! _Disgusting. Why did you do that?" ZIM just laughed uproariously. "It's not funny, _dju!_" ZIM stopped laughing abruptly.

"_Ien nun dju! Ye fer dju! Nana hua!_"

"_Nana anit hur, _Zeiden." Red sat back down. He threw the organ over to the side, scowling at ZIM. "You're the _dju_, ZIM."

"Am not."

"Are too." Red finished pulling off the skin. "Since we only have two blankets, we can make this into one. It'll come in handy."

"I ain't sleeping with that." Timmy said, bitterly. "It's all gross and bloody."

"Well guess what princess, we're kind of stranded in the middle of the desert. We need to fight to survive." Red sneered at the child. "And I never said you had to use the skins, anyhow." Red tossed the hide to ZIM. "Go prepare that. I'll get a fire started." ZIM nodded and went off to do as he was told. His friends followed him. Red found a cigarette lighter in his pants pocket. "You gotta smoke?"

"Dude, you know I don't smoke."

". . . That's bullshit. Give me one." Purple smirked and flicked a cigarette to his friend and partook in one of his own. "Well, we gotta stupid roo to roast. Get off your ass and help me."

**That Night**

Dib couldn't get to sleep. He was much, much too cold. It was below freezing and the fire burned out. He had no source of heat except the thin blanket he was sharing with A.J. Dib looked across from him and saw ZIM snuggled up against his brother. Red acting as his blanket by draping his arm around his little brother and nuzzling his face into ZIM's head, right in between his antenna. Dib frowned slightly. He was shivering so bad. He didn't get it. He just didn't get it. How could the desert be so hot during the day, and cold at night? It made no sense! The many wonders of nature. He blew out a chattering breath. A.J. next to him stirred a bit.

"Can't get to sleep either?" The boy whispered.

"Yeah."

"It's too cold." A.J. sighed. "It's gonna be a long night." Dib nodded in agreement. He then noticed something.

"Where's Mr. Kinley?" Dib wondered. The two boys sat up and looked around.

"I don't see him." A.J. said. Dib stood up.

"His horse is still here," Dib noticed. "Might as well go look for him since we're not getting any sleep tonight anyway." The boys started off in the direction they'd be going again when the sun rises. The moon was high in the sky and was as white as snow, illuminating beautifully on the dessert making it easy for them to see. "There." Dib pointed in the distance. The two started making their way over to where they believed they'd find the man. Sure enough, they found Purple. He was standing with his hands in his pockets, looking up and away. His antenna twitched.

"What are you two doing up?" He asked, without turning his head.

"Got some good hearing there. We couldn't even hear our own footsteps." A.J. said, intrigued.

"It wasn't so much your footsteps as it was your breathing." Purple said. The boys approached Purple. They gasped to see what Purple was beholding. He looked like he was at the end of the earth. Right before their eyes the earth dropped suddenly and sharply. Purple was standing right by a huge cliff. "C'mere, it's safe. I wouldn't be standing here if otherwise." The two boys cautiously walked up to him. He smiled down at them. Their eyes went wide at the sight. The cliff looked out over the huge desert. Far below them the flat land stretched for miles and miles. They could see the silhouettes of gum trees and bushes and mountains in the far distant. The moon lit up the world and stars speckled the sky. Occasionally a shooting star would rip through the midnight blue sky.

"It's beautiful." A.J. muttered.

"Shh, listen." Purple had his antenna perked and his eyes closed so he could listen even better. He tilted his face up to the sky. Dib and A.J. did as he did. They listened. They couldn't hear anything until an eerie moan sounded in the night. A haunting nighttime song that only a certain animal could sing. "The dingos are serenading." Purple whispered. The ominous howls chilled the boys to the bone. It was beautiful and frightening all at once. But they decided that they liked the noise. They jumped when they heard one howl near them.

"That one sounded close by." Dib panicked. Purple put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, bud." Purple patted his hip. He was wearing his holster with his handgun inside. Dib felt more at ease. The three stood in silence, minus the wild dogs' singing. Awestruck at the landscape and beauty.

"Man, ZIM is so lucky. Australia is so beautiful." Dib said. Purple scoffed. Dib looked up at him. Purple shook his head.

"Canada is better." Purple muttered. Dib just chuckled. "Well, kids, we should at least try to sleep. I'm used to the cold but I'm assuming it's eating your weak Californian hearts." Dib and A.J. nodded. The trio walked back to the site and laid down again. Purple flopped to the ground as A.J. and Dib tried to get comfy. Purple watched the boys as they attempted to get as warm as possible. He smiled softly and crawled over to them. He dragged the boys to where Red and ZIM were then went to retrieve Chester and Timmy too. He made sure the boys were all cuddled up next to each other before plopping down on the outside so both adults were taking the cold and the kids could sleep soundly. A.J. and Dib smiled to the man at his gentleness and sacrifice. Purple pressed his body against Dib's and closed his eyes. Dib found himself getting warmer and warmer. Being in between an Irken and his friend. Irkens had hot blood as opposed to warm blood like a human, so Purple and Red as well as ZIM were emitting enough body heat to warm Dib and the boys in between. Dib closed his eyes and soon drifted into a light slumber.

**August 7, 2001**

ZIM woke up to the feeling of his body quaking. He cocked a brow. He wasn't cold, so why was he shivering. He raised his hands up to his face and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He noticed that the sun was just coming up and the darkness was depleting gradually. ZIM sat up and looked down at his brother. His eyes widened with concern when he saw Red shivering hard. His lips and cheeks were bluish in color. His teeth were chattering violently and his body racking from the cold from the previous night. ZIM laid both his hands on his older brother and started to rub his arms fiercely in an attempt to warm him by making friction. Red cracked open his eyes. He let out a wavering breath. "Mate, I'm fine." Red assured him. He sat up.

"I'm sorry, Red. I didn't realize how cold you must've been." ZIM crawled over to him and sat in his lap. He wrapped his arms around Red, holding him close. ZIM pressed his warm cheek against Red's cold one. "You feel okay? No hypothermia? No sickness?"

"I'm fine, mate. I promise." Red said. "Soon the sun will be out and I'll be wishing it was as cold as last night again." ZIM frowned, feeling bad. He looked over to Purple. He wasn't shivering as bad as Red, but he did look numb.

"Hey, Pur. You alright?" Purple groaned and let go of Dib, who he was holding on to, to keep warm.

"My meds wore off." He complained, referring to the tendonitis in his shoulder. "I can feel it."

"Shit!" Red gasped. "I forgot all your meds in the truck, ZIM!" ZIM cringed. He didn't like it when he skipped doses. It was scary and risky.

"Maybe . . . Maybe I'll be fine. Maybe we won't have any problems." ZIM said. "And Pur, if you just don't put any stress on your shoulder you should be fine." Red groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"Ugh! I'm such an idiot!" Red sighed, and stood up stiffly. He was still shaking from the cold. He shook his head, angry at himself. He sighed, changing the subject to take his mind off it. "Anyone hungry?"

"I am." Timmy said with a yawn.

"Yeah, me too." Chester said. Dib and A.J. nodded in agreement. Red pointed to left over roo from last nights meal.

"Breakfast is served." Red said. He started walking to his horse. He gazed off into the seemingly endless, morning sun lit horizon. "My God. We're never getting found."

**Later **

"C'mon, Red, you idiot! Pick up your damn phone!" Leslie grunted with frustration when her tenth call wasn't picked up. She puckered her lips frustrated yet concerned. Her daughter cradled in her free arm. She turned to Tenn and Zee next to her, all sitting around the island in the kitchen. "Any luck?"

"Irken phones use Irken satellites to function and make calls, they either lost their phones or their phones are dead." Tenn said.

"Or they're dead." Zee mumbled, keeping her gaze down at her phone screen. A silence lingered in the room. Zee glanced up and noticed the unamused faces of her sisters on her. "Sorry. That was inappropriate of me to say. They're fine. Purple and Red are natural survivors. ZIM is indestructible, and two of those other four boys are smart. However, I don't think the other two have a prayer." Leslie frowned looking down at Sapphira. She was starting to get fussy.

"Damn it. Red is the _only _person in this world that can calm Saph down. She's gonna squeal until her dad comes home." Leslie shushed Sapphira and took a page out of Red's book and sang softly to her, hoping her voice soothed the smeet. Sapphira opened her big, cobalt-colored eyes to look at her mother.

"Aaabbbbblll!" The smeet gurgled, cutely. Her tiny hands reaching out in random directions. Leslie smiled, happy that she didn't wake up to cry. The woman cringed when she felt her hair roughly get tugged by the infant. This made the smeet chortle loudly. "Ahaha! Aabbb! Ppbbbbb."

"She laughs like her daddy." Leslie grinned, wiping the drool off the smeet's face. "Hopefully she won't be as aggravating." She looked to Tenn who had her antenna slicked back and her Imp to her face. The Imp's speaker had someone on the other end of the phone shouting loudly and angrily. "Who she calling?"

"Kadee." Zee answered. "She called Tenn. She's wondering why Peder didn't call for five days straight."

"Listen, mum, I'm sure he's fine."

"_He better be fine! That's my boy out there!_" Leslie could hear Purple's mom loud and clear from the Imp in Tenn's hand. "_You know he's not that smart! He can get himself hurt!_"

"He'll be 'right! I promise." Tenn reassured her mother-in-law. "He's with Red and ZIM so at least he's not alone."

"_I want my smeet back in one piece!_" The furious mother roared. "_I'm going over there!_"

"You really don't need to fly all the way out here-"

"_He's so grounded!_"

"What?"

"_I'll be 'round in a day or two. Marzi is coming too._"

"Oh . . . kay?" Tenn heard the phone in the other line slam down back on it's dock. She put the Imp down. "Kadee is upset and Purple is grounded." She told Zee and Leslie.

"The numbskulls still lost?" Gaz asked walking into the room.

"Yeah. Unfortunately." Leslie groaned. "Ugghh, Gazelle, c'mere." Leslie held open her arm that wasn't holding her child. Gaz walked to her mom and allowed herself to be wrapped up in her embrace.

"Mom?"

"What?"

"I know I told you this many times before but . . . that man you married is kind of a dumbass." Leslie sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. This is what I get for falling in love with a child in a man's body." Leslie went silent for a moment. "You think he's alright?" Gaz thought for a moment. Thinking of something to say to her that would make her feel more relieved.

"Oh yeah. Dad's a survivor and I'm sure-"

"Did you just call Red, dad?" Leslie pulled back to look at Gaz in the eye. The girl's normally squinted eyes opened wide.

"No." She said. "No, I did not." Leslie smiled wide.

"You so did. You totally did." Leslie said. Gaz rolled her eyes.

"Okay! So what?"

"You do love him! And here I was thinking that you could care less about Red." Leslie chuckled. Gaz pursed her lips, annoyed.

"It was a tongue slip. Anyways . . . Red's very familiar with the outback by now especially since he's travelled all of it when he was a biologist."

"Huh, you're right. I never thought about that. ZIM and Peder traveled with him too so they all probably know what they're doing." Leslie said. Gaz smiled at her. "I'm sure they'll be found very soon."

"Oh!" Tenn stood up, her Imp pressed against her head. "Hello? Peder? Are you there?"

"_Tenn . . . ran out of . . . in . . . -esert . . . ZIM has no med- . . ._"

"Peder, babe, you're breaking up! I can't hear you." Tenn said.

"_. . . all out of -attery . . . try to be -ome soon . . . we'll take care . . . love you, Tenn._" The dial tone sounded. A moment passed. The three women staring off into space, relieved to hear one of their voices. Finally Zee spoke up.

"We gotta get ahold of the authorities. They can send out a search party."

**Meanwhile**

"I love you, Tenn." Purple finished his call and hung up. He wasn't sure if Tenn was even capable of listening to it, being that the signal was so fuzzy, but at least she knew he called her. And with that, they'd know that they were still alive. And that's all what mattered.

"She answered?" Red asked, hopefully. Purple nodded.

"They're smart women. They're probably gonna inform the Coast Guard and get them to assist in finding us."

"But we're not lost. We're just stranded. Did you tell them we weren't too far off the Stewart highway?" Purple froze, looking at his friend.

". . . Uh . . . Well . . . Not really." Red groaned.

"Mate! They're gonna be looking all over then! If you just would've said that we were along the high way they'd find us quicker."

"I'm sorry! I was just happy I could finally get a call through!" Purple defended himself. Red rubbed his forehead.

"It's fine . . . Well at least they'll be sending someone out."

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><p><strong>Oh geez. This chapter was eventful, wasn't it?<strong>

**Fun Fact!: School started for me and it took me awhile to post the new chapter up! Another fun fact is that I'm very lazy cuz I could've published this two weeks ago...**

**Question: ZIM is getting noticeably worse. Do you think he could get any worse or is it all up hill from here?**

**2nd question! Out of these names, which do you like best? Peyton, Preston, Prince, Peirce, Parker, Pepper, Paxton, or Paul? **

**3rd question! Why isn't Leslie happy with Red getting 5 horseys?! The ladies dig horseys!**


	25. Wandering

**I fixed the dates!**

**Night-Waker, **

**I just have to respond to your post cuz yikes, I messed up with something. You mentioned that Red and Purple's names are in pairing mode, first of all, if I were implying something, it would be FRIENDSHIP (your comment made me laugh out loud). Secondly, the pairing meant to be just Tak and ZIM. But heck! I'll just keep Red and Purple as a pairing because there's a painfully obvious bromance between the two.**

**Also, if you think the last chapter escalated quickly. Just wait till you read this one. ;) **

* * *

><p><strong>August 8, 2001<strong>

"Tell us more about your past, Red. We've learned a lot of secrets about you, but we'd love to know more." Red smirked at Dib's plea.

"Yeah, Kelly. Tell us more." ZIM jibed. Red shook his head.

"Mate, I can't answer to that name. It costed me nearly two hundred dollars and hours and hours of paperwork to change my name. And of course our parents weren't too happy with my decision. I think I deserve to be called by my present legal name. Kelly Eliasetto doesn't exist anymore. Red Elias, however, will be more than willing to tell you more about his childhood."

"Then please do!" Timmy chirped. Red adjusted himself on his saddle, tipping his black, felt hat back a bit.

"Where do you want me to start?"

"When you started first keeping memories." Timmy said.

"Very well," Red took a deep breath. "That's about age four then. I was an only child for the first seven years of my life. When Zee came around that was also the same time I changed my name. So she always knew me as Red too and would often forget that I even had another name in the first place, hence why Zee and Tenn never brought it up. Anyways, back to age four, I was definitely the most misbehaved cousin in our family. Which is saying a lot since at that time I already had about ten cousins. And even after our family expanded to forty cousins, nana is still convinced I'm the worst _dju_."

"Refresh me on what that word means." A.J. asked.

"It's Irkenirakee for 'naughty boy'." Red cleared his throat before speaking again. "I was always finding trouble. I often caused stampedes with the dairies going in for milking. I would put piglets in sacks and hang them from the rafters of the barns. I'd spook the horses when my cousins, uncles, or aunts were on them. I would jump on bull's backs because I wanted to be like dad and papa. Bull riding was always an interest of mine. Any rodeo event really was. Oh! And if a animal died, I'd take the corpse and put it in the bed of people's trucks. Sometimes they'd go days without noticing the rotting beast in the bed until it really started to reek." Red chuckled. "Longest record time is a pig in aunt Kylie's truck. Eight days."

"How would the animals go unnoticed for that long?" Chester asked.

"I hid them underneath things that were already in the back." Red said.

"I'm assuming you didn't get away with all that." Dib said.

"Oh hell no. I'd get a whoopin'. I was never grounded until the age of thirteen when they decided I was too old for the usual physical punishment. However in high school they'd still use corporal punishment. That's how it was back then." Red told them. "But it seemed like everyday I'd get into trouble. It was really unnerving to my parents, so eventually they sent me to a bootcamp for a few months, hoping I'd grow up a bit."

"Did it work?" Dib wondered. Red scoffed.

"Huh! I came back worse than ever!"

"Tell us about school for you!" Timmy said.

"Oh boy, I could write a whole book on that." Red scratched his chin. "Elementary school, I was boisterous, disruptive, immature, and disrespectful."

"You aren't anymore?" Purple chuckled. Red playfully swatted at his friend, riding along side him.

"Anyways, I didn't get a beating for acting up just at home. Oh no, I lived in a generation where physical punishment in schools was very much legal. I believe the law changed in 1999, here in Western Australia. Meaning if ZIM chose to go to public school, he more than likely would've gotten it too."

"That was literally only two years ago! Holy cow!" Timmy exclaimed.

"We still don't have a national ban in Canada." Purple said. "Schools may give you a physical punishment if they want to this day." The boys' mouths dropped.

"I couldn't imagined getting spanked in front of all my friends." Chester said. Red smiled,

"Eh, you get used to it." Red said. "There was actually a few instances where I purposely got into trouble after my girlfriend at the time told me she liked a bad boy. Anything to turn her on."

"How many girls have you dated in the past?" Dib asked.

"I honestly lost count after twenty. Like seriously, I was a huge man whore and everyone knew it. A lot of the skanky girls didn't mind and agreed to date me. It was nearly impossible for me to get a nice chick. Guess skanky girls belong with slutty guys."

"You were a slut?"

"Well . . . Not technically-"

"Ever had sex with any of them?"

"Timmy! That's a private topic!" A.J. snapped. Red bit his lip.

"Ya know, I'm not surprised that you asked that. I mean, I would be wondering the same thing. But I was strict on sexual abstinence."

"Were you really?" Purple asked, disbelievingly. Red gave him a look that made him seem like he was lying. Red subtly shook his head, mouthing the word, 'no' to him. Purple raised his eye ridges questioningly.

"Ooo." Red shushed him and continued with his lying for the sake of his younger brother.

"If a girl asked me to have sex with her, usually telling her that I had both female and male reproductive organs scared her off. However . . . there still had been a few close calls even after I told them."

"What?" ZIM had his horse trot up next to Red's. "Like when?"

"Well my party hard high school days were tempting to me. There had been a few instances where a sheila managed to strip me to my boxers about to perform an Aussie kiss . . . You boys shouldn't know what that is. Anyhow, I snapped out of it before anything else happened. I liked to keep my hands mostly to myself when I'm with girls, but when I'm flirting, that's a different story. Girls would get very touchy feely with all my goods when we were Frenching. Oh! Let me tell you something! One night, my G.F. at the time and I were walking on a deserted beach and we stopped to sit on a rock and have a little fun. When we started kissing, everything was going fine until I found out this girl had a sick fetish of salivating in my mouth! I got this huge spit wad of her's dripping from my mouth down my chin. I didn't want to make her angry by spitting out her nasty saliva . . . So I swallowed it." The company all made sounds of utter disgust. Cringing at the mental images Red gave them. "Yeah, but the farthest I've ever gone on a girl was second base. And the farthest a girl went on me was third."

"I don't get these bases. What do they mean?" Dib asked. Red looked back at him.

"You really wanna know?"

"Well, how much worse can it be from what you've already told us?" Red grinned.

"First is making out, second is feeling over the clothes, third is under the clothes."

"Home run is forn-i-cation!" ZIM exclaimed with a random southern drawl. Red scowled at him.

"And how do you already know that?"

"I hit home runs all the time, Red." ZIM winked at him. Red narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"They better be the baseball home runs you're talkin' about." ZIM just giggled. Red rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I only allowed a girl to go to third on me if we've been dating for awhile."

"So you mentioned both reproductive organs and how girls would get weirded out by that fact. Was Leslie not?" A.J. wondered. Red smirked.

"I never told her because she never asked to have intercourse. She found out on our wedding night. I was first to get naked and she just kinda looked at my body in all of its glory and asked me where the fuck my dick was." The boys laughed at that.

"And was she repulsed by your hermaphroditedness?"

"Nah. She took it _really _well. I don't think she cared actually. She just wanted to get rid of her V-card. And after being married to an Irken for five years, when we found out I was pregnant, she wasn't weirded out by that either. Leslie's cool like that."

"You haven't been married that long-"

"Shush!" Red cut ZIM off.

"Was she cool with the fact that you had a lot more girlfriends than you let on?" Timmy asked.

". . . No. Just a couple days ago she called me a man-whore . . . We had an argument and she brought my past into the fight to make a point."

"Well, you _were _rather slutty. Like a slutty virgin if that's possible." ZIM said. "It's okay, Red. You're a good-looking guy and hell, you had girls flinging themselves at you left and right. You still do have them wanting you like that."

"Why are we on this topic of your sex life? You realize you're talking about sex to a bunch of minors, right? . . . Which reminds me, must you _always _squeal when you orgasm? You wake Tenn and I up all the time." Purple said.

"You mean ten minutes after _you_ squeal from an orgasm?" Purple lifted his hand, flipping his friend the bird.

"This is why we can't have our rooms next to each other." Purple muttered. "Too many squealing contests at night."

"I sleep through it all. Though I always knew Red would be a squealer." ZIM said. "I hope to God, sex squealing doesn't run through the male genes. I'm not sure if Tak will find that sexy."

"How do you sound so sure you're marrying her?" Red asked. "You act as if you're already engaged." ZIM gave his older brother a sheepish grin.

"Hey, we're talking about you here. Not me."

"So you got bullied a lot in school because of all your escapades with girls among other things?" Dib asked. "I didn't expect that. I thought you'd be Mr. Popular."

"Oh I was. I was the popular, jackass, everyone either loved to death or hated enough to murder. I stole a lot of girls from some guys and . . . Well . . . Yeah. They always made me regret it."

"Did others call you a slut?" Timmy asked.

"Everyone who hated me in the schools did. My friends even called me a whore and shit like that. Everyone thought I got laid every night. They never got to know that I was pure up until I married Les. Then she fucked me. . . and I liked it . . . and that was that . . . How about we change the topic to something a little more . . . appropriate."

"I heard you were like a huge asshole in school! Picking on kids and bullying. Getting into fights." Chester said.

"Don't think of me just as the bad guy. There's a whole other half to that story too! You see, I wasn't just the bully . . . I was a target too." The boy's cocked their brows.

"But weren't you like, ruler of the school, and what not?" Timmy asked. Red shrugged.

"Yeah, a little bit." Red rubbed his face. "Boys, I lived in a racist era. A lot of people didn't like me because of the color of my skin and my heritage. I was scorned for being green and not human by a lot of my peers. And, as much as I hate to admit this, I was the runt of most my classes. I stood at ZIM's current height up until eighth grade when I grew to four and a half foot. Then in tenth I grew seven inches. Then by the time I was a senior, I grew to my current height, and even now, I'm less than average. I was a firecracker when it came to sports and fighting, though. But only speed and agility was on my side. Strength was definitely not my strong point . . . Pun not intended. So I was picked on as much as I was the one dishing it out."

"What kinds of things would they call and do to you?"

"Well my most infamous nickname was Commie. Remember that this was back when there was a huge communism scare. And the fact that my name is Red and my eyes are red, made it very easy for people to falsely accuse me of being a communist. Hence the name, Commie. Negra was often shouted in aggression toward me. I had rocks thrown at me. Cornered when I was alone. I remember being beaten senseless by the most racist jerk offs in school." Red bowed his head at the memory. "It was after a soccer match in the locker room. I was sore and slow so I told my friends to leave without me. Big mistake because as soon as they left, a gang saw that I was alone and vulnerable. They pounced me when I was wearing nothing but my soccer shorts. Got a black eye, bruised ribs, several bleeding cuts, and to wrap it up, they turned the showers on and cranked up the heat to unbearable, knowing I wouldn't be able to crawl out from underneath the water's hot stream, so I also got second degree burns that hurt like hell." The boys were speechless.

"Damn." Purple muttered. "I went through the same racial degrading you did. Sucks, but it got noticeably better with every passing year."

"True."

"Any racist teacher's like Miss. Itry?" A.J. asked, bitterly.

"A few." Red answered. "But most of the teachers were fair. I had a few sexy teachers too. Young and fresh out of college." Red smiled at the memory. "I always had a thing for older women."

"Is that why you married Leslie?" Chester asked.

"Les is only three years older." Red told them. "That may seem like a big age gap to you, but trust me, once you're out of school, you stop caring."

"How old was the oldest woman you've ever dated?" Timmy questioned.

"Hmm, I think about twelve years older." The boys gasped. "Yeah, mum and dad didn't like it either. If she was an Irken they wouldn't have cared as much, but since she was human, it disturbed them."

"How old were you?"

"I think seventeen."

"So this chick was twenty-nine?" Dib asked, shocked.

"Yeah. Her name was Chrissy. She was tall too. Very intimidating." Red sighed. "I ended up breaking up with her."

"Well, obviously." ZIM muttered.

"She was one of those skanks who always wanted to be in a guy's pants. I wouldn't have been surprised if she was riddled with AIDs. But that ain't the reason why I cut off the relationship. One night, we went out and she got extremely drunk. She asked me if I wanted to have sex with her and I shot her down. She didn't like that. A little bit later, after giving me a few drinks, she asked again, I said no. She was furious about getting rejected twice by me so she . . ." Red trailed off, thinking of a good way to explain what happened to him. "She drugged me. Slipped a roofie in my drink without me noticing. Dragged me to her car and tried to have her way with me in the backseat. But thank The Lord, Lard Nar went with us that night and he saw her drag my body out. He saved me from a date rape."

"No way! You could've been raped by a crazy chick!" Timmy shouted. "Eww!"

"Ew is right. Rape is . . . Ugh. I don't even wish to think about it." Red shuddered. "What could have been that night, I'm so lucky nothing really happened . . . Besides getting roofied of course. Lard Nar brought me home that night. He parked in our driveway, got mum and dad and told them everything. I woke up the next morning on the couch with a huge headache and infuriated parents waiting for me to get up. They were relieved, don't get me wrong, but they were royally pissed at my carelessness. Screaming about how I could have gotten hurt and I need to watch my drinks at all times and they forbid me from ever even looking at Chrissy ever again. They were even planning on pressing charges but I told them we had no ground to stand on because she didn't actually force me into unrequited sex."

"That's weird cuz usually it's the men who target women." A.J. said.

"Yeah, welcome to the backwards world of Red Macale. In fact, it's true for all Irkens. The rape statistics for both male and female Irkens are pretty equivalent. It's because of our hermaphroditedness that this happens, it's also because we have equal amounts of estrogen and testosterone hormones in us, which is why us Irken males are more sensitive than a typical human man, and Irken females are more bold and aggressive than a human female. I'm an Irken male with a higher dosage of estrogen in me because I can be a child bearer. If you were to be like Peder, you'd have much more testosterone and that's why he's incapable of conceiving. So there's a few facts for you about us Irkens. On Irk, rape is the felony right below murder for the most horrendous crimes in Irken society. On earth it's often brushed off as an unfortunate event. And you know what? That was another reason why I didn't press charges. The court cares less about men getting raped because it's so uncommon, unheard of even. However, if this were to happen to me on Irk, even though nothing happened, she could've been put in jail for a long time for even drugging me for intentions of ravishing me." Red told them. "Oh! And going back to the teacher thing. I didn't have as many racist teachers as I did right handed teachers."

"What do you mean?"

"Back in my school days, we were only to write with our right hand because left was considered impure and sinful and a shame to society." The four human boys gave Red a questioning look. "I'm left handed."

"Oooh." They awed.

"Every time a teacher who was anal about lefties saw me writing, he or she would smack my knuckles with a ruler. Then I'd have to write my paper with my right hand and it'd be illegible which would lead to another punishment."

"ZIM, you're left handed too, right?" A.J. asked. ZIM nodded.

"I'm an ambi, but I prefer left. It runs through male genes in our family on our dad's side."

"And ZIM's lucky he doesn't get discriminated for it like I was. Do you know why you're ambidextrous?" ZIM shrugged. "Because when you were just learning how to write, I would constantly put your pencil in your right hand so you wouldn't have to endure what I did. Otherwise, you'd be a full blown lefty too."

"Huh! I thought I was born with it." ZIM said in wonder.

"Oh, no. To be born ambidextrous is rare. Seriously, my teachers would call my mom and tell her that she had a good-for-nothing son who was too dumb to use the right hand. I had a teacher break my hand once! He smacked it with a paddle instead of a ruler like a normal person and totally crushed my hand . . . I was only six when that happened!" Red shook his head. "Another teacher smacked my hand when I was writing an essay and yelled at me to stop writing with my impure hand. When she turned around I said, 'I'm gonna flip you off with my impure hand'. So I did. And I ended up with a bruised hand _and _a bruised ass. She was doubly insulted that not only did I give her the bird, but did it with my left hand . . . Bitch. My biggest problem with being left handed is that I smudge what I write all the time."

"Red . . . did you get hurt in some shape or form every single day you went to school? Cuz it sure sounds like it. Maybe that's why you're so messed up now." Timmy said. "I'd be scared if I were you going to school everyday."

"It was more like every other day, but yeah. Everyday for being left handed. I had a constant bruise on my hand and it was _always _sore! At one point, I finally snapped because I was so sick of being struck with a ruler on the hand and it just hurt so fucking much, I attacked a teacher. I stood up after he swatted my wrist, grabbed his ruler, snapped it in half, then pushed him over a desk. I had to run out of the room after that. He started chasing me. I could out run him no problem, but he got his colleagues as back ups and they finally got me cornered. He dragged me to the principals office where they whipped me till I was seeing stars."

"I don't get why you enjoy getting spanked by Leslie if your childhood was full of bad memories of public canings." ZIM mumbled. Red blushed with a dorky smile on his face.

"It's sexy when my wife wants to teach me a lesson. Not a fifty year old man." Red said. "Besides, Leslie is gentle." Red grinned, thinking about himself and his wife, missing her more and more by the second.

"Were you a jerk to everyone? Like, even those with disabilities?" Red snapped a gaze to Dib who asked the question.

"I would _never _make fun of a disability. I have before and I regret ever saying it. Not because my punishment was painful but because it made me feel like a low life. That was when I was ten. In high school I befriended a girl with Down's syndrome. Everyone thought I was just making fun of her for being her friend. They thought I was just amusing myself because I would often make fun of special needs kids. I hate my past self so much. But I loved her, despite the fact of what kids thought. She was one of my best friends. Just a year older than I, every time it came up she always had to remind me that she was older and smarter, therefore in charge of me, though she wasn't controlling, she was too sweet to do something like that. I was her only friend. She wanted me to meet her parents so I agreed to see them. Once I got to her house her parents were beyond ecstatic to see me. They were so joyful that someone actually cared about their daughter besides them or any other adult. Her name was Greta."

"Was?" ZIM questioned. Red didn't meet their eyes. He kept his head low, closing his eyes sorrowfully.

"Greta died three years after I met her. It was her senior year. She had a respiratory problem, one day she just stopped breathing all together. She was only nineteen years old."

"Aw! Dude! That's tragic!" Timmy exclaimed. Red looked up smiling a bit at some memories flooding back to him.

"She was such a doll. She always said I was handsome and nice. I would tell her that she's a beautiful woman. She really liked it when people called her a woman. It made her feel 'older', she would tell me. Once she asked me when I was gonna marry her. It was adorable. I told her that I couldn't marry her because she deserves someone better than me. She wanted to marry me though. I later asked her to go to prom with me. She was elated and the girl I was dating at the time thought it was very nice of me."

"Let me get this straight. You were friends with Greta all throughout high school? And yet you were a huge jerk at the same time? Something isn't piecing together here." Purple said. Red just shook his head.

"He's right. You sound like a hypocritical douche bag." ZIM said.

"Why don't we give Peder a turn to speak." Red changed the subject in order to avoid the hard question. Purple gave Red a funny look.

"Curious about my childhood? I told you a lot already."

"Yeah, but the kids don't know." Purple sighed.

"Alrighty then. I was born in the great year of sixty-nine." He and Red grinned widely at each other, giggling like school girls.

"It sure was a great year." Red agreed.

"Mmmhmmm." Purple drawled. "Anyhow! I am the youngest of two children. My sister, Marzi, is nine years older than me. I was born and mostly raised in Montréal, Québec in Canada in the neighborhood of Westmount, which, not to brag or anything, was the most expensive, ritzy neighborhood in Montréal, if not all of Canada. If I wasn't living in Montréal, I was living in the isolated, desolate province, Yukon Territory where the population there is just over thirty thousand, in the city of Whitehorse, which isn't too far from the Alaskan boarder. We go there every winter to mush and participate in a bunch of winter activities. That's where my extended family on my mom's side live. My dad's side was all from Montréal and they hate it when I speak English in front of them. But it's the same for pretty much all of Quebec where French is the primary language. At school and home, you spoke French but I'd often break those rules because I wanted to be more fluent in English. I never fully learned English until I was eight. Betcha didn't know that."

"We didn't."

"You learned something. Good job. My mom is an athletic trainer and doctor."

"Really? I knew she was a trainer but doctor too? What kind?" ZIM asked.

"Cardiologist. She knows the heart better than anyone else in Canada, I swear." Purple muttered. "She is a huge hockey nut and made me start playing at the age of three. She also wanted me to figure skate for a little while so I have some grace on the ice as well. My mom was very pushy when it came to me and sports. Same with Marzi. She figure skated too. Us two did a lot of sports like snowboarding competitively, hockey, and figure skating. However Marzi was huge into skiing. I hate skiing. Tried it a couple times, didn't like it. Part of the reason as to how I learned to do the straddle splits was because of skiing."

"What does your father do as a career?"

"Dad is a nuclear radiation engineer. He also owns an amateur hockey team. And my sister now owns a oil drilling company."

"Oo! She'll be rolling in the dough!" Red said.

"She has been 'rolling in the dough' ever since she graduated high school. She didn't go to college like me, instead she bought stocks. She's really smart with money, she became a millionaire just one year after high school."

"And you became a research, freelance, biologist?" Dib asked.

"Yup. I specialized in microorganisms." Purple answered.

"Sounds like you come from a family of brainiacs." Chester said.

"Yeah. We just got done talking about Red and his family being a bunch of cowboys, then switching to your family who have all these brilliant careers." Timmy laughed. Purple shook his head.

"The Macale's are the richest family on earth. Probably on Irk too."

"From ranching?" Timmy wondered.

"I'm talking Red's immediate family. Him, his sisters and ZIM. They're billionaires as it is. Combine that with the extended family, it's mind boggling." Purple said. "Money aside now. Unlike Red, I was a relatively well behaved child."

"It's 'cuz you're Canadian." ZIM stated.

"Yeah . . . That's why. Anyway, I was extroverted like Red yet respectful and considerate. I too had many girlfriends in the past but I treated them kindly instead of just a fling also like Red."

"You're making me sound like a bad person."

"Well you were." Purple said. "I played year round hockey for many different teams. School teams, traveling teams, sponsored teams, and I got drafted into the Minor National Hockey League, which is basically one step below the NHL. The NHL has considered me for awhile actually, until they figured I was too petite and my body couldn't take the beating . . ." Purple sounded bitter about the topic. "Assholes." He muttered. "In the winter months I was a musher, only when in the Yukon though. I'd look pretty dumb with a dog sled team in the suburbs of Montréal."

"And you're training to do the Iditarod this year?" A.J. asked.

"Yup. Got a team of ten. I might need six more though. That's the average size team." Purple confirmed. "The first time I raced, or rather attempted to race, the Iditarod, I nearly died. It's a good thing they track the racers 'cuz otherwise I would have died. Hypothermia, hallucinations, frostbite, the elements and frozen lakes, all of those are dangers to a musher."

"How did you nearly die?" Timmy asked, interested.

"Like I said, frozen lakes are dangers because there is no way of telling if it's thoroughly solid ice or not. My team was coming up to a lake and not wanting to take any bold risks, I commanded my lead dog to halt so I could get off and walk on the ice to test it."

"You fell through?" ZIM guessed.

"Kind of. I was about thirty yards out on the lake when I heard this monstrous cracking noise start from where my foot was pressed down and echoed across the entire lake. I stood there, terrified and still for a good five minutes just waiting for my body to plunge into the water and get stuck under the ice. After awhile I decided that I needed to keep moving, so I slowly turned around and my left leg fell straight through, getting cut on the sharp ice shard on my way down. Then of course the ice around it started to give way and soon I found myself treading in thirty below zero water. Every time I tried to pull my body back up on the ice, it'd just break off and sink into the water. So I called for my team to slowly make their way to me. My lead dog led my team to me, being wary of the ice. When they neared where I was I told them to stop and crawl to me from there. Once my lead dog got near the hole I was in, I reached my arm out as far as I could and told her bite my sleeve and pull me back to shore. It took ten minutes to get me out of the water, another five minutes to drag me to shore, then when I reached the land, I was so, so, so cold. It felt like a thousand needles stabbing my body repeatedly. I was shaking so hard I couldn't move. Eventually I forced myself to move. I went into survival mode and started to do what everyone should do if they were ever caught in my situation."

"And what's that?" Dib humored him. Purple smirked.

"Strip naked and wait for my clothes to dry."'

"What? Wouldn't that be even colder?" Chester asked in awe.

"Actually, Chester, if you keep wet clothes on in extremely cold weather, you'd find yourself getting hypothermia a lot quicker." A.J. said.

"Exactly. So to keep warm in the mean time, I huddled up with my dogs. I fell into an uncomfortable sleep while waiting for my clothes to dry, but I woke up to rangers of the Iditarod trail preparing to air lift me to the nearest hospital. I told them that I was gonna finish the race, they didn't listen. And. I. Was. Pissed." Purple grumbled. "I was obviously too weak to fight off these men so I had no choice but be taken out of the race. They pretty much swaddled me in a woolen blanket, which by the way, I'm allergic to wool so they only made me feel worse. And like I said, I was mad so I was cussing and yelling at them, even trying to get off the gurney they strapped me on. They finally got sick of me being all pissy so they put me under. Woke up in a hospital, parents and sister by my side. Mom was being a mom, dad was telling me how proud he was of me, and Marzi was a little concerned herself."

"What were your injuries, if any?" Dib asked.

"Long cut from my ankle up to my knee, forty stitches. Frostbite in my fingers, face, feet, hands, and legs. My hands were also all cut up from the rough ice. I suffered from dehydration and pneumonia. I was in the hospital for three days before they let me go."

"Didn't you say that mushing was your first job in the Yukon?" ZIM wondered.

"Yes. It was. I would transport commodities from city to city when the roads were too slick for semis to drive on."

"Wow . . . Did anything else happen?" Timmy scoot closer to Purple's horse on the camel's back he was riding on. "Like, that was cool to you?"

"For the longest time I was a motocross racer. I never competed in peewee, that's racing at the age of three to six. I started when I was seven in novice. Racing that is. When I was three through six I was learning under my mom's wing. She was a star racer. Competed across Canada and even parts of America."

"What kinds of motocross would you do?"

"Supercross and freestyle. I was extremely good at freestyle. My most difficult move that I mastered was the _Ruler_. I mean, I've conquered more difficult moves than that in the years to come but that was my first hard move I've ever done_._ I remember when I first tried that trick . . . I broke my collar bone, two ribs, and got a major concussion. It wasn't until five months later until I could even get on my dirt bike again."

"What kind of bike do you drive?"

"What kind of _bikes_. My first one was a Yamaha. When I grew out of it I had a Suzuki. After I grew out of that one I had another Yamaha. Then after I grew out of _that_ one, that's when I stopped growing, I had five other bikes that I kept around. I kind of liked collecting the bikes. I still have all of them. The last five were two Yamahas, a Suzuki, a Kawasaki, and a KTM . . . Oh wait, I had a Honda too. I have a Can-Am quad but I can't really count that, can I? So total I have nine dirt bikes and a quad. My number through my entire career never changed. It was always twelve. I like twelve. My color schemes changed though of course. Changed with my bike. But I always made sure my outfits matched my bike. I got picked on a lot for that. Cuz that's usually what the female riders do."

"That's cool! I want to do motocross too. How long have you done it?" Dib asked.

"For competition or riding in general?"

"Both."

"Okay, I started riding when I was three till now. So that's . . . Holy shit, that's thirty years . . . I feel old. I started competing at the age of six I stopped competing when I was twenty-two because I was leaving for Australia and I met that dumbshit over there." Purple pointed a thumb over to Red who wasn't paying attention. "But in a lot of ways, it was a great thing that happened. Over the seven years that we've know each other, I've grown to love idiotic behavior just a bit more."

"And you met your wife. Don't forget that." ZIM pointed out. Purple smiled softly.

"Yeah. She's great . . . Especially in bed. Ow!" Purple rubbed his temple where someone smacked him, hard. He looked to his right and saw Red glaring at him. "Oh! So you heard that but not when I called you a dumbshit?"

"You called me a dumbshit?" Red growled.

"Yeah! Oof!" Purple went crashing to the hard dirt ground when Red kicked him off his horse. "Oh you stupid bastard." Purple grumbled, climbing back on his horse.

"Tell us another story!" Chester insisted. Purple sighed.

"Mmm, okay, well during a hockey match when I was eighteen, I should start by saying that this is co-ed hockey. During a match, my team was up against a team whose center was a chick. A sexy chick, by the way. And I was a center also, so during the face off, instead of talking smack to me like normal centers do, she started hitting on me. She was telling me all these things that she'd do to me if I was her husband and junk. She was getting pretty inappropriate and her words were distracting me so much that when the ref dropped the puck, she was first to smack it to one of her teams mates. She kept that cheap way of getting the puck every face off we had. I was getting furious by the end of the game because we were loosing and I kept falling for her verbal distraction. At the end of the game I confronted her outside the girl's locker room. Told her off, cussing and throwing a tantrum. By the end of my rant she looked like she was going to cry. I felt bad after that, I always do when I make someone, especially a girl, cry. So I hugged her and, oh God, you won't believe what she did next. She pulled me in the girl's locker room and we . . . we started to make out . . . And that's how I got my fifth girl friend."

"You started making out? Did you even know her name?"

"Hell no! But it was amazing!" Purple beamed at the memory. "She was rough and dominating and a total bitch but I loved it!" Red snorted.

"You're a dork."

"That may be true but damn . . . It was a rush. She pushed me up against the wall right there in the middle of the locker room, girls from both my team and her team were still in the room and they watched the whole thing. I think I got a kick out of having an audience. They were all poking fun at us, laughing and making inappropriate comments about us when we were kissing." Purple looked at the kids. They all had a look of disgust on their features. ". . . Sorry."

"Uhh . . . How about you tell us another story like your Iditarod one?" ZIM said.

"Yeah got anymore dangerous stories to tell us?" Timmy asked.

"Not necessarily a life or death situation like that. There were times where I screwed up so bad that I got into deep, deep, water with my folks and others."

"Like?"

". . . I hit a child with my car once." The younger boys gasped. "He lived! He ran out in front of me. I was only going ten miles per hour because I was leaving a subdivision where my friend lived."

"Did you break him?" Red asked.

"When my car hit him, it wasn't the impact that hurt him as much as the fall that did. He had a broken wrist. His mom sued me, but it's her fault for not paying attention to her child and it's his fault for being a stupid little fucking piece of shi-" Purple cut himself off when he realized that he was becoming upset at the memory. He took a deep breath. "The kid's fault for not looking both ways."

"Who won that lawsuit?" Red smiled, already knowing the answer by the way his friend reacted.

"They did. They accused me of being 'a reckless driver'. I became thirty thousand dollars less rich that day." Purple scowled deeply. He looked like he wanted to punch something. "And my parents screamed at me and grounded me for three months."

"How old were you?"

"Seventeen. The kid was like ten. So he should've known better right? Apparently not because I hit that bastard." Purple mumbled. "Should've hit 'im harder . . ." Red chuckled.

"How about a lighter topic. Tell us about you and your sister's relationship."

"Oh! Marzi was always mean to me . . . Or maybe I was just being an annoying little brother . . . Huh, I never thought of that. That's probably why she always yelled at me." Purple looked off in the distance, talking to himself about his epiphany he just had. "I should really apologize."

"Pur!"

"Wha-? Oh! We'd bicker like normal siblings until she reached the age of fourteen. She became more mature, calm, and mellow. She was extremely nice to me when she hit that age. I guess that's what high school did to her. Huh! I could tell ya what high school did to me but it really isn't all that impressive."

"What did it do to you?" Red asked.

"Well, it's when I started to discover all these new talents and weird functions of mine. Like after every time I hiccup I burp. I'm extremely flexible and can do the splits. I became very good at playing any percussion instrument. I could hold my breath for over two minutes. I was a rather good figure skater. _Mom made me do ballet for a year to skate like that._" Purple muttered, inaudibly. "I could pop my shoulder out of it's socket. I could do a back and front hand spring. I would always run into the side of the door frame when entering a room . . . Yeah, things like that. There's so much more." Purple scratched his head. "I'm pretty lame."

"No you're not! Except for that ballet part. You can do the splits! That'd hurt my gonads if I tried that!" Timmy exclaimed. "Show us!" Purple looked back at him.

"We're kind of riding right now."

"Lets break for the night." Red decided just then. "So Purple can show us his gymnast body." Red ordered his horse to halt. The animals following also stopped. The boys all unloaded and got themselves situated for the night. They all shook the cramps and tiredness from their bodies.

"Kay, Pur. Lets see it." Dib urged. The man sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Fine. One time." Purple said. "What do you want to see? Side split or straddle split."

"Do the hard split where one foot is forward and the other is behind you." Timmy told him. Purple crossed his arms and without a warning, dropped down. Legs fully extended completely touching the ground, left foot in the front of him, right, behind. Not a space was in between him and the floor. The boys all gawked at this.

"It's called the left side split." Purple pushed himself back up. "And I only learned how to do the splits because a friend pushed me all the way down when we were younger . . . The jerk."

"Do the middle one!" Chester said.

"Nah. I'm done for today." The boys disappointedly looked from Purple to Red.

"What? I can't do that shit. Besides, I'm not here to entertain you."

"At least try doing it." ZIM smiled. Red groaned.

"Might as well. Bored out of my wits anyway." Red started slid his feet apart to do a middle split. He got down rather far before stopping three inches off the ground. "Hoo! This hurts right here. Obviously a few years of MMA fighting didn't really pay off." Red presented himself to the boys by stretching out his arms. "This is it, blokes. This is where I stop." Red felt a pair of hands on either of his shoulders, then suddenly with a quick, heavy push, his legs slammed down to the ground doing the full splits. Red shouted with terrible pain shooting through his adductor muscles. He put his hands on the ground and rolled himself over and tried to close his legs but it was much to painful to bring them together. Purple was by his side, overlooking his friend to see if he was somewhat alright.

"Timmy! You never, ever do that to someone who can't do the splits! You caused him serious injury! He probably has a torn muscle now."

"That's how Doctor Kinley learned! How was I supposed to know, Brainiac?"

"Uh, it's pretty obvious!" Red growled from his position, laying on his back, legs akimbo to prevent further discomfort.

"Give that boy a wedgie." Red whispered harshly to his friend. "A bad one. One that will burn his ugly human butt crack." Purple grinned.

"Ahh, Red, at least you're still in good spirits."

"No I'm not. I'm furious." Red sat up, sorely rubbing his inner thighs. "Ugh! Yeah, yeah, I tore something. I can feel gap on both of my legs."

"Damn, we need ice for that." Purple stood back up, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"I can't close my legs." Red whined.

"That makes you sound like a horny slut."

"It hurts." Red ignored ZIM's comment. Purple shook his head.

"Here. I know how to deal with these. Give me one of your legs and I'll help you stretch it."

"No! No, no. I'm just gonna . . . stay where I am." ZIM laughed at his brother.

"Looks like you're riding side saddle tomorrow, Princess!"

**Later**

"Come on, guys. Please get started on the fire. It's getting cold rapidly." Dib whined to the Irkens who were doing nothing besides making fun of each other and bickering. Dib sighed. They weren't hearing him. Chester and Timmy were mourning for themselves as if they were absolutely going to die. A.J. was sitting by Dib sulking that no one was paying attention to their situation. Dib groaned running a frustrated hand through his hair. "You guys, please! It's getting late! We're going to freeze tonight if we don't have a fire!" Still, no one acknowledged him. Dib was getting annoyed. Surely they'd be concerned about these things? "That's it!" Dib snapped, standing up. His yell was loud enough to get their attentions. Dib pointed at Timmy and Chester. "You two are panicking morons!" He moved his index finger over to Red, Purple, and ZIM. "And you guys are taking this situation all too lightly! Are A.J. and I the only ones here with full brains?" The five stood in silence, looking at Dib for the longest time. After awhile Purple finally answered.

"Well," He started, putting on a lecturing tone. "Red and I both share a brain." He stated. He tilted his head in the direction of the two human boys. "I don't think those two even have brains. And ZIM definitely has a brain, he just doesn't use it." ZIM smiled innocently.

"It hurts to think." Dib's jaw dropped. He stared at them flabbergasted. He closed his mouth and turned his head to A.J.

"It's been nice knowing you."

"Oh, lighten up, Dibbers!" Red said. "I've been lost in the wilderness multiple times and I only ever died once!" Purple looked awestruck, pursing his lips, nodding his head in admiration.

"Wow, that's not too bad." Red smiled.

"I know! I'm doing really good." Dib face palmed.

"Will you two just act like adults for a minute and help us out? We're only children! We don't know what to do! We don't know how to deal with situations like this! We have no basic survival skills because we never had to go into survival mode before like you guys did! So please, grow up!" Red and Purple scowled at Dib. The boy suddenly felt really uncomfortable, scared even. "I . . . I'm sorry. That was out of line. It won't happen again." The two oldest Irkens' glares never wavered. Dib scratched the back of his neck embarrassed. "Sorry." He said again. Purple and Red shared a glance then back to Dib. A few more awkward moments passed when finally Purple decided to pull out his handgun and walked off.

"I'm gonna go shoot at lizards and pretend they're Dib's head!" He yelled, obviously joking. ZIM rolled his eyes.

"Dillon's right though. You two are immature brats."

"I'm gonna pretend they're ZIM's head too!" Purple called from the distance he walked. Red groaned.

"I'll build you guys a fire if you'll stop bitchin'."

"Thank you." Dib sighed.

"Whatever." Red mumbled, crouching down to where he'll make the fire.

"Did I . . . upset you?" Dib asked. Red slowly turned around to face Dib. His eyes menacing.

"I just want something from you in return for being disrespectful to your elders." Dib nodded.

"Sure. What do you need me to do?" Red stood in front of Dib.

"I wanna freaking hug." Dib squinted his eyes confused. "Dude, you're like my best friend and I never got a hug from you yet." Dib heard ZIM mutter something about his brother being an idiot under his breath.

"Uh, okay." Dib wrapped his arms around Red's waist awkwardly. Red patted his head then rudely pushed him away.

"Alright. That's enough, you weirdo." Red tended to making the fire. "You and ZIM go make yourselves useful by staying away from me." Dib walked with ZIM away from the site.

"Dude, what the heck is wrong with him?" Dib asked. ZIM shrugged.

"Zee and Tenn often tell me that he would always run head first into walls when he was a teenager on accident. The funny thing is, I still see him do that." ZIM chuckled. "And I kid you not, he'll be looking at his phone and he wouldn't see where he was going. One time, I was down stairs in our living room when I heard what sounded like a door slamming. A few seconds later Red came down the steps holding his head and all he said was, 'So Purple and I were playing hide and seek and I started to run and I thought the door was open but it wasn't'." Dib cracked up.

"So you're saying he's loosing brain cells by hitting his head on doors and walls? That'd explain a lot." Dib said.

"Yeah. He's not the only one with faults in the fam though . . . but he does more of them than he rest of us."

"There's always that one crazy sibling."

"So true."

"I'd expected that to be you." ZIM looked at Dib.

"Huh!" ZIM thought about it. "Maybe you're right, actually."

**That Night**

Two adult Irkens sat on the ground, leaning up against their horses to support their backs as they watched the dancing flames of the fire before them. They were engaged in a private conversation.

"So . . . You really _did _sleep around when you were a teen." Red didn't respond for awhile. He just fidgeted with his hands, ashamed with himself.

"Yeah. I've been living this lie ever since . . . Well, ever since I first lost my virginity."

"I must say, you were very convincing all this time." Purple said.

"You're the only one who knows besides my ex lovers and mom and I think dad knew too. Of course, mum passed so . . . I don't know if she still counts."

"Really? Why would you-"

"I didn't even tell Les. Like from the first time she asked me if I lost my virginity, I lied to her. Telling her the truth now is just out of the question. She won't be able to trust me. Especially if she finds out that I'd sometimes do it for money." Purple's jaw dropped.

"Money? Y-you were a gigolo?"

"Sort of. I mean, not all the girls I slept with were my girlfriends so . . ."

"How do you not have an STD?"

"Kununurra is pure of that stuff. The only way an STD could be spread there was if someone from out of town came by and did the you-know-what with whatever-local-got-laid. You know the rest. I'm just so . . . I can't believe I got away with all these lies."

"You truly do have the most mysterious past out of everyone I know."

"I'm sorry to say this but there's lots more secrets untold. You'll figure them out in time. I'm aware of my sketchy background, and infamous sexual drive from my past and how it might unnerve you. Being practically a male prostitute is nothing to be proud of. So please keep this between you and me."

"Of course." Purple said. "Just to be clear here, though, I care about Leslie, have you engaged in any sexual relations with any other woman after marriage?" Red took in a deep breath.

"I try to be as faithful as possible. I haven't intentionally done something like that."

"Intentionally? What are you implying?"

"Drunk nights at the bar-"

"So you have cheated-"

"No, no! You're jumping to conclusions." Red put his hands up in defense. "Girls would take advantage of me. Especially girls that just so happen to be big fans."

"What would they do?"

"Well, I'm drunk and I'm not really conscious of what they were doing. I know what they were doing but I couldn't stop them because it never processed until after I sobered up. I was touched, licked, slapped, kissed, pinched in all suggestive places. If the club was particularly full, I'd have hands all over me and I would never be able to tell who was grabbing at me." Red shook his head. "I officially stopped partying about a year and a half ago when one girl took it a little to far when I was still in my right mind."

"Oh God. What'd she do?"

"I was with a man associated with Jalokia when a Vortian chick approached, stripped right in front of us and straddled me. Tried putting her hand down the front of my pants."

"How'd you deal with the situation?"

"Pushed her off, of course. What else would I do?" Red looked at Purple who in turn, looked disappointedly back at him. "I'm not perfect. I wish I'm not as stupid as I am now, but it's in my nature to be ridiculously clueless common sense-wise." Purple turned his gaze back to the fire.

"Totally alright. I cheated too- Not on Tenn! But I still cheated on a poor girl nonetheless. The worst part was, I shattered both of these girls' hearts, I dumped them both to go out with their mutual friend. That was like a slap in the face to them. I also made it very clear to them that I didn't care that what I did was wrong. In fact, I told them both to fuck off and find another guy to 'share'. I was going through a rough time then. But I'm not sure if that's a good excuse."

"So you were a heart breaker too, eh? Join my club of _assholery_." Red said.

"I'll past, but maybe I'll reconsider later." A long silence lingered between the both of them. Both were contemplating and taking in what the other had just admitted to. "Any other dark secrets you're keeping from me?" Red swallowed hard, nodding.

"I feel like I should tell Leslie first though."

"Understood. While were still making confessions to one another, I might as well tell you that as a boy I was molested." Red sat straight up.

"No!"

"Yes. Unfortunately." Purple said. "You're story about how you were almost raped from earlier today reminded me of my darker past."

"May I ask by whom?"

"Uncle."

"God damn. Are you really, truly, serious?" Purple nodded.

"From age five to age fifteen when he finally got caught. My mom walked in on the act."

"Fifteen? Fuck."

"Yeah, I was fifteen so I still remember that night very well. He came for a visit and was going to spend the night. I was lying in bed, on the verge of sleep when I heard him walk in. I got scared like I always did. I didn't even turn around to look at him. He climbed in my bed, spooned me and well . . . Ya know. He'd make it more pleasurable for him by grinding on my rear. He'd talk dirty and I mean like, filthy, disgusting things. He hurt me all the time. He had really thick fingers and rough hands, kind of a brute really." Purple drew up his knees to rest his chin on them. "So on this night, he undressed me, pinned me, shoved his grubby fingers in a place they shouldn't have been, and bit me repeatedly. He'd full on chomp on my shoulder and collarbone. I wasn't allowed to scream. My bedroom door never had a lock on it so it's a miracle he hasn't gotten caught sooner. My mom walked in to kiss me goodnight. When she turned on the lights and saw what was going on, mom screamed and nearly fainted when she saw me being abused in that way. As soon as I locked eyes with her, I started balling from embarrassment and because I thought my uncle was going to kill her on the spot, rape her dead body, and have me watch as he did. But that simply wasn't the case. He never had the intentions of killing my sister or mother, he just used it to get me to shut my mouth." Purple let out a halfhearted chuckle. "Mom went ballistic as you can imagine. She grabbed a sword and pointed-"

"A sword?"

"Yes . . . A sword."

"Where would she . . ."

"It's an upperclass French-Irken family thing, you wouldn't understand." Purple said. "Anyway, she stabbed him. Not deeply, but she stabbed his side thigh making him collapse on top of me. She pushed him off, grabbed my arm and yanked me off the bed and used her body to separate me from him. All this commotion woke up my father and sister and they came running. My family really knows how to work as a team in situations like that oddly enough. Sister called the cops, dad went to beat the fucker senseless and mom was being mom. The cops arrived and they brought me in for DNA testing for some reason even though my entire family and I were witnesses. They had to shove cotton swab things inside of me and duh, the DNA test came out positive and uncle was thrown in jail for a few years."

"I bet you're thankful your mother walked in that night."

"It was for the best. It was still the most embarrassing thing she's ever seen done to me."

"Yes, but imagine what it must've been like to he her. Walking in to your child's bedroom to kiss them goodnight, and see a family member on top of them defiling them. I mean, if that ever happened to ZIM or Sapphira for Christ's sake, even Gaz, I'd be horrified! And I may even become a murderer too."

"I'd admire your loyalty and commitment to your family. I wouldn't know what it's like to see a child of mine be mistreated like that . . . but of course, I just so happened to be that child. Victim of sexual abuse." Purple thought for a minute. "But I do suppose ZIM is my brother, and Sapphira is my niece, I suppose Gaz technically is too, maybe I would be able to imagine what it'd be like to witness that happen to them. But I don't want to imagine it. But rest assured, I'd go through all that hell again if it was either me or them." Red smiled.

"You'll make a good father someday." Purple chuckled hoarsely.

"I don't see a smeet in the future. Not for awhile anyhow. We only just got married this year. We can take it slow for now, but shit, I wouldn't complain if we had one now. Sapphira is my first niece and seeing you and her relationship, it's beautiful. I'd like to be able to connect with someone like that." Purple looked at Red. "My mother practically raised me to have fatherly instinct. She wants grandchildren bad, that's for sure. However she's scared that bad things will happen to them like me. She had to go through that heartbreak once. Never again would she want to face that."

"Is that why she's so protective of you?"

"Oh yes. Most definitely. For a few months after the incident she slept with me, stayed in the washroom with me as I bathed or showered, even went to school with me."

"How'd she get away with that?"

"She knew my principal." Purple said.

"Why not Marzi protect you at school?"

"She was already graduated. She's eight years older, remember?"

"Oh that's right."

"And also remember, I was _fifteen. _I was made fun of by my peers for having my mom suddenly come to school with me and watch my every move. But we couldn't let anyone find out why she was doing it. So the excuse was that I had an Irken illness in which needed to be constantly surveyed. It was a weak excuse, but it worked. My teachers knew exactly what happened. They kind of needed to know."

"Insanity. Childhood trauma? If any?"

"I'm still traumatized but I don't like to dwell on it." Purple said. "I need to tell Tenn eventually."

"You haven't told her yet?"

"Just like you didn't tell Les that you slept around as a teen." Red went quiet.

"Point across. I'm sorry, mate. Where is this uncle now?"

"Out of jail with a restraining order against him. Five meters. He's not allowed to show up at any family functions either."

"Mom's bro, or dad's?"

"Mom. He was way whacky. Even growing up he threatened to rape my mom and their sisters on several occasions."

"Shit, man. That's dysfunctional."

"He was kicked out when he was seventeen. But he came back later a 'changed man'. Then five decades after, I was born. I'm surprised he didn't target Marzi. He tried with some of my older cousins but they were old enough and strong enough to take him. I was young and innocent. I'm the smeet of the extended family. Just like ZIM, therefore an easy target."

"Just molestation? He didn't rape?" Purple didn't speak for a long while.

"I don't even remember. It's all equally bad, isn't it? I just remember his hands violating me."

"And he would do this often?"

"Every chance he got."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"He had me convinced that he'll kill my mother and sister and rape their corpses if I did."

"Sick, twisted man."

"He was." Purple sighed. "It feels good getting that off my chest. I'd remember my past from time to time. I don't know if you ever noticed, but when I isolate myself or throw myself into work, that's me remembering and trying to get my mind off it."

"I had no idea."

"Well, you'll remember now for future reference."

"Do me a favor and tell your wife."

"Red, I . . . I wouldn't know how to tell her. It would seem random if I suddenly walked up to her and said, 'By the way, I was molested as a child'."

"She deserves to know more than I do. And yet, you still told me before her." Purple said.

"What about you? Will you tell Leslie you really were a whore back then?" Red bit his lip.

"That's different though. That was requited sex. Not forced." Red scratched the back of his neck. "On your wedding night . . . Were you bashful?"

"I tried not to be. I mean, it's been a long time since the last day I was defiled to the day of my marriage." Purple said. "So it's possible I forgot a lot of things that's happened. But I did remember on my wedding night. Right before we gave ourselves away to one another, it came back to haunt me but I didn't show it . . . I was more embarrassed of my E.D." Red snickered. Purple shot him a glare. Red stifled as best as he could.

"Sorry, mate, not funny. I know. Sorry." Purple rolled his eyes.

"It's fine." Purple looked up at the stars. "I'll tell her when I get a chance, if you tell Leslie about what you did. Like you said, the wife deserves to know more than the friend." Red thought about it for a moment.

"Alright, Peder. I'll confess to her. And as soon as I do, I'll tell you that I told her. But then you must tell Tenn."

"'Kay, it's a deal. We should sleep now. Got some distance to go tomorrow." Red nodded in agreement.

"Night, then." The two hunkered down. Making themselves as warm as possible. Unbeknownst to them, a little Irken lied awake, mouth agape in shock. A few tears ran down his cheek. Red, a whore? And Peder, poor Peder, a victim of sexual abuse. How could this be?

_You're brother, Red, is no good. He's a liar. He lied about being pure, he's probably lying when he says he loves you too, hmm?_

"Maybe." ZIM whispered. "Maybe you're right."

_Just play dumb for now. Don't want to let him know that you know he hates you._

**August 9, 2001**

**Morning**

"What's ahead, Zimmy?" ZIM beamed looking at the boys and his brothers as he had his horse trot back to them. Red sent him out to scope the trail ahead to see the landscape and terrain before them.

"Good news! I see the start of the Kimberley in the distance!" ZIM shouted to them. "We're well off!" Red grinned.

"Good!" Red turned to Purple. "This may sound a bit scary but we're going to have to veer from the highway. The highway makes a huge loop way beyond the road for Kununurra. That'd just be a lot of extra travel time. We can cut through the rainforest and get home quicker."

"Ho boy." Purple sucked in a big breath. "That, uh . . . Well, you'd know best. Lets do it." Red looked at the young boys all sitting by the camels.

"Get ready to saddle up boys! We're near an oasis." Red sorely stood. His thighs still killing from yesterday's incident. He half waddled to his horse. "We gotta find fresh water quick. The horses are dying of thirst. Camels should be fine." The children groaned all standing and getting on their designated camels. "Alright, lets carry on." Red crawled on his horse. He cringed when he straddled the horses' back. "Ya know what, Zeiden? That side saddle thing doesn't sound so bad right now." ZIM chuckled. The gang of seven proceeded to ride west, homeward bound.

**Meanwhile**

"We had no luck in finding them." A tall man in a ranger's uniform told the women. Tenn, Zee, and Leslie looked distressed.

"You searched the entire length of the highway?" Tenn asked. The ranger nodded.

"We're sorry. We found the abandoned truck. They probably veered off the path. Stewart does have a huge loop and doesn't take a direct path to this town. We still have scouts searching but there's nothing on their location." Tenn frowned, looking at her lap, hands folded neatly in front of her. She sighed.

"I guess we'll have to continue to wait." She said, softly.

"Guess so." Leslie leaned back on one of the dining room chairs. Her daughter in arms. "It's been four days for them wandering the desert. They could be malnourished or dehydrated or sick . . . or maybe had an encounter with a wild animal."

"They have guns." Zee said. "Papa always has guns in his trucks. He doesn't ever go anywhere without one."

"I'll be sure to keep you ladies updated." The ranger said. He bowed his head to them and left the home.

"Red is such an idiot. You'd think he'd learn after getting lost in the desert before to bring an extra gas can." Zee muttered. "He's always doing shit like that." Leslie pursed her lips, scowling. "No offense." Zee told her.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at the truth behind what you just said." Leslie kissed the top of her smeet's head. "Ugh, he gives me grey hairs, that man."

"He does that to everyone." Tenn said. "Purple has to take some responsibility for the stupidity. He should have known to bring the extra gas can too."

"Nothing yet?" Nana asked, entering the home.

"Not a word." Zee told her grandmother.

"Meh, _devona migh dju._" The woman muttered to herself. "When that boy gets home, he'll get an antenna full."

"I figured you'd say that." Tenn said.

"Tenn, dear, please help me in the parlour. A dairy died on me when a hand tried hooking her up to the machine." Tenn nodded.

"Sure, nana." She said. She stood and smoothed her hand over her stomach then left the home to help.

**Later**

"I don't feel well." ZIM whined. He wiped his forehead. He was sweating. "I think I'm going to have a seizure." Red looked back at his brother. They were nearly by the edge of the Kimberley. The forest just meters away.

"You sure?" Red asked. ZIM nodded.

"I feel it, Red." The man commanded his horse to halt. The line of camels behind it followed suit. Red slid off his horse and walked over to ZIM's horse. He reached up and took his brother off the animal's back. He held his smeet brother in his arms for a bit before setting him down.

"Why'd we stop?" Timmy demanded.

"ZIM's sick." Red told him.

"Huh, when isn't he?" Timmy groaned. Red sat by his brother and cradled his body, swaying slightly back and forth to sooth the child as much as he could.

"Just tell me when you feel like you're about to convulse." ZIM nodded again. His breathing started to get shallower and shallower. Soon he stopped breathing all together. Red laid the boy's body down. ZIM's friends peered over to watch his seizure commence. ZIM started shaking slightly. Red glared at his friends. "Gents, can he have some privacy please?" The four boys' heads all turned. Adverting their gazes from the action. ZIM made a humming noise. Red backed up a bit so ZIM wouldn't seize and hit him. The boy's limbs jerked some, his eyes closing, teeth gritted. Red watched ZIM, helplessly. Purple walked up behind Red.

"He alright?"

"Yeah. It's a mild seizure. It'll end in a minute." Red waited the seizure out. Soon ZIM's humming and shaking came to a halt. Red put his hand on ZIM's cheek to sooth him. "You're okay bud, you're fine."

**...**

_Look at you. Holding them up! You're slowing them down because of your stupid epilepsy. Useless. Stupid. Broken. Defect. _

ZIM gasped sitting straight up. His body was caught and held by someone, he couldn't tell who. His mind was all over the place and he couldn't seem to come to his senses. "No. No. No, keep going. Don't stop because of me." ZIM whimpered, blindly gripping whoever was holding him.

"ZIM, the horses need a break anyway. You're fine." ZIM shook his head, panting.

"No . . . Keep moving . . . Broken." ZIM sucked in a shuddery breath. His eyes finally focussing. He was staring at the ground. He turned his head up to see the face of his embracer. Red. No big surprise.

_Just slow them down some more, defect. Why don't you just hold them up until they die of starvation?_

ZIM cringed at the sarcastic voices. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure. He looked to his right and saw a tall, dark, silhouette-like creature wearing a hood. It stood at least eight feet tall and the only feature that he could make out was the dark red eyes, gleaming down at him. It was holding something, a scythe it looked like. ZIM's eyes widened at the sight of the ghastly being. The figure stretched out a silhouetted arm, long spindly fingers reaching towards him. At the ends of the fingers, sharp tipped finger nails.

_You'll be mine soon. _

ZIM gasped, petrified at the trickery that his tired mind played before him. He couldn't move a muscle, he was so scared.

"D-death. _Merackma bru tola!_" ZIM screamed. He tried scrambling to his feet, but was held by his older brother. "No, no! He's gonna get me!" ZIM fought with all his might to free himself from his brother's grasp.

"Zeiden! Stop! Stop! There's nothing there!" Red tried reasoning with the boy. ZIM used his claw-like fingers to scratch Red. The claws digging into his older brother's flesh. Red winced at it but did not loosen up his grip. "Zeiden, enough! You're fine! You're hallucinating!" ZIM felt another pair if hands grab him. He shouted with fright and anger.

"Please! Please, stop!" He could feel himself being laid on the dirt ground. A set of hands holding his wrists and another pair holding his ankles.

"Dillon, Austin, come here. We need your help." ZIM heard Purple's voice call to his friends. He heard his other brother tell them to each hold one of ZIM's wrists in place of the hands that were already holding them. ZIM's felt hands on his cheeks. Holding his head still.

"Open your eyes!" ZIM slowly cracked his eyes open. He came face-to-face with Red. "Look at me, child. There's nothing here that will hurt you. It's just you, me, your friends, and that dork over there." Red tilted his head toward Purple. "No one else. Nothing that will hurt you." ZIM pouted. Red's hands caressed his cheek, lovingly. "You see? You're alright, babe." Red kissed ZIM's temple.

_Your whore of a brother is lying. _

"You're fine."

_You most certainly are not fine._

**Later **

"Finally . . . We made it to the edge. We won't have to deal with the desert as much anymore." Red informed the boys. "We need to find water quick. The horses need it bad." Red's eyes scanned the grassy and muddy terrain before them. Huge trees and bushes surrounded the area. Rocks and boulders were strewn about. This is where the tricky part came. More wild animals that they had to watch out for. Gorges and cliffs and mighty rivers. Mountains that would need to be scaled. It won't be easy, but they have to move on. Red looked back to his brother. He was staring at his lap.

He didn't mutter a word since after his seizure. He was embarrassed that he had an episode in front of his friends where he freaked out about something that wasn't there. But he had no reason to be embarrassed. His friends didn't mention it. At all. In fact, they wouldn't even think twice about ZIM's hallucinations. They were probably well aware that hallucinations were inevitable especially when you're out in the middle of a desert, lacking water, and over heating. But ZIM knew that wasn't the case. He was seeing things for awhile. And he was absolutely convinced that there really were people, or rather, shadows, there. There to torment him and disturb him and most of all, to make him hate himself. His lack of medications spiked up this behavior even more.

"How your legs feelings now?" ZIM's thoughts were interrupted by Purple's voice. "Because by the look of the landscape ahead, we may have to carry on with just our legs." The corner of Red's mouth curled downwards.

"You're probably right. Nana is gonna kill me if I leave our horses and camels behind. Had to leave papa's truck too. Hopefully he won't be as upset."

"He's a millionaire. He'll buy a brand new one." ZIM muttered. "One that won't suck gas as much as a slut sucks dick." Red cocked a brow at ZIM's comment.

"Okay, that was a good one and all but watch your mouth. I don't like talk like that coming from you."

"I think she knew you were gonna run out of gas in the middle of the desert. Cuz why else would she send us with a horse trailer?" Purple asked.

"I had a feeling that she knew too." Red muttered. "It's not like this hasn't happened to me before." Red looked back at the young boys. They all looked like they were trying to sleep but were having a rough time by the constant motion and intense heat. "We'll continue on until we can't take the horses no further. Then we have to say goodbye and let them go back to their natural roots. Wild and free." He patted his horses neck. His hand was damp from the sweat of the animal. "Okay, now to find water." They pushed on, animals on a leisurely walk, to find the next available source of fresh water. They rode for a few miles, the vegetation getting denser and denser as they traveled deeper into the heart of the Kimberley. It wasn't before long when they came across a spring. The ground was patchy with grass and boulders surrounded the spring. It was right next to a rising in the earth, a cliff, and had the smallest of waterfalls streaming down from it. They couldn't even really classify it as a waterfall. More like water dribbling down the rocks into the pool below. Red sighed with relief. He commanded his horse to halt. He dismounted and led his horse to the water. The horse practically emerged it's entire head into the crystal clear water. Purple and ZIM's horses followed suit. ZIM started stripping himself of his boots and his pants, but oddly enough, kept his shirt on. He waded out into the spring with his boxers and long sleeve still on him.

"The water feels amazing!" ZIM called. "It's so cold." And with that note, ZIM fell back into the depths of the spring and cooled himself completely. Red heard the sound of two squealing boys and before he could even look back to see what the ruckus was about, a dash of two, naked, white boys ran in front of him and dove into the water. ZIM had a look of pure disgust as he saw Chester and Timmy go underneath and flail about in the pond. "God! Clothe yourselves, pig-smellies."

"ZIM's in character! What a freak!"

"He always smells good!"

"His eyes are gumdrops." Red chuckled as the two boys shouted random things. He assumed it was the heat causing them to do crazy things, like shamelessly getting naked in front of their friends and screaming like wild animals while splashing water at the other. Red unsheathed his long blade knife, keeping it in his hand as he pulled his shirt up and over his head, took off his boots, and also dropped his pants so he was in nothing but his black boxers. Purple did the same.

"The two sexy underwear models are joining us!"

"They smell good too!" Red and Purple smirked, shaking their heads at the two humans' ridiculous comments. They waded out, steering clear of the nude boys. Not too much longer passed until A.J. and Dib also joined in on the fun. ZIM invited the boys over to him and asked them if they wanted to be baptized. ZIM had the false belief he was an ordained minister. The little Irken dipped Dib into the water, when he brought his friend back up he shouted,

"Now you belong to the holy family of Jesus Christ! Amen! Children of God rejoice!" ZIM sounded like a black, minister from the south of America. Dib rolled his eyes, muttering something about being agnostic. ZIM playfully slapped Dib on the back. "Hey! This is a good opportunity to teach Purple how to swim." ZIM smiled at Red. Purple shook his head.

"I'm only in here to cool off." Red scooted closer to Purple.

"Aww, c'mon buddy. It's not too hard." Purple took a few slow steps back. They would've been quicker if not for the water.

"Stay away from me." Red gave ZIM an evil grin. He jumped up and put all his body weight on Purple's shoulders. The unexpected weight caused him to get dunked under the water. This caught Purple by surprise and he got a mouthful of water. He came up sputtering. Red laughed.

"Lesson one: Don't breath under water."

"Wow! Thanks, jerk! Without your brilliant wisdom I probably would have drowned by now!" Red smiled and patted the other man's head. His eye then caught something that moved on the bank. That something slid nearly silently into the water. Red's jaw slackened having an idea of what it could be.

"Umm . . . Pur, boys, get to shore now." Red said. Purple was already making his way towards shore anyway, being peeved at his friend for dunking him.

"Planning on it anyway, asshole."

"What's wrong, Red?" ZIM asked.

"Just get to shore-"

"What is it?"

"Get. To. Shore." Red glared at ZIM, hissing at him through gritted teeth. ZIM raised his brows at this but he and his pals all got out of the water. Red remained in the center of the small pond in waist-deep water. His eyes were glued to the still water, he gradually walked to a spot of the pond where it was shaded by the trees and murky by mud. Without warning, Red stuck the blade in between his teeth and submerged into the water. The guys observed from the bank. They had no idea what Red was up to. Red's body had disappeared as soon as he went under. There was two sets of air bubbles that went up to the surface. One set belonging to Red the other set belonged to something swimming right toward where Red's bubbles were. ZIM's eyes went wide with realization.

"Ooooh." He gawked. His friends looked at him in wonder of what his epiphany was. Before they could ask however, wild thrashing from the pond ensued. The disturbed water created huge waves as an unseen fight commenced below the surface. The human boys were awestruck. Red has been under the surface for half a minute and now something crazy was happening and they had no idea what it was. ZIM and Purple didn't seem concerned however. After another few seconds of intense thrashing of the water, it stilled and a pool of red blood spread out in the water. Then nothing. No more movement, Red didn't rise to the surface, whatever happened, it wasn't good.

"Oh my God." Dib said. "Is he alright?" ZIM shrugged. More long moments passed with no sign of the eldest. ZIM was about to enter the water when the surface broke and up came a gasping, bloody Red. He was knifeless now. The questions as to what was going on were answered a second after he surfaced, the body of a dead, fresh water croc floated up as well. The knife plunged into its neck. Fortunately, that was what was bleeding. Not Red. ZIM smiled broadly. Red grinned at him.

"Got us dinner."

**August** **10, 2001 **

Red groaned at the task ahead of them. He ran a hand over his antenna, looking down to the bottom of the massive crack in the earth. "Well," He started, petting his horse's mane. "Guess this is goodbye, mate."

"Do we have to leave our horses?" Purple asked.

"Looks like. This gorge stretches on for many kilometers in both directions." Red said, regretfully. Purple opened his mouth to make a suggestion. "And no, we're not gonna eat the horses, you stupid Canadian." Purple closed his mouth again, pouting. He then tried to make another suggestion. "Or the camels." Purple scowled.

"Fuck you, Red."

"No thanks." Red grabbed the saddlebags off the horses back. He took off all the tack the horse had on, bridle and all. He gave his horse one last stroke down the nose before slapping it's hip. It bolted off in a sprint in a random direction. Purple and ZIM did the same. Then ZIM helped with the dromedaries. "Unfortunately these bags are not backpacks. They're made for horses' backs and horses' backs only. So this is gonna be one of our many challenges from here on out. But the first main challenge as of right now is getting down into the bottom of this gorge then scaling it to get back up." Red pointed to where the earth ended then picked up again quarter of a mile away. "It's a good thing we have climbing gear. Anyone ever descended a cliff before?" ZIM and Purple seemed to be the only ones who had. "Alright, well that's another challenge." Red reached into one of the bags and pulled out ropes and safety harnesses. He went to the edge of the cliff and tied one long rope around a sturdy tree. He then threw the remaining rope into the pit. He put the harness on himself and clipped it to the rope. "I'll go down first to see if it's safe. Peder, you go down last once the boys are safely down."

"Do we have enough harnesses?" Red froze as he was about to propel down.

". . . No." Red sighed. He took off the harness. "We have three. I won't use one, ZIM is good at climbing up and down ropes, I seen how he works. I swear he's part monkey. I'd think you're strong enough to handle your own body weight." Red looked at the boys. "One of you boys will have to go down without a harness either." They all looked at one another. After awhile Dib raised his hand.

"If I fall, you'll be there to catch me, right?" Dib asked. Red smiled warmly at the boy.

"Of course." Red grabbed onto the rope again, put his feet on the very edge and leaned his body over. He slowly used his arms to crawl down the rope, his legs intertwined with the rope for assurance. He just hoped that the other boys would propel properly down the cliff. Slowly but surely, inch by inch, Red got closer to the bottom which had to be at least fifty feet down. Red muttered a silent prayer. He soon found himself at the bottom. He looked up. "Alright! Zeiden, you first!" Red kept his gaze upwards. The rope swung at the disturbance from the top of the cliff and soon ZIM was hanging over the edge. ZIM let himself down quicker than Red had. Of course Red was being cautious, ZIM just seemed like he wanted to keep getting going with things. Once ZIM was down, the two waited for Purple to give instructions to the younger boys, strapping them into the harnesses and sending them down one-by-one with all the bags strapped to them. A.J. first followed by Chester, Timmy, then Dib. The poor boy was scared to death having to go down with no safety reassurance. Dib was slowest of them all. Making his way down. No one made a sound in fears that it might spook him. Dib peaked down and nearly threw a fit. He mentally screamed, swore, and cursed himself for putting himself up for the task. Dib was only ten feet away from the ground when his tired hands started slipping. He clutched onto the rope as he slid all the way down into Red's grasp. He cried out in pain at the rope burn. He held out his shaky hands and blew on them, hoping that that'll sooth it. Blood was starting to pour out of the abrasion. As Purple lowered himself, Red knelt down, Dib sitting on his knee, and inspected the damage. "Hurts, mate, I know. Years of wrangling and roping, my hands have permanent scars from burns like this." Red gathered saliva in his mouth and spit it into Dib's hands. The boy cringed, not expecting the man to do that at all. "Rub your hands together and throw some dirt on it. Sorry to sound insincere, trust me I really feel for you, but I need you to toughen up because you now have to climb up the cliff." Once all were down, the party of seven walked to the opposite side to begin scaling the steep cliff. Red scratched his head. "Okay boys, we won't have any safety devices for this. Just beware of your footing and keep a firm hold, okay? There's no going back down once we're up there." The boys trekked over to the other side of the gorge. Red noticed just how wet and muddy it was all the way down in the gorge. He feared that the rocks would be slippery.

"Shall ZIM lead?" Purple asked. Red nodded.

"Yeah, Pur and I will take up the rear. Just to keep an eye on you boys in case something goes wrong." ZIM started climbing immediately. The other boys hesitantly followed. Purple and Red stayed down until the boys were up quite aways which took a rather long time for them to climb half way. Red nodded to Purple to go. "I'll be last this time." Purple didn't say anything. He started his way up, Red followed a minute after. ZIM was already at the top, he was helping haul Dib up and over. ZIM gave Dib antibiotic ointment and gauze to dress his wounds, Timmy was waiting for help to get up and over and Chester was just below him. A.J. however seemed to be struggling. He looked stuck. "Get to the kids, Pur, I'll help this one." Red said. He climbed up directly below A.J. "Hey, mate, what's the hold up?"

"I can't move. I'm frickin' terrified." The boy whimpered.

"She'll be right, mate. Keep your gaze up to where the rest of our little posse is." A.J. craned his head upward just in time to see Purple pull himself up to safety.

"O-okay." A.J. was shaking hard. It was obvious to see. He climbed on as slow as a fat, sloth. Red lingered right behind. Prepared for anything that might go wrong. "M-Mr. Macale, it's starting to get slippery. These rocks are wet."

"Firm grip, c'mon bud." Red looked down. They were probably twenty feet up by now. A.J. suddenly gasp as his foot slipped. He accidentally kicked Red in the face. The man was taken by surprise and lost his grip on the rocks he was clinging to, his feet slipped and he found himself starting to plummet to the hard dirt and rock ground twenty feet below. A.J. screamed as Red fell. A face of pure horror dared not look below in fears of what he'd see. Red reached out hoping to grasp something to break his fall. His claws just ended up scraping the rock wall. Red then landed hard on his left side, leg snapping, shoulder smashing, hip crushing, and head knocking to the ground. And then, he saw nothing.

**...**

"What the fuck just happened?" ZIM hoisted A.J. up, his voice panicked. The boy pointed down.

"R-Red . . . f-fell . . . h-he-" A.J. couldn't finish anything he was trying to say. Purple and ZIM rushed to the side of the cliff. Far below they saw him, laying on his side, unmoving.

"Red!" ZIM's panicked cry echoed. "Red!" ZIM got himself ready to climb down when Purple stopped him.

"You can't climb down! Not without a rope! That's more dangerous than climbing up. You won't be able to see where you're going."

"Red's down there though!" ZIM cried, trying to escape Purple's grasp.

"You can't go down." He pushed ZIM into Dib. "Watch him, Dillon." Purple looked over the ledge again. Red was still motionless. He bit his lip hard. "Oh God, fuck, fuck, what do I do?" A.J. was hysterical. ZIM was the same and violent now by the way he just smacked Dib across the face. The other two buffoons couldn't help him. Purple pushed a fist into his forehead as he tried to think. The only plan coming to his mind was to go down himself. But he couldn't otherwise he'd more than likely end up like Red. He already slipped a few times going up. Going down he'd slip and fall for sure and the kids would be all alone to fend for themselves. Purple gazed down, watching for any signs of life. There was no telling if Red was alive or not. The fall was a little less than the half way point, and he didn't land on his neck, maybe he'll just suffer serious injury and not death. Purple looked back to ZIM. The poor smeet and his brother had an extra sensory perception with each other. If Red was hurt, ZIM sure as heck was hurting too. Not physically but he felt the pain of extreme empathy and pity for Red. Purple sat back, bringing his knees up to his chest.

He couldn't do a thing. Not a single thing.

**Meanwhile**

"You will not stop until you find my smeet! I will not tolerate laziness on your parts!" Tenn shook her head at her mother-in-law. She's been screaming at the rangers for ten minutes now. "The longer you stay here, the longer they'll have to remain in that wilderness!" Tenn smirked. She loved Kaddie. She really did, but she could just be so . . . high strung, especially when it came to her youngest child.

Grapa came with Kaddie as well as Purple's older sister. Tenn was next to positive Grapa was going to ask Zee out at anytime. He'd be a good catch for her. The fact that he was her husband's best friend was a bonus. Marzi was talking with Zee in the other room. Tenn remained in the sitting room with the infuriated mother and nonchalant ranger. Leslie was present too, however she remained quiet. Deep in thought. Tenn could tell by the way Leslie's non blinking eyes stared off into space and her teeth bit lightly into the flesh of her bottom lip.

"Something wrong, sis?" Tenn asked. Leslie snapped out of it and looked at her.

"Why?"

"You're thinking is pretty intense."

"Well . . ."

"So what's on your mind?" Leslie shifted.

"It's weird. You'd think it's dumb."

"The only dumb thing you've ever said, Les, is telling Red that it was okay for him to purchase a paintball gun. My car never looked the same again." Leslie chuckled a bit.

"Well you see, the night before nana asked him to go to Alice Springs he had a terror."

"That's not out of the ordinary."

"I know it's not. I sleep with him every night and he has them often. More often now than he previously had. But it's what he said in his sleep. He said, 'something bad is gonna happen' as if he were foreshadowing he'd go missing." Tenn raised a brow.

"That is weird." Tenn tried to rationalize it as best as she could. "Night terrors always give people a sense of impending death or unfortunate events. So maybe it wasn't so odd for him to say that then go missing two days later." Leslie shrugged.

"I dunno. It's pretty coincidental if you ask me."

"Yeah . . . Guess it is."

"Ma'am, return my hat!" The two women looked back to Kaddie and the ranger.

"Not until you get your ass out of here and into the copter! My boy is coming home and you're not resting until you find him!" She swatted the ranger with his hat. The man scowled. Tenn scurried over to the tizzy.

"Ma, he's trying to help us. Stop pissing him off." Tenn hissed, yanking the hat out of the shorter woman's grasp. Tenn handed the hat back to the ranger. "I'm sorry. She's a mama bear. What are ya gonna do?" The man huffed and left. Tenn turned back to Kaddie. "Well now you probably just doomed them all. Good on ya."

**Later**

**Dusk**

Purple paced back and forth. He's been doing that for an hour now just trying to think of someway to get to Red. Even if he did make it back down safe and sound, there was no way he'd be able to haul Red back up by himself. And Red was probably hurt bad enough to not be able to walk, that is if he's not already gone. Purple walked to the ledge again and looked down for the umpteenth time. Red still hasn't moved an inch. Purple kept a wary gaze on his fallen brother for a few more minutes just to see if he could see Red's chest rising and falling. He was too far away to tell.

They needed to keep moving, but they couldn't go without Red. Some of them should keep going, looking for help, while one of them stays behind with Red. Purple came to a final decision. A scary decision but he had no choice.

"One of you boys will have a very, very important job." Purple started. The five youngsters looked up to him. "One of you is staying here with Red. The rest will be going with me to find some help. We have flare guns, we're gonna use them. If you see or hear a plane or helicopter flying by, shoot a flare. They'll see it and they'll help us."

"I'll stay!" A.J. offered immediately. "My dad is a doctor and he taught me a lot of what he knows."

"A medical doctor, right?" Purple asked for verification.

"Yeah. Surgeon." Purple nodded.

"Very well. I don't think your skills will come in handy however. I'm not allowing you to go down there. You'd slip for sure." Purple strained himself to think harder. He was trembling with fright. He dared not panic and cry out for his friend in fears that'd it'd just make them panic as well. "Just . . . stay up here. Keep a look out for any planes. We'll leave one flare here. Also, keep a close eye on Red. Look for any movements or twitching, anything to indicate that he's still . . ." Purple casted a wary glance to ZIM. "Never mind." He picked up one of the bags and threw it over his left shoulder. "You boys come with me."

"I'm not going!" ZIM stomped his foot. "I ain't leaving him behind!" The boy's face was completely soaked in his own tears. "I'm not leaving Red!" Purple crouched down to be face-to-face with ZIM.

"Zeiden, I need you to keep calm, okay? Red is fine. He'll be alright-"

"He won't be alright, you idiot, he fell twenty feet down onto solid rock!" Purple furrowed his brow. He was trying, he really was. He couldn't be the man with all the answers. He couldn't magically heal people or turn back time to prevent something from happening. Purple stood and grabbed ZIM's hand firmly. "You're not staying. I'm the only one besides Red that knows how to deal with your epilepsy. I can't let you out of my sight." ZIM tried pulling his hand out of his grasp.

"Let me go! Peder, let me be!" ZIM kicked his brother's leg. Purple's grip only got stronger. He ordered the remaining boys to pick up some bags and follow him. Purple turned back to A.J. one last time before heading out again.

"It wasn't your fault, kiddo."

**Night**

The boy sat in silence. Flashlight in his lap, not currently in use. The moon was bright enough to lighten up the world. A.J. sighed heavily. He wasn't scared that he was alone. Not even when the wild dogs started to howl. Purple left one bag behind for A.J. It had a automatic pistol, loaded and ready to go. All A.J. had to do when he used it was to flip the safety off. The bag also contained jerky that Red and Purple made from the kangaroo ZIM hunted and three canned waters. A.J. ate a stick of jerky and drank half of one can. He felt bad, Red was going hungry tonight. That is if he was still alive- No! He's alive! A.J. pushed the thought of Red being dead from his mind. He couldn't live with the guilt of killing his best friend's older brother. More than that! Red was ZIM's soul protector and guardian. A.J.'s guts twisted with uneasiness inside him. He drew his knees up and put his head down, wrapping his arms around his legs. It was cold. And this night was the first night he didn't have an Irken thermal blanket. A.J. was shivering like mad. He was tempted to climb down into the gorge and snuggle up to Red. As weird as that sounds, it was still a very smart idea to share body heat. Especially with a species that emitted a hot blooded temperature instead of a warm one. A.J. laid on his side. Hoping that sleep would overcome him. Unfortunately, it will not find him.

He'll be without sleep tonight.

**...**

_Oh child._

"Huh?"

_You look awful._

"Wh-what?"

_You took quite a tumble there, haven't you?_

". . . Who's speaking?"

_Who's asking?_

He couldn't see anything. No matter how much he squinted to see, there wasn't anything or anyone around. Who could be talking? It was pure white. Everything. Everything was white. Everything? Yet there was nothing there. So nothing was white.

As far as he could tell, there wasn't even a ground. Yet he was still standing. He looked straight, behind him, above, left, right, down. It all looked the same. Blindingly white.

"What do you want?"

_I want you to look at this._

"Look at what? There's nothing here!"

_Shh. Look._

Before him and image appeared. A scene suddenly set and he found himself standing in what looked to be a massive, living room with a tall ceiling, huge windows, and a staircase with catwalk to his right, the floor space was wide and had plenty of extra room. Before him was the furniture. And a family. Not just any family. _His _family.

A young, little girl, no older than four with long, wavy reddish-brunette hair with sharply kinked antenna poking out, was playing happily on the floor with dolls. She was acting out a little sketch in her head.

"I love your top, Stacy! Where'd you get it?" A man accompanied her on the floor, also holding a doll. His belly was rounded, he looked like he was at least four months pregnant.

"Why thank you! And if you _must _know, I got it from _Hylands._" He responded in a mock female voice.

"I think I'm gonna get one just like yours!"

"Auh mah gawd! We'd be twinners!" The man chirped. A woman entered the room smiling, in her arms was a set of two smeets, sleeping peacefully.

"C'mon you two. It's bed time." The man and the little girl whined.

"Aww! We were gonna go dress shopping! The prom is coming up!" The man groaned. The woman shook her head.

"Nope! It's bedtime. Both of you get your jammies on and c'mon. I'll tuck you in." The little girl stood up with the man. She grabbed at her father as if to say, 'pick me up'. The man bent down and scooped up the little girl. He rested her on his hip and kissed her cheek. The girl smiled and embraced him around his neck.

"Night, daddy."

"Goodnight, baby girl." He set her back down and she ran up the stairs. The woman approached the man and kissed him on the lips.

"She's definitely daddy's little girl." She said to him. "I can only imagine how she'd turn out without you."

"Yes well, I am pretty much the biggest impact on her life ever."

"Oh really? Are you the impact on her? Or is she the impact on _you_?" The man's lips went slightly agape. The woman smiled and kissed him again. "Come on, Red. Lets go to bed."

Whiteness again.

_That's my granddaughter. My beautiful, beautiful, granddaughter. And she needs you, her father. She needs you more than anyone else in this universe. You're the only one who'll ever be there to help her with her problems and conditions. You'll understand her better than anyone else. She's a piece of you. And the two other smeets, they cannot exist without you. _

Another scene set before his very eyes. They were in a huge cathedral. Bells were tolling. He saw himself standing in the front wearing a tuxedo. Hundreds of people were sitting and observing. Cameras were everywhere filming him. To his right, he saw a young man standing at approximately five and a half foot. He looked to be about twenty or so. He was smiling broadly. The young man was fidgeting nervously but seemed happy all the same. The double doors at the end of the main isle opened wide and sweet music from a celestial organ began to play. A woman in white walked down the isle. The same little girl from the previous scene threw petals in front of the bride. The woman made it to the end and stepped up and faced the young man, standing just half an inch above him.

"We are gathered here today to bear witness to an eternal bond. A bond known as marriage, where man and woman unite together as one flesh. Today we recognize Takayla Griffon and Zeiden Macale and their infinite love for one another. They'll be joined in holy matrimony and together in Christ, will they live their lives as one. They'll raise their young in Christ's favor and they'll be shining lights for those who surround them."

_You don't want to miss this. Do you? _

"No! I wouldn't dream of it!"

_Then you must be strong. Don't give up. You'll be just fine. _

His eyes stayed on himself in front of the church. He saw himself starting to cry as the rabbi began getting closer to the vows and the final seal. The kiss. The young man turned to Red and gave him a reassuring smile. He saw the boy mouth these words to him, '_Thank you for everything._'

The two lovers recited their meaningful vows then the rabbi announced it.

"I now pronounce you, Mrs. and Mr. Takayla Griffon-Macale. You may kiss the bride."

Back to white.

_I love you, child. I love you so much. Now go. Heal and pray. You're going to have a great life._

The man looked about him. Still no one was there. He bowed his head and closed his eyes.

"Thank you . . . mom."

**August 11, 2001**

The world was blurry and spinning around him. Light from the sun high above shined in his barely opened eyes. A.J. rubbed his face, stretching and yawning. He didn't sleep at all. He was half conscious the whole night. The boy stood up stiffly and walked to the edge of the gorge to check on Red. He's been doing that every other hour. Peaking over and expecting to see the same unmoving Irken below, A.J. was shocked to see the Irken attempting to move his arm he wasn't laying on. The boy gasped and nearly jumped for joy.

"Red! Red! Are you okay? Can you speak?" A.J. called down to him. Red went still again. The Irken wasn't capable of moving his head yet.

"Wh-who-" Red choked and coughed. A.J. strained to see him better. "Who's wi-" His body dry heaved. If it weren't for an empty stomach he would have vomited. Red cried with agony at the uncontrollable wrenching of his broken body.

"Just stay put, Red! They're getting help!" A.J. shouted. Red on the ground moaned. His eyes scanned his surroundings without moving his head. He couldn't remember much. What he was doing and why he felt like he got hit by a bus. Red's head was a jumbled mess. He could barely form sentences. He couldn't even tell where exactly he was hurting. All he knew is that he was in pain. And a lot of it. "Don't move!" Red opened his mouth and realized just how dry it was. His throat too. In fact, his whole body felt utterly dehydrated. And his stomach was on fire and hurting. But of course everything was hurting for him at the moment.

"I dun hu . . ." Red said in a daze. The boy above did not hear him. Red sighed. It hurt to breath. He closed his eyes so the sun wasn't shining in them and hoping it'd help with his mammoth sized headache. At that moment, Red wanted nothing but to die then and there. Anything would be better than the pain he felt right now. Red's eyes flew open when he heard a rustling sound move through some nearby dead leaves that have fallen into the gorge. Red tried his hardest to look above him where the noise was coming from, but his question of what it was, was answered when a brown snake slithered into view. Red recognized the snake and because he knew just what type it was, it made it several times more scary. A mulga snake. This breed of snake was a more aggressive and agitated breed. It would size up, sway side to side and hiss loudly if it feels threatened. The scariest part was their bite. These snakes were the heaviest venomous snake in Australia and are very savage when they sink their fangs down into flesh. Sometimes it'd chew as it's releasing its venom in its prey. If he were to get bitten he'd die for sure. He'd need the antivenom to treat it, which he didn't have at this moment. Red gasped. He choked on some blood in his throat and he coughed it out. The snake slowly came closer to Red, curious about this creature that it's never seen before laying on the ground. Red shook. "Th-this day . . . can't g-get worssse."

**Meanwhile**

"ZIM, please catch up." Purple pleaded. "I gotta keep my eyes on you." ZIM's gaze was geared toward the ground. He shook his head.

"We shouldn't have left him." ZIM whispered. "We should've stayed. We could have at least tried to make it down." Purple stopped dead in his tracks. The boys who were following right behind him ran into his back. Purple turned back around.

"So what? You wanna stay there and _wait _for help instead of seeking it?" ZIM nodded.

"Yes." Purple groaned, rubbing his forehead. He looked up to the clear blue sky beyond the canopy of trees. He pondered hard for a long time.

"Okay, fine. We'll go back and wait for help. We only walked an hour last night. It shouldn't take long to get back." Purple said. ZIM beamed. Purple cracked a smile at him. "We'll make sure your brother comes home safely." ZIM grabbed his OBFAM's hand and started to drag him back to where they came from.

**Later**

Ever since Red came to, A.J.'s eyes never left his body for a second. Red was laying on his side, away from A.J. He was breathing shallowly. A.J. could tell by the way Red's shoulder rose and fell with shuddery breaths. A.J. jumped a little when he heard footsteps behind him. He stood up and whirled around expecting the worst. He sighed with relief when he saw ZIM.

"Zeiden? What are you doing here?"

"We all came back." Soon the four others stumbled out of the brush and into the opening. A.J. rushed to them.

"He's regained consciousness. But he's incapacitated. We can't rely on him to climb up." Purple and ZIM went to the ledge. Red's antenna merely twitched and that was the only sign of life besides the rapid breathing. ZIM's heart sank. He's only seen his brother in that terrible of a condition once before at the rodeo not too long back. But this time Red wasn't mauled by a bull. It was a twenty foot drop that rendered him temporarily paralyzed.

"Guys, he hasn't had anything to drink or eat for twenty-four hours now. One of us should at least try getting down there." A.J. suggested.

"I will-" ZIM's volunteerism was cut short by Purple.

"No! No, no. I'll go. You're right, Austin. He's fine now but if he doesn't stay hydrated, he won't be alive for much longer." Purple picked up a bag filled with cans of water and some kangaroo jerky. He walked to the ledge and peaked over. He moved to the side so Red wasn't directly below him and threw the bag down. It landed hard on the ground. Purple grabbed the kangaroo skin blanket and also threw it down. He looked to ZIM. "You can go on a hunt and get more skins and meat. But be careful. Take Dib with you. Boys, I need you all to remain calm. This is a scary time, but if we panic now, we're all surely screwed." Purple took a deep breath and got on his belly, dangling his legs off the cliff. He slowly made his way down keeping a vice-like grip on the stones and kicking his feet into the footholds. His right shoulder hurt bad. He wasn't supposed to work it out too hard otherwise the tendonitis would flare up. He grunted trying his best to ignore the pain. He then tried to put himself in Red's shoes and imagined how much pain Red must've been in. That was unless Red still had an adrenaline rush from the fall and couldn't feel anything. The descent didn't take as long as he thought it would for Purple soon found himself five feet from the ground. He jumped down the rest of the way and did a tumble landing to prevent harm to himself. "I made it!" He called up to the boys. He heard someone give an unenthusiastic, 'woo' and it went silent again. "Use the flares if you hear or see any planes!"

"Got ya! Now check on Red!" ZIM's voice replied. Purple didn't have to be told twice. In just a second he was by his friend's side. He knelt by Red's head.

"Red, can you hear me?" The man made a whining noise. His teeth were bared, clenched in pain. His eyes were closed, shut tight. "I'll take that as a yes." Purple pressed his fingers into Red's back and felt up and down his spine to check for injuries there. He suspected a spinal injury considering Red couldn't move. Red didn't flinch however when Purple pressed. This relieved him.

"P-P . . . Nnmm . . ." Red's mouth tried to form words but nothing but consonants came out. Purple put a gentle hand on Red's face.

"Listen, man. You're not gonna like how this sounds but I'm going to flip you over." Red's eyes opened. He looked fearful.

"Uhh. Nuh." Red whimpered, quietly.

"I'm putting you on your back so you're not laying on your injuries, okay?"

"Uuuhhhh. Nnnmmm." Purple slid his hands underneath Red and ever so carefully, pushed him over onto his back. Red yelped loudly. The grown man turned into a blubbering mess in a matter of a second. Purple cringed, never having heard Red cry in such a way before. Red was definitely in quite some pain. Purple took notice of the huge gash above Red's left brow. Blood pooled over his eye, older blood that bled the night before dried and crusted on his skin. Tears poured out of Red's eyes. The man was sobbing and gasping shallow breaths. This made Purple almost sick to his stomach with grief. He held Red's face in his hands.

"Hey, hey," Purple whispered, soothingly to calm him down. His forearm was resting on Red's chest, Purple could feel his rapid heart beat. "Shh, listen. Listen to me." Red choked and his shuddery sobs continued but they were less violent. The jerking of the sobs probably hurt him even more. "We'll be going home soon and you'll be greeted by a beautiful woman and a gorgeous daughter in her arms. She's gonna give you a big kiss and tell you just how much she loves you and she'll hand the smeet to you and you'll be able to see the love and admiration reflecting in her blue eyes. She can't talk yet but if she could she too would be telling you that she loves you. And you love them. And it'll be wonderful to see those lovely ladies again won't it? So that's why you need to man-up and get your ass back there because your family needs you." Red took a breath and grunted a reply which sounded like an agreement. Purple smiled. He got up to retrieve the bag he threw. Luckily the water didn't explode by the impact of it falling from fifty feet. He opened up a can. The water was warm but it'd definitely be better than nothing. He sat by Red's head and contemplated on how he was gonna give Red the water. He couldn't drink laying down, that'd drown him. He couldn't really sit up without screeching in agony. Purple decided to pick Red's head up and rest it in his lap. Red's big crimson eyes looked up somberly to Purple. His mouth was cracked open just a hair. Purple noticed Red's bottom lip was split and more dried blood covered his chin. He assumed Red bit it during the impact of the landing. Purple poured some of the water into his palm and wiped Red's face. He repeated the process but instead of wiping his chin, he brought his palm up to Red's lips and had the water dribble into his mouth. The man closed his lips then opened them again after he swallowed what little water he received.

"I h-haa . . . have a-" Red couldn't finish his sentence. He coughed.

"Red, don't strain yourself. Don't talk, don't think, don't move, just be still and rest. Night will fall soon and it'll get cold and you'll shiver. That in itself will kill your body. So for right now, relax." Purple brought the can of water up to his friend's dry, split lips. He slowly leaked the water into Red's mouth. Purple gave him a moment to swallow the liquids. Red was having trouble downing it however. Finally all the water did find it way down Red's throat. Purple then proceeded to give him some more. "And in case you're wondering, ZIM is fine. He's up there. He's with his friends and they'll all be fine." Once Red stopped taking water, Purple went to inspect the damage. Irkens didn't swell very much so it was hard to pinpoint the problem areas. He was positive Red sustained yet another concussion. Red and ZIM were prone to those, but once he thought of it more, so was he. Red's arm was dislocated, Purple could see that even through Red's clothes. By the way Red's leg was bent, Purple was also pretty sure something happened to his pelvis. Possibly fractured. Purple couldn't fix the broken pelvis but he did know how to pop bones back into place. ". . . Red, I'm gonna fix your arm a sec." Red moaned, weakly shaking his head. "It needs to be done, I'm sorry. I'll fix it now so we don't have to wait till later."

"Nuh, Pu- . . . Leave et." Red was much too drained to put up a proper fight.

"It'll only take a second. And as soon as it's back in place, it won't hurt as bad anymore." Red grit his teeth.

"Nuh." Purple gently took hold of Red's arm and configured where exactly it needed to be fixed. It was his shoulder. If he just pushed the arm up and in, it should be ready to go.

"Take a deep breath." Purple told him. Red whimpered. The other man tried to ignore the cries of his friend. Purple took a breath himself and with one swift move, he pushed the arm up and thrusted it so the bone would fit back into the socket. Red yelled out. The curse he shouted was the first coherent word Purple has heard from him since the accident. Red's unharmed, right arm flew up to smack Purple hard. Purple took the abuse. If he were in place of Red and Red just done that to him, he would've socked him too. Red was hyperventilating at the intense discomfort that flared up from the movement. Purple tried to calm him as best as he could. Red was inconsolable. Purple looked around. He turned his head so he was looking down the length of the gorge. A stream flowed directly down the middle. It seemed to stretch on forever. Purple removed himself from under Red's head and told him to hang tight. The man walked over to the stream and touched the water with his hand. The water was pleasantly cold and crisp. It was also crystal clear. But there was a reason why Red didn't stop to fill up on water from this stream. Bacteria. Coliforms enter the water from rain run offs into the gorge and gathered in the stream. There was no telling how much animal fecal matter was in the water. Red warned the boys not to drink from it because of this. Purple was wise about it too. Both were biologists originally who specialized in microorganisms and ecosystems, after six years of college all about subjects like that, they'd know what they were talking about.

Purple took off his shirt and submerged it into the water. He took it out, walked back to Red and wrung the shirt out then placed it over Red's head for his running fever. "Tomorrow we'll try moving, Red. If we go down the length of this gorge there's bound to be a spot where we'll find something to help us climb out easily." Red didn't make a sound. "But rest for now. I'll go over the plan with the boys tomorrow." Purple sat by Red's head, wiping the blood off his brow with his shirt. "On the bright side, nana won't force you to work when we get back." Red's eyes remained vacant but a small smile appeared on his lips. Purple grinned. His gaze traveled across his friend's broken body. His eyes finally settled on Red's leg and hip. That seemed to be the most badly damaged by far. He shifted to Red's hip lifting his shirt to see a massive bruise covering his body, but the majority of the bruise was hidden under Red's pants. It'll be hell for Red to even stand tomorrow. Purple sighed. Baby steps. It'll take a lot of patience. So they'll take it slow.

**Meanwhile**

"_Um . . . We may have to put off filming this week._" Zee said. "_Our stars are kind of missing_." Mr. Kugar, the director, gave her a shocked look.

"_Where are they?_" He nodded to the camera men behind him to start filming for the reality T.V. show.

"_They went to Alice Springs a couple days ago to retrieve some vaccines for our cattle and they never returned home. They ran out of gas._" Zee explained. "_They're out in the wilderness somewhere._"

"_Ooh, this is exciting!_" Kugar smiled. "_This will be an interesting episode! It'll be dramatic. Go! Elsewhere. Start filming the cousins and workers' reaction to their disappearance. Hold some interviews._" Kugar darted off. His crew scattered about, doing as told. Zee shook her head.

"It's like they don't even care."

"I'm sure they do, they're just putting their work first though." Tenn said.

"Tenn!" Gaz came running out of the house to the yard where the sisters were. She was holding the house phone to her chest. "The coast guard tracked them! They have their approximate location!" Tenn and Zee's eyes widened.

"How?"

"Cell phone." Zee stared blankly at Gaz for the longest time. After a few moments she slapped her hand over her face.

"Of course . . . One of the human boys must have a cell phone that the satellites could pick up. Right?" Gaz nodded.

"They're sending a crew out there immediately. They told me that they'll try to find them in the next day or two."

"Oh thank God." Tenn clutched her chest. "I'll go tell nana." She left Zee and Gaz. The older woman turned to the younger.

"Go tell your mum, too, Gaz, she'll want to hear it." The girl smiled and went off to find Leslie. Zee sighed with relief. She started when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She turned to come face-to-face with a tall man with light pink eyes. She smiled broadly. "In case you haven't heard, they found them, Grapa." The man shook his head.

"I haven't heard, but that's great to hear. I was a little worried. Ya know Purple and I got lost for two days while we were on our Senior year trip to Alaska?"

"Ya don't say? What's up with the men we're associated with and getting lost all the time?" Grapa shrugged. He wrapped Zee up in a hug.

"Well since we know your brothers will be okay, you wanna just have time to relax and . . . I dunno, hang out on the town. You could show me around. I haven't been downtown yet." Zee nodded.

"Okay. I'm sure nana wouldn't mind if I took some time off."

"Time off for what?" Zee turned to see her sister-in-law walking over to the couple.

"We're going out soon." Zee told her. Leslie cocked a brow.

"Mmkay, you two better watch it though, okay? No funny stuff." Zee rolled her eyes.

"Augh! You're filling in for Red, aren't you?"

"He's not here to do his job. Someone has to do it."

"Just don't be too much like him and hire people to follow me." Leslie scoffed.

"He did that before?"

"Red gave Gaz fifty bucks to follow me and Mark on a date." Leslie snickered.

"Sounds like something he'd do." Leslie said. "And once he returns, he won't be very pleased that you two went out on a date without his consent."

"He's not the boss of me." Zee said.

"That won't stop him from thinking that he is." Zee and Grapa stared at Leslie then shared a glance with one another.

"Suppose you're right." Grapa said. "But he'll learn eventually. Lets go." He took Zee's hand and led her out. She winked at Leslie. The older woman just smiled, shaking her head.

"You two behave!" Leslie turned around to go back inside the home. She walked past the living room and noticed Gaz watching Irken celebrity news broadcasts.

"_Yes! We just got the news. We got a call just moments ago from director, Lyle Kugar, that the Macale siblings have gotten lost on their earthen home._" Leslie groaned.

"Boy, news sure does spread quick, doesn't it? Now I'm gonna have to deal with all the media."

"Well, they're not here yet so you still have time to run." Gaz told her.

"I choose to stand my ground, though that is a tempting suggestion."

"_. . . It's true that Zeiden has been acting odd lately but I don't think it ties into this incident._" One reporter said to the other.

"Now they're going to over analyze everything and it'll be a mess and soon rumors will spread. Great." Gaz mumbled.

"_I hope they find them soon. I'm really looking forward to Red's upcoming music video for his new song, _Here I Lay._ I heard that it was gonna be one of his more risqué videos._" Leslie raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah right. Red's not like that . . . Of course he already did have to get half naked in front of the camera before."

"_I heard he was gonna be bound loosely to a bed, naked._"

"_Oh God, I hope so. I wouldn't mind seeing him like that._" The reporters chuckled together then continued to talk about the situation.

"Actually . . . I wouldn't mind seeing him like that either." Leslie muttered. Gaz gave her mother a disgusted look. "What?"

"You just . . . You just don't say something like that in front of your daughter. You're middle aged and have a smeet, you're not allowed to talk like that anymore."

"Oh please, you walked in on us doing all sorts of things."

"And you think I'm not traumatized?"

"Of course you're traumatized, honey. It's apart of life when living with Irkens."

"I especially hate it when I walk in on you guys and you two don't stop going at it."

"We're good at ignoring."

"Well you ignored me when you were all over him, having _sex_ on the staircase that one day!"

"Really? You saw that?"

"Yes!"

"I thought we were home alone."

"I was upstairs the whole time, mom."

"Wow . . . I guess we're _really _good at ignoring."

"I can never walk those steps without shuddering now, thanks to you."

"Guys!" Tak bound down the stairs. "I heard they found them. Is it true?"

"Yeah. They picked up a cellphone signal coming somewhere from the Kimberley. It's faint and nearly impossible to trace but they have hopes that they'll find them in a couple days." Gaz told her. Tak sighed.

"Thank God! I miss my Zei-Zei. And I keep getting calls from the girls at the studio asking me where he is and I don't know what to tell them. They probably think that I ate him or something."

"Just wait till you guys get home and you two can explain everything." Leslie told her. "Now why don't you girls help nana with things around here. The camera crew is here filming and they'll want to film some action. Even if that action is just milking cows or something." The two girls nodded and went out to do as told. "Tell them that they found them too while you're at it! They'll want to know."

**That Night**

Purple tried his best. He really did. But the roo skin blanket wasn't cutting it out for Red. The poor man was extremely tense, so tense that his muscles ached from shivering. Purple shook his head. He himself was freezing. He used his thigh to provide Red with a pillow. The other man planned on just sitting there all night, thinking about the next day. Purple snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Red's small voice.

"J-just lay n-next to me." He said. "I-it's not gay, it's sur-survival." Purple chuckled halfheartedly.

"I suppose we don't want to die of hypothermia now, right?" Red responded with a smile. Purple moved himself over to Red's right side and gently draped an arm over his pal. Red leaned his head against his friend's to share as much body heat as possible. He used his right arm to rest on top of Purple's body. A long silence lingered. The only noise was the sound of crickets and their breathing. The two couldn't tell whether it was awkward and unnecessary sleeping together like that or essential. After a minute with complete silence, Red spoke up,

"Well this is nice."

**Next Day**

"We're gonna take this slow. Okay? Breath." Red inhaled as deeply as he could through his mouth. His rib cage hurt when he did so. "Now, lets sit up." Purple grabbed Red's hand and told Red to brace himself. "Okay . . . Push your body up." Purple pulled Red up into a sitting position as Red himself tried with all his might to raise himself from the dirt ground. Red let out a wail as a searing pain ripped up from his pelvis.

"I-I ca-can't . . . stand. I can't."

"You can and you will. Bite your lip. I'll pick you up." Purple got behind his friend and put his arms underneath Red's under arms and hoisted him up. The injured man shrieked, his claws dug into Purple's flesh in his arms. Red withered and shook, panting as if he just sprinted a 5-K.

"Augh! Fuck, fuck. I can't . . . d-do this." Red sputtered. Bloody drool dripped down his cheek and jaw as he bit his lip to keep his cries to a minimum.

"Come on, Red. You're already up. Lets see how you walk." Purple got on the left side of Red so he wouldn't have to put any wait on his hurting half. Red slung his sore arm over Purple's shoulder and leaned on to him for support. "Look how well you're doing." Purple told him. "Can you put any pressure on your left leg?" Red didn't say anything. He looked at the ground in deep thought. He then lowered his leg and put the slightest of weight on it. He gasped when the pain came back worse than before.

"N-no." Purple groaned.

"Okay. Well at least try limping along with me. I don't want to drag you the whole way." Purple looked up to the top of the gorge wall. "Boys! You follow alongside the gorge. Do not climb down!" Purple called to them.

"Alright! Which way are we going first?" ZIM asked.

"East!"

". . . Which way are we going first?" ZIM repeated, peaking over the edge. Purple rolled his eyes.

"Right! We're going right of where you're standing now." Purple saw the boy nod and disappear to tell his friends what was going on. "You ready to go?" Purple asked Red. The injured man shook his head.

"Don't wanna . . . move." Red started to sway a bit. Soon Red's dead weight was all resting on Purple. It took him a moment to realize that Red had just fainted standing up. He probably couldn't handle the pain. Purple waited for Red to come to. A moment later, Red reopened his eyes. He was in a daze. "I'm gonna be sick." He whispered.

"Oh no, no. Don't get sick. Please-" Red keeled over and retched. Slipping out of Purple's grasp, he dropped on his hand and knees. Purple crouched by him, hand on his back for comfort. Red sobbed as he threw up water he had recently drank. His left leg looked uncomfortably twisted.

"It . . . hurts. It hurts." Red whined, eyes wide from shock of falling down on his injuries. He gasped to fill his lungs as if he just got the wind knocked out of him. "Peder . . . Please . . . I can't . . . d-do thisss. It hurts . . . so fucking bad."

"I know, Red. I know. Just hang in there." Purple lifted him back up cautiously. "You ready boys?"

"Yes sir!" Came ZIM's voice. Purple started walking slowly so Red could limp alongside him. The man gnashed his teeth. Searing agony shooting up from his hip.

"I won't . . . be able . . . to get far." Red panted. Purple continued to walk.

"There's got to be a way out. An easy access to the top." Purple muttered, mostly to himself.

"Don't count . . . on it." Red groaned, pitifully. The two continued to walk. Above they heard the five boys carry on a conversation about sports and female celebrities that they found attractive. Purple heard Timmy mention Tenn's name followed by a hard smacking noise and a cry of pain from the boy. Purple smirked. It was cute how ZIM protected his sisters like that. He's even hit Purple a number of times when he tried kissing his wife. He now knows better than to kiss Tenn when ZIM is sitting on her lap. When ZIM's on her lap, it's his time with Tenn. No one else's. "Pur, we have to . . . stop. It hurts . . . too much." Purple was tempted to just pick up the man bridal style and carry him the rest of the way. It'd take hours to find a route out at the pace they were going.

"We can't stop, Red. Come on. Be strong for me, please? We'll take a break in a hour, how about that?" Red moaned deeply. "I'll take that as a, 'yeah, okay'."

**Night**

**18 Hours Later**

"Look ahead, Red! There's a steady slope we can climb!" Purple said excitedly. Red tiredly raised his head. It was dark out. Their only light was the moon. Sure enough, there was a wide opening in the gorge with a long, gradual climbing, slope. It wasn't steep, it was perfect. Red lowered his head again. He was exhausted. Above, Purple saw ZIM run to the slope and made his way down to the bottom of the gorge. ZIM hauled himself over to his brothers. His friends trailed behind. Once ZIM was near, he had to restrain himself from throwing himself onto Red. Instead, ZIM grabbed Red's right hand and held it. He got on the tips of his toes and touched his forehead to his brother's for an Irken kiss, as they were called. Symbolic for brother or sisterhood. Red smiled weakly.

"You hurt bad, don't you?" ZIM looked at the dried blood covering Red's face.

"I've never hurt . . . this bad before." Red whispered. "Not even after getting . . . mauled by a bull." ZIM pouted wanting to cry with empathy for his brother.

"I'm so sorry, Dr. Macale." The hurt Irken gazed up to A.J. "I didn't mean to kick you. I'm so sorry." The young human boy looked remorseful in every way. "I'll help you with everything until the day you heal. It's probably the only way I can apologize." Red shook his head.

"No . . . An apology is enough." The boy wasn't convinced.

"Here you stand, broken and dying and you're telling me that an, 'I'm sorry' is enough to make up for my carelessness?" Red didn't say anything. After awhile he just nodded.

"How's your head? You probably got a concussion, didn't you? Do you have a headache? Migraine?" ZIM asked. Purple smirked loving how the young boy sounded so much like his older brother. And ZIM said he wasn't like Red at all.

"Zeiden, please. Chill out for a second. You can play doctor with him once we're up." Purple said. "Support his right side, ZIM. I think he may go down at any moment." Purple pressed onwards to the desired destination. Purple's own knees felt like they were going to give soon too. He looked forward to a long rest at the top. The human boys walked in front. Purple wrinkled the nose area on his face when a gust of wind blew. He was walking downwind of the boys. "You humans reek."

"Well, our dear Dr. Peder Lee Kinley. Us humans have anatomies in which when it gets hot our bodies perspire. As an everyday term, we call it sweating." Dib sarcastically informed. "Now sweat itself does not stink. However, the bacteria on our bodies consume our sweat and let off the odor you're smelling."

". . . That and I just farted." Chester said. Purple huffed.

"Humans are disgusting creatures."

"Tell me about it. I hang out with these pigs all the time." ZIM mumbled.

"And I married one."

"That's your own fault." Purple said. The group found themselves at the very top of the gorge within two minutes. Purple sighed with relief.

"Well that only took us all day." Purple found a large gum tree where he could sit against. "Do you want to lay or sit?" He asked Red.

"Lay." Purple slowly lowered Red to the ground. Laying him on his back. Red adjusted himself so it was most comfortable for him. Purple knelt by him. He raised his hands in front of Red.

"Let it be known that I'm not trying to molest you." Purple again pulled up Red's shirt all the way to his chest, far enough to show the very bottom of his tattoo. Purple used his right hand to correspond with Red's left hip to feel around his pelvis in numerous places, paying close attention to where Red cringed when he felt in a certain spot. Red winced when Purple touched a very sensitive place right on his hip bone. "I'm taking a shot out in the dark here, but I think the problem areas include your femur, hip socket, pubis and ilium."

"That'll be . . . the most awkward . . . surgery I'll ever have." Red panted. He squeezed his eyes shut tight. "It's getting worse . . . It's getting so much worse . . . I'm loosing feeling." Purple frowned. He leaned back on the gum tree, putting his hands over his face.

"I can't believe this." Silence lingered for awhile. Everyone was tired and in need of rest. ZIM laid himself on his side by Red, keeping a close eye on his big brother. "Just try to get some rest, gents. We'll continue to-" Purple cut himself off and listened intently. "Wait." He strained his antenna to hear. In the distance he could hear the humming of an air craft. A helicopter. Purple sprung to his feet and ripped through one of the supply bags. "This is it. They're here." He finally found what he was looking for. A flare. Purple stood in a large clearing and fired the gun. The red flare flew high into the air, lighting up brightly in the dark sky. Purple felt his heart beat faster with hope. The chopper's hum was getting louder and louder. "They saw it. Boys get ready." The humans cheered with excitement. ZIM smiled but remained in place by Red.

"Hear that, Red? They're coming." Not too much longer, the helicopter was hovering right over the clearing and slowly descending to the forest floor. Coming down for a landing. "You're going to get fixed now." ZIM kissed Red's beating temple, lovingly.

"Zei," Red took a painful deep breath. "I forgot the bovine vaccines in the truck."

**Morning**

Red woke up in a daze. He didn't recognize his surroundings at all. He was in a bed, tied down with velcro straps. Red also felt as though he were in motion. The sound of rapidly spinning propellers rung in his antennas.

"We're landing, Red. We're landing at Kununurra District hospital." ZIM was by his side. Sitting on a bench with a seatbelt. "Leslie will be there."

"The hospital?" Red slurred.

"Yes! They're going to bring you in for immediate treatment." Red's eyes kept drooping. He was too tired to talk yet. Before he knew it, the chopper landed and men lifted him, still on his stretcher then put the portable bed on its wheels to roll him in. ZIM walked next to Red as they went to enter the hospital.

"Where's Les?" Red asked. ZIM looked up. He knew she'd be here. He finally spotted the woman by the outside of the door of the hospital. At that same time, Leslie noticed ZIM too and made a beeline for him.

"Zeiden! Are you-" Leslie stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her husband in his current condition. "Oh my God." She bolted to his side. She took his hand and kissed his filthy face repeatedly. "What happened to you, baby?"

"It's . . . it's a long story." Leslie's hands cupped his face as she kissed him multiple times again.

"They called me and told me to come here but I had no idea you were hurt."

"I'll be . . . fine now." Leslie walked inside with the medics.

"Mrs. Strud, we're gonna have to have you wait out here in the lobby. We need to give him immediate medical care." One medic said. "We'll give him back to you once we get him into temporary splints. Then you could help clean him up a bit."

"What's wrong with him?" Leslie asked.

"Not entirely sure at this moment." He said. "The doctors will perform X-rays and CAT scans to find the problems. Then they'll address them. He may need surgery."

"Just . . . let me see him before surgery if he needs it." Leslie backed off. "I'll be here, Sweetheart." She told him. Red smiled softly to her. She returned the pleasant smile. ZIM hugged her around the waist. "Hey buddy, I missed you."

"I'm so gross." ZIM said.

"I see that. You have dirt all over you." Leslie then whispered. "And your friends stink." ZIM chuckled. A man in a white coat approached the two.

"Zeiden, I need you to come with me. I just need to check you. I'm offering you a bath too if you want it." The boy nodded.

"Yes please." ZIM said. The doctor looked to Leslie.

"You may come with as well."

"Where's Purple?" ZIM asked him.

"He's gone with Doctor Kennedy." He told him. "I'm Doctor Carrey, by the way. Now if you'll please follow me and I'll give you the check up."

**Hours Later**

She gently stroked her husband's face to sooth him. ZIM was sitting on the foot of the bed not wanting to leave Red for a second. Red was nearly completely out of it thanks to the strong pain relievers the doctors had given him. Leslie was waiting for the nurse to return with warm water and a cloth.

"Are you thirsty?" Red shook his head. "I'm sure you are. You look parched."

"He _is _parched. Give him some water." ZIM told his sister-in-law.

"No, I don't want any." Red mumbled.

"Baby, I'm sure you haven't been drinking much at all lately. I mean, you were out in the desert wilderness for how many days with little water?" Leslie asked.

"I wanna rest. That's it." Red's eyes were half open. His head was turned to the side so he could see his wife. "My face feels nasty."

"You have a lot of dried blood and dust on your face. That's probably why." The nurse finally arrived to the room with a big wooden bowl of water and a towel. She set it down on a table by Leslie.

"I'll be back in a few moments. I'm gonna do a quick stitch on his forehead to close that gash."

"Please bring him water too." The nurse nodded at Leslie. Red watched her leave then looked to his wife.

"I don't wanna get stitched up." Leslie sighed.

"You don't wanna do much of anything do you?" Leslie dipped the towel in the bowl and wrung it out. She slid the bed covers down to have more access to Red's body. He was now dressed in a hospital gown with absolutely nothing on underneath. Leslie slid her hand under his back and pulled the stings tying to gown together. She pulled the gown down and started to wipe his chest and torso. He had a few cuts littering his body but none as bad as the one on his head. Red closed his eyes, letting his wife clean him up. It felt good to be clean at long last.

"ZIM, will you help?" Leslie handed him an extra towel. ZIM nodded, dipping his own cloth into the water too. He started to clean his brother's arms.

"Fuck this. I'm so stupid." Red mumbled. "All of this for nothing. Nana is going to kill me three times."

"What? Why?" Leslie asked, quietly.

"First time for getting lost. Second time for getting hurt. And the third time, and this one is the biggest fuck up of them all, I forgot the god damn vaccines. The whole reason why I made that trip in the first place." Red raised his hand, laying it over his face. "The whole trip, the misadventure, this injury. I went through all that hell for nothing."

"Nana won't kill you three times. Maybe once for scaring her, but not thrice." ZIM said.

"How did this happen, Red? You're lying here half dead and I don't even know why."

"I don't really remember. A.J. kept apologizing to me . . . I think he kicked me and I fell." Leslie looked lost.

"We were climbing up from the bottom of a gorge, Red was last to go up to make sure the rest of us went up safely. A.J. got himself stuck, he was too scared to move so Red climbed just below him and convinced him to continue. Either A.J.'s foot slipped and kicked Red off balance or something like it. That's all I know. A.J. would know all the details." Leslie nodded.

"How high did he fall."

"Like six meters."

"Oh my God. It's a miracle he survived." Leslie gasped, awestruck. "But it sure explains a lot. Red, how are you feeling?"

"Amazing."

". . . Are you being sarcastic?"

"No. I feel like I'm floating." Red mumbled. "Could you please anchor me?" Leslie chuckled. She wiped her cloth over his cheek kissing him in the fabrics wake.

"You're not going anywhere for awhile, honey. Trust me." There was a knock at the door. "Come in." Leslie called. The door bursted open and nana stormed to the side of Red's bed.

"Child! I had enough of your constant injuries!" Nana placed her hands on both sides of Red's face. Papa followed her in and stood quietly behind her. "And no more getting lost either! What is wrong with you?" Red cringed at her bellowing voice.

"Nana . . . I had to let go of the horses and camels."

"I don't care about them. As long as you used them."

"You knew I was gonna get lost, didn't you?"

"Every time you make a big trip like that through the wilderness you do." Nana pointed out. "Deru, give nana a hug." ZIM stood on the bed and embraced the elderly woman. As they hugged ZIM whispered in her antenna.

"Don't get mad but he forgot the medicine vials in the truck too." Nana pulled away glaring at ZIM. The boy shrugged sheepishly. Nana just sighed heavily.

"Forget about it. It doesn't matter. As long as you boys are alright." Nana went back to Red. "You just focus on getting better, dju. Don't you dare try anything to hurt yourself further."

"Thanks nana." The elder woman kissed his 'nose', caressing his cheek with her thumb.

"Anytime, my precious smeet."

"My, you've got quite the bump on your head." Papa spoke up. He poked the open wound. Red cringed.

"Honey, why would you poke that?" Nana elbowed him. "Listen here, dju." Red raised his antenna. "That Adele Sheila keeps stalking the ranch and asking our employees for you. Get rid of her or I will." Red beamed.

"Adelaide is her name actually. And please do. Get rid of her."

"You dated her didn't you?" Papa asked. Nana scoffed.

"Honey please, dju dated every girl in this ole town. He's even stole a few gals from some of his cousins, remember?" Red frowned a bit. "She's the stalker, eh? I think I remember her. Mmhmm. Don't you worry about her, Dju. I got you on this one." Red felt his body relax.

"Thank you so much." Red almost in tears of happiness. Nana turned around to the open doorway and shook her head, using her finger and running it along her neck in the 'don't do it' motion. Red cocked a brow following his nana's gaze. His eyes widened when he saw Addy standing in the shadows of the doorway creepily. His jaw dropped. Nana turned back to him.

"She followed us here. She wished to speak with you about something that's been on her chest but-"

"About what?"

"I don't know." Nana said. "But for once she didn't seem very crazy when she told me she wanted to talk to you." Red sighed heavily, pressing his palm into his forehead.

"Alright," He said. "Let her in." Nana nodded. She went to retrieve the woman but stopped and went back to her grandson. She pulled up his hospital gown to cover himself up again.

"Don't want her to get excited from seeing you half naked." Nana chuckled. Red rolled his eyes. Nana left and came back into the room with Addy. The woman made her way to Red's bedside and knelt down. Leslie and ZIM made themselves comfortable while they watched the show.

"Heyya, Reddy-kins." Addy started. Red winced at the name. She took one of his hands into her own. "I'm sorry if I've been freaking you out lately. I understand you have a wife and child and I learned how to respect that after you've been gone for numerous days. But I just have one request,"

"And that is?" Addy smiled, leaning in closer.

"One last kiss? For closure?" Red groaned. By his face anyone could tell that he was having a mental conflict with himself.

"I-I don't know . . . I mean . . . Leslie is right here and . . . my brother . . . and nana and papa . . . and just now a nurse came in sooo . . ." Red trailed off. Leslie cackled quietly.

"Oh it's okay, you two. Don't mind us." Red shot her a glare.

"Are you kidding me?" Red whispered angrily at her. She just shrugged. Red pursed his lips highly annoyed. "Fine! Brief kiss. No tongue-" He was cut off by Addy's lips over his. It wasn't as brief as he wanted but at least she kept her tongue in her mouth- Wait. Never mind. Red's eyes dilated. He pushed her away. "I said no tongue!" Addy just smiled widely, pinching his cheek.

"You're so cute. I'll see you tonight. I might drop by your room for a midnight visit. Of course, you'll be sleeping so you won't see me anyway." The psychotic woman left. The rest of the company laughed as Red nearly cried in defeat.

**Later**

Purple sat back in his chair by Red's bedside with ZIM on his lap. His best friend was out like a light, wearing a clean, blue hospital gown the nurses gave him after Leslie washed him. Red had his injured leg and hip elevated for his comfort. His pelvis was in a temporary splint. Once Red had his surgery, he could then have a cast. The conscious man sighed. It's been such a long week. His antenna perked when he heard the door of the white room open. He looked up to see who was entering and was elated to find Tenn standing in the doorway. She squealed happily, stretching her arms out, welcoming her husband in for a hug. Purple pushed ZIM off his lap. He ran to his wife and threw his arms around her. The two lip locked for a passionate kiss.

"I was so scared, Peder. I had no idea if you were okay."

"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's Red we have to worry about." Purple told her. The two kissed again, then through the affectionate exchange, an excited shout from Tenn shocked Purple into a frozen state.

"I'm pregnant!"

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><p><strong>Go to my profile, there you will see all my Irken headcanons and BYKI fun facts. They'll help answer some questions I'm sure. <strong>

**Question: What pairing or friendship would you like to see more of?**

**Also! I have a new DeviantArt! I'll be attempting art I think. So go ahead and go to my profile to check out my DeviantArt page. Nothing is on it as of right now, but soon there will be. I'm gonna post the MaCale family crest soon, so keep a look out for that. **


	26. Sleep Needed

**So it has been decided that I _will _be doing a YouTube channel. I'm not sure when my first video will be released, hopefully soon. But for now, enjoy the new chapter! There's weirdness in it!  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>...<strong>

Purple pulled away from Tenn. "Y-you're what?" He asked, quietly. Leslie gasped from behind them. ZIM was oblivious.

"Peder!" Tenn was pushed out of Purple's grasp and was replaced by a short woman, squeezing him tightly. "You scared the Hell out of me! You're grounded, child! You hear me?"

"Mére, Tenn-" Purple squeaked when he felt a hard pinch delivered to his rear.

"You be quiet and let me squeeze the life out of you." Kaddie said. Her vice-like hug got tighter, restricting Purple's airways. He tried prying her off but she was going mama bear protective on him at the moment. Purple looked to Tenn for help. She just stood behind her mother-in-law, highly amused.

"Mum! Please!" Purple managed to get away. His mind was reeling. He was in disbelief. Purple slowly walked back over to Tenn. His face serious. "Is it true?" She beamed, nodding vigorously. Purple's breath caught in his throat. He tensed up, a wide bright smile spread across his features. He picked her up and kissed her. Tenn laughed and returned the sweet kiss. "I can't believe it. I'm gonna be a father." He whispered, happily. He set Tenn down but his embrace remained strong.

"I'm so glad you're happy. I didn't know how'd you'd take the news." Tenn put her hand behind his head and pulled him down for yet another kiss. Purple felt two more pairs of arms wrap around him. He looked behind him and saw ZIM and Leslie grinning broadly.

"Yous gonna be a dad-day." ZIM drawled.

"You gonna be a good dad-day. You." Leslie poked his face, mocking ZIM's voice. Purple rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to fill in for Red's dorkiness when he's out of commission."

"Yes I do." Leslie said. "You need a double shot of dorkiness everyday to be able to properly commute and function." Purple gave her a funny look. "Trust me. I'm a scientist."

**August 13, 2001**

Red tried in all his might to keep his eyes open for more than five seconds. But his body was exhausted and his brain kept telling him to sleep. The fact that Leslie was petting his antenna soothingly wasn't helping him keep awake either.

The doctors had prepped him for surgery and were now preparing the emergency room for the operation. Red was a little uneasy. The doctors described what they were going to do to him. He didn't like the thought of getting cut open, but the doctors apparently needed to make four incisions and then put bolts in his pelvic bones.

They informed him that his llium, pubis, and femur on the left side were all fractured and his hips would be in a weird, metal, splint-like thing to hold it. Then after awhile they'd take the bolts and rods out of him and put a cast on. Red wouldn't be able to move his entire lower half with the cast they had for him. He didn't know how he was going to move around.

"We're ready for you, Mr. Macale." A doctor told him. "Are you ready?" She asked. Red shook his head.

"Nuh. In a lil bit. Give me a moment." Red gazed at Leslie with big, glossy eyes. "I don't think I'll be giving you another child in a long while." Leslie chuckled.

"I'm not worried about another child right now, Red." Leslie put her hand on his cheek. "You just focus on yourself, okay? Get healed, recoup, and then we'll think about that."

"Sounds good." Red said. Leslie kissed his lips.

"Sleep well."

**Later**

"Remember when ZIM told Red that I was dating you and he attacked me? What if he- Wait, he won't be able to. But what if he mentally murders me when we tell him?"

"He's high off aesthetics, Pur. He's a babbling moron right now." Tenn reassured him. "Come on. I'll tell him, you have to at least stand by me." Tenn took his hand, opening the door of the room Red would be staying for awhile. Red was resting now after his long surgery. He was now completely undressed. His lower half covered in a blanket and his legs positioned in such a way so the bones would start to heal in the right spot. The blanket draped over his nether region bulged in some areas where the metal contraption was sticking out of his body.

"Frieeenndsss." Red drawled, childishly. His left arm was taped against his body and his head now had stitches. A big bandaged covered the stitches. "Now it's a party!" Leslie at his side giggled at his giddiness. Sapphira was in her arms. "Les, get the booze."

"Honey, Tenn has something to say." Leslie told him. Red nodded.

"Yes, Tenn, darling. What is it?" Red gave her a look of interest. Tenn smiled at her elder brother and how completely kiddish he looked.

"Well . . . I'm just gonna come out and say it." Tenn beamed. "I'm pregnant." Red didn't say anything. He just stared. A long silence drifted amongst them.

". . . So am I." Red finally said as if Tenn were challenging him.

"No. No, Red, you're not pregnant this time." Leslie said.

"Uh huh. We did that one thing that one night and now this." He slurred. "I'm a biologist. You can't prove me wrong." Tenn and Purple shared a glance.

"Maybe we should tell him when he's not high." Purple said.

"That would be a better idea. Yeah." Tenn sat by her brother. "How are you feeling, Red?"

"I feel amazing! Like a cloud floating in the sky." Red lifted his right arm and pointed upward. "Up dere, in da sky." He let his arm drop, slowly turning his head to his wife. "I fucking love you." He muttered.

"I love you too, baby." Red shifted his back. He was too numb to feel any pain from moving.

"I need to get up and help them." He said. Leslie placed her hand on his chest, keeping it there so he wouldn't try anything. "No! I need to help!"

"No, babe, you need to stay put. You need to rest."

"But I sleeped all day!" Red whined. Leslie shook her head, caressing him where her hand was over his chest.

"I'm talking to a four year old." She mumbled. "You guys want a boy or girl?" Tenn shrugged.

"We don't get to choose. Not that it matters anyway. We're gonna love him or her either way." She said. "But what about you? I remember when you talked to that psychic, she told you you'd only have daughters. Does that upset you you're not getting a son?"

"I can't know. She might have been wrong for all we know. And besides, I wouldn't mind having all daughters. And vice versa. I'm assuming you didn't plan this child." They shook their heads. "I was gonna say, it's awfully quick that you'd do something like this only a couple months into your marriage. Especially for you Irkens." Leslie said. "Are you guys thinking about names?"

"Yeah. Pedro." Purple said, looking dead serious though his voice had an obvious joking ring to it. Tenn wrinkled her 'nose'.

"No. We're not. I'm not birthing a Mexican baby. I told you that it is impossible." Tenn told him.

"It's not impossible to love tacos," Purple gasped slightly. "We should name him Paco! Even if it's a girl! She can have the same name!"

"No! No Mexican names!"

"Paco the Taco!"

"Peder, get real."

"Hey honey, what are we having for supper? Paco Tacos!"

"You're fricken retarded, my love. Irkens don't have Mexican names, I'm sorry. It sounds weird. You don't see white boys with the name of Juan, do you? Besides, didn't we already come up with a name for him if it just so happen to be a boy?"

"Oo! What is it?" Leslie asked.

"Can't tell you. You'll have to wait. We won't tell you the girl name until after the birth too. Everything will be a total surprise." Tenn said. ZIM walked through the door. His four friends were following him.

"You're pregnant?" ZIM asked.

"Honey, you were in the room while I announced it!" Tenn pointed out.

"No. I wasn't mentally in the room! You should have told me!"

"I did! You even acknowledged it!" Tenn insisted. "God, Zeiden. You need to get your brain checked."

"So that means you're gonna get fat soon." Timmy said. "And you won't be as hot anymore." ZIM punched his friends arm hard.

"Mate, shut the hell up." ZIM fumed. "Keep talking that way about her and I'll scoop your eyes out."

"ZIM, no need to get violent." Purple scolded, walking to the boys. As he passed Timmy he subtly bopped the boy on the head. "Tenn can defend herself."

"You say as you hit Timmy." ZIM crossed his arms. "How's your shoulder?"

"The doctors gave me medications. I'm good for now."

"Zei-Zei! When did you get here?" Red sat straight up in bed from his leaning back position. Leslie hurriedly pushed him back so he wouldn't screw up his hip.

"I've been here for awhile. I got here at eleven AM this morning." ZIM took his niece from Leslie's hands. "I'm taking this. I need a cuddle buddy." ZIM sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. He snuggled Sapphira into his body. "She's gonna grow up to be just like me. When are you making another one?" He asked Leslie.

"Depends on when Red gets better." Leslie said.

"Well we're having a smeet." Tenn reminded him.

"Right! We need smeets. Saph isn't gonna be a few months old forever. Keep them coming guys. You're doing great. Go team." ZIM stood. He made his way to Red's bedside. "You get better so your body is ready to birth again."

"I am pregnant." Red said.

"You are?" ZIM asked, excitedly.

"No! No he's not. He just keeps saying that because Lord knows why." Leslie exclaimed.

"Aww! Come on!" ZIM stomped his foot. "Make it so he is."

"Eventually." Leslie hissed. "We shouldn't be talking about this in front of your friends. They don't get Irken anatomy."

"It's so disturbing. I mean," Chester looked at Red then to Sapphira. "Where did she come out of him? It makes no sense!"

"Vaaaaginaaaa." Red giggled, sitting up again.

"Red, stop moving, you fool." Leslie hissed.

"Never." Red said, defiantly. He shifted more to spite her. Leslie grabbed his arm and shoved him forcefully into the bed.

"Lay. Back." She ordered through gritted teeth.

"Bitch."

"What'd you call me?"

"I love you." Leslie groaned.

"This is gonna take a lot of patience, guys." Leslie told the company.

"I had a dream!" Red spoke up, trying to sit up again. "I-I . . . I was, umm. I was lifting weights and I'm pregnant, so lifting weights is a bad idea. And as I was straining to lift this particularly heavy weight, it was like, God, shit it was like four pounds or something insane like that. As I was lifting, I felt the head of the smeet start to come out. So as I kept one hand on the weight, I used the other one to push the smeet back in and I told her, I told that naughty smeet that she wasn't due yet and she had to go back inside and think about what she has done!" Red slurred. "I felt her kick my uterus. I think she was mad. Ya know, a psychologist by the name of Sigmund Freud once said that dreams are manifestations of our hopes, desires, anxieties, etcetera. I think my dream was symbolic. So I think as a family we should do a little dream interpretation because psychoanalysis is fun. What does my dream mean?" Those in the room stared at Red. A long silence lingered in the room. Purple finally broke the silence.

". . . Dude . . . It means you're fucked in the head."

**August 14, 2001 **

"I can't believe this. They flocked here all the way from Irk to get this lame story." Red shook his head disapprovingly, looking out the window of his room from his hospital bed. Irken reporters scattered around the outside of the hospital trying with all their might to get in and get an interview and all the details about the Macale brother's disappearance and condition. "We should just tell them so they'll leave."

"We don't need you stressed with the paparazzi though, Hun. You know how they are, they twist your words so the story is only ten percent true."

"I'll be stressed out if I'm conscious of the fact that they're just outside this building waiting for me."

"Then I'll take care of them." Leslie looked up as Tenn entered the room again.

"He's awake now?" Tenn asked, excitedly. Leslie grinned.

"Yeah. Now he'll be able to process the news." Tenn beamed. She looked behind her and called to someone down the hall.

"Peder! C'mere! Red's finally in his right mind." Tenn approached the side of her brother's bed. Red laid back keeping a suspicious eye on his little sister.

"What sort of news did you bring me?"

"Good kind of news." Purple said, also entering the room. Red perked his antenna to let them know he was listening.

"Well, Red," Tenn started. "I don't know how to say this." She thought for a moment. "Peder and I . . . we . . . God." Tenn's gaze traveled to Sapphira sleeping beside Red. "Okay! Starting again. Lets just say Sapphira will be getting a cousin." Red's eyes went wider than dinner plates.

"Say what?" He said in awe, jaw dropped. He pointed to Tenn then to Purple. "You or are you carrying-"

"I'm not capable of bearing, mate. You know that. Tenn is pregnant." Purple stated finally. Red closed his mouth in a tiny pout. Glossy, crimson eyes fixated on Tenn.

"But you're too young." Red said.

"Bro, I'm twenty-five."

"That means you're two and a half in Irken standards!"

"Then _that _would mean you had a child at three Irk years." Tenn said. Red smirked.

"Ya got me there. Come here." He held out an arm to embrace her. Tenn wrapped her arms around his neck for a warm hug. Purple smiled at the two siblings until he saw Red mouth to him from his hug with Tenn,

'_I'm going to fucking kill you._'

**August 17, 2001**

"Crutches are out of the question. His arm is still healing from its dislocation. Then that'd mean he couldn't use a wheel chair either because of the arm thing. So what do we have to do to get him mobile?"

"He _shouldn't _move unless he absolutely has to. His leg is in a stable enough condition with the rods and bolts. He can walk, or limp rather. Just as long as he doesn't go for long distances. Otherwise, he needs to be laying." Red looked down at his legs as his wife and doctor chatted. His left leg and hip was encased in a tight blue cast. The cast wrapped around his hips and went all the way down to his mid-thigh so he could bend his knee. He'd probably look very awkward walking. Before the doctors put his cast on, he got a good look at his fracture. His entire lower half looked as if he was dipped in iodine. All of his hip and leg were bruised. "Let's see if he can muster enough strength to stand." Red looked up to the two women. The doctor held out a hand as did Leslie. He took them both and used his upper body strength to hoist himself up. He strained to get on his two legs. He put all his weight in his right leg once he was up. Leslie held on to him so he wouldn't loose his balance.

"Can you walk, babe?" His wife asked. Red shrugged. He hasn't walked in days. He took a step forward with his left leg. He then quickly stepped again with his right to avoid pain. It didn't matter how quickly he transitioned between his two feet. It still hurt like hell.

"Ahh! Fuck me!" Red cursed, stopping. He glanced at Leslie with a sly grin. "Gently though. I'm fragile right now." Leslie pursed her lips, scowling. She raised her hand to whap him upside the head but then remembered that he was concussed as well.

"Would you watch your mouth?"

"Would you watch it for me? If it misbehaves I'll let you punish me." Red gave her a toothy smile. Leslie looked unamused. "This is fun. I can get away with saying these things."

"Yeah for now. But when you're all healed, you'll have hell to pay."

"I'll go get you your discharge forms." The doctor said, leaving them alone in the room that Red has been confined to for the past few days. When the doctor left, ZIM entered holding his niece, Purple following him on his phone speaking in French to his dad.

"You're on your feet!" ZIM gasped, happily.

"It's painful." Red grunted. Leslie brought him back to the edge of the bed.

"Sit for now then." Leslie turned when she heard Purple start yelling about who knows what. It wasn't an angry kind of yell however. It was more or less excited and giddy.

"_Au s__é__rieux! Oui! . . . Non, ils n'ont pas! . . . Aucune fa__ç__on!_"

"He sounds like a girl talking to her crush." Red pointed out.

"What's he saying?" Leslie asked.

"Don't ask me. ZIM is the one who took lessons from him."

"He keeps saying, No way! Seriously? No!" ZIM told them. "Me thinks it's hockey related."

"_P__é__re, vous rendez-vous compte de ce que cela signifie? . . . Oui!_"

"He's really excited." Purple continued to ramble until his voice suddenly saddened immensely.

"Wait a minute . . . _Envahisseur ZIM!_ _P__é__re_, what if it doesn't work?"

"Now he's sad."

"Peder, get off the phone and talk to us." Red said. Purple glanced at him.

"_Je vais vous parler plus tard._ You'll be coming to LA? With uncle Sizz? . . . I can speak English if I want to! . . . _Vous voir dans quelques jours. Bon Voyage._" Kaddie walked up from behind Purple.

"You know better than to speak fluent English at you father."

"Does your dad not speak English?" Leslie asked. "Could've sworn I heard him speak it just fine."

"He hates the language." Purple stated. "Dad told me the NHL drafted me!" Purple squeaked. His mother beamed, gasping.

"Oh honey! _Fantastique_!" She clasped both his cheeks in her hands, kissing him in between the eyes. "Look at my _fils_! In the NHL! Baby, this is great! Do you know what this means?" Purple looked down at his mother, her hands still on his face.

". . . It means . . . That I'll be the first alien to play in an all human sport?"

"Yes!" Kaddie squealed, bouncing slightly. "What team? Is it the Montréal Canadiens?"

"What if I told you it was Toronto?"

". . . I'd disown you, child." Purple snickered at his mother's remark.

"No, no. The Canadiens did pick me up." His mom clapped.

"Oh honey! This is perfect! When are you starting?"

"They want me back home in a month for the first few practices. I don't know if I'll have time for the Iditarod. Or teaching . . . Or anything else for that matter." Kaddie's mouth curved down.

"Babe, don't worry about the race then. You almost died last time." Purple rolled his eyes. "Besides, don't you want to be home with your wife instead of gone for a week or two?" Purple stared blankly at his mom.

". . . No."

"Well, I think that's just peachy, Pur! I'm proud of you, kiddo!" ZIM chirped. "You should totally beat the Red Wings . . . I just want you to know though, if you ever do face the Red Wings, which you will, I'm going to be rooting for them. Just saying."

"Mmhmm. Next time you have a hockey match I'll be cheering for the other team too, just to spite you."

"But you're my coach."

"And so?"

"And so my teammates will hate you."

"I care not."

"But thou shalt care, for thy team will through pucks at thy unworthy head."

"Eleventh commandment. 'If thy name be Zeiden, thou shalt shut the fuck up', says the LORD our God."

"Twelfth commandment! 'Those who art unholy shalt not speakth for the LORD, our God, for the LORD shalt be stricken with anger and wilt send a bolt of white hot lightening from the heavens to striketh the one who breaks his twelfth commandment'. In other words, he'll fry yo ass, bitch."

"Thirteenth commandment. 'Making up new commandments is sacrilege'." Red butted in. ZIM and Purple scowled at him.

"We're sorry. We couldn't take that commandment seriously. King James speech or bust, you hypocrite." Purple said.

"Yeah. You suck." ZIM added.

"Beside the point, you two. You guys are gonna have to help me to the truck." Red told them as the doctor reentered with the discharge papers.

"Alright, Macale. You are free to go. Yield all my precautions and post surgery information. Keep that leg elevated. And don't get that cast wet. Do. Not. Walk. That much. Got me?" Red nodded. "Good. Have a nice day, folks." Purple helped Red stand again. The only thing Red could wear for the next few weeks was robes and extremely loose pants that could be worn over the thin but sturdy cast. Purple helped Red put on his leather CAT boots.

"We'll see how long it'll take until you can switch to a brace, babe." Leslie said, slowly leading him out to the truck. She opened the passenger door, Purple helped him in.

"I'm gonna feel so useless." Red groaned, clicking his seatbelt.

"Well, you will be useless. But you have a good reason." Leslie got in on the drivers side. "We'll meet you guys at home." She told Purple, ZIM, and Kaddie. Leslie started up the truck and drove out of the parking, heading home to the ranch. "Sooo . . . I don't know how to tell you this but . . . Adelaide is still at the ranch and she's kind of in a freaky frenzy. Nana wouldn't let her go to the hospital to visit you again after her first visit because she knew it'd irk you." Red bowed his head, sighing.

"Damn. Just what I need. My stalker still isn't gonna leave me alone until I'm back to health. Even after she told me she'd give me some space."

"I don't think she ever said that." Leslie said. "Don't worry about her, darling. I'll take care of her."

"Just tell her I died." Leslie scoffed. "No seriously! Look at me." Leslie turned her head. "Now show me your best fake crying ever."

"I'm not an actress, Hun."

"Just try it!"

"No."

"C'mon!" Leslie huffed. A moment of silence passed before Leslie started to wail.

"Oh, Adelaide! It was tragic! The doctors did everything they could!" Leslie sobbed in an over-the-top fashion, great sarcasm dripped from her mouth. "He went into cardiac arrest right before his discharge! His heart couldn't handle it anymore! Oh woe is me, widowed at only 36! I'll never marry again!" She went back to normal as quickly as she went into an unconvincing acting façade. Leslie looked to her husband. His face was unreadable with his mouth agape ever so slightly.

"Yeeeaaaaaahhhhh . . . That should do it."

**August 20, 2001 **

"I'm so ready to get back into the routine of things." ZIM muttered, looking out the window of their truck. They were now cruising back to their home in Santa Monica after a long absence.

"We better hope those twins didn't destroy our house." Red said.

"What would it matter? We're moving in a bit to the hills." Purple told him. Red didn't answer.

"I don't trust them." He hissed, mostly to himself. Purple pulled into their driveway of their large, luxury home. Leslie got out from the back and opened the door for her husband. Red slid out with the help of both his brothers. Together they walked up the path as another car with Tak, Zee, Tenn, Gaz, and Sapphira pulled into the driveway. As they approached the front door they stopped mid step to the Lombax twins barreling out of the house and standing in front of them with wide, nervous, smiles on their faces.

"Heeeyyyy you guuuyyysss." Rhea said.

"How's it going- . . . Oh. My. God. What happened to you?" Sira asked, looking at Red, horrified at his current state.

"Nothing special. Almost had a near death experience. Ya know how it is." The twins shared a glance.

"Dude, we're screwed." Sira said. Leslie quirked a brow.

"Why?"

"Well . . . You see . . ." Rhea began. She searched for words she could say to them to explain but nothing would come out. "Okay. Screw it. We're gonna go get you a fifteen hundred dollar check for the damages." Rhea said handing a slip of paper to Leslie. And like lightening, the Lombax twins were off in a flash, running down the street yelling at each other.

"We need to apply for a freaking loan from the bank now!"

"God! We're so stupid!"

"It's even worse now that they're home!"

"And he's injured, for Christ's sake! How were we supposed to know?" The Irkens and few humans gawked at the display. No one said anything. No one moved. They just stared.

"My intuition is telling me that's not particularly good news." ZIM finally said. Leslie looked down at the slip of paper and read it. Her face looked grim.

"Everyone, wait here." Leslie said, marching up to the beach home. She flung open the door and stood right in the doorframe. She made no facial expression. Her emotions were unreadable. She stood and observed. A minute passed and she closed the door again and walked back to her family. "We're gonna stay in a hotel for the night."

**The Next Day**

"Told you the party was a bad idea."

"Shut up! At the time you thought it was a _good _idea. Hypocrite."

"Okay! Okay! Well we now both realize how dumb we were." The twin Lombax girls were sporting brooms and mops cleaning up the trashed home of the Macales. ZIM walked through the foyer to talk to them.

"Did Avalyn have any part in trashing this place? Red wants to know so he can determine whether he wants to bring her back or not."

"No, no. Avalyn is well behaved. She knows better." Sira told ZIM. Silence lingered in the room. The twins cleaning up the huge mess they and their friends had made over the week. "What happened to Red? No one bothered to tell us yet."

"Cuz they're slightly angry with you two."

"I gathered that."

"Especially from Leslie." Rhea added. "She makes it well known when she's upset with someone . . . She's kind of scary."

"Mama bear mode is activated for her at the moment. The very last thing Red needed when coming home was a pigsty." ZIM looked at the damaged floor of where something heavy toppled over and broke. "As for how he sustained his injuries, we got lost in the Outback for a few days. Pur, Red, my friends and I. We ran out of gas in our papa's truck so we were legging it to the nearest town. Well along the way a huge ravine blocked our path and going around it would've taken days. So we were gonna cross it. Long story short, going up the other side, A.J. I think stepped on Red or kicked him, something like that, making him loose his grip and fall over six meters down to the rock ground below." The twins cringed.

"Sounds like an awful time." Rhea muttered. "I feel horrible now. Is Red mad?"

"Leslie told him not to worry about the mess and damages. He doesn't need the anxiety."

"When are you moving out of this house?"

"This month, I believe." ZIM sat on the granite countertop in the kitchen.

"Then I don't even get why we have to clean this place."

"It's a rental. Landlord will want it back clean." ZIM said.

"So . . . How are you, Zeiden? How ya feelin'?" Sira asked to spike up conversation.

"I'm doing . . . meh."

"Meh?"

"Yeah, meh." ZIM repeated.

"So not great but not bad either?" Rhea questioned.

"Precisely." ZIM scratched his rear. "I'm writing a new song for Tak."

"Oo! Can we hear it?" Rhea asked.

"Noooo. Not yet. You have to wait. I don't even let my siblings get a sneak peak." ZIM told them. "Tenn is starting band camp soon with her high school kids. She said her theme this year is Cowboys and Aliens. Cattle hands and extraterrestrials, crazy mix but there's been a few movies about the two already."

"That does sound like fun." Sira said. "Zeiden, what time do you have to be at school?" ZIM looked at the stove clock.

"Five minutes ago. I'm gonna be late . . . Oh wait. I am late."

"Then you better get your butt moving."

"Nah. I got time."

"But don't you make the morning Nickelodeon announcements?" ZIM didn't say anything. He stared off into space, fiddling with his fingers. A moment passed before ZIM jumped off the counter and darted out of the house. The sound of a truck's engine starting and squealing tires out of the driveway indicated that ZIM actually did care about being on time for certain things.

Half an hour later, ZIM pulled into the parking lot of the studio. He raced to the entrance ignoring the 'good morning's and 'where have you been's from fellow stars. He ran to the main office door and saw Spongebob just about to pick up the receiver to make the nine am announcements. ZIM dove for the phone and snatched it from the sponge's hand. ZIM heard a startled gasp from Spongebob as he pressed the intercom button.

"_Goooood_ morning, Nick Studio! I'm Zeiden Macale, back from my unintentionally long vacation, here to recite your morning news!" ZIM took the sheet from Spongebob's grasp, his Aussie accent chiming into the phone as he overlooked it. "So I'm gonna just get one question of yours out of the way right now. Where the hell were Timmy, A.J., Chester, Dib, and I. Long story short, we got lost in the wilderness. But now we're not! So it's okay. First things first, Nickelodeon Academy students, we will not be having seminar today. We will be having a short meeting inside soundstage five at 1:30 sharp before your individual filming sessions. Secondly, band practice at five tonight. Meet in soundstage one with your instruments and sheet music, Mr. Tentacles is going to have solo auditions for the upcoming concert. Lunch today is Italia's finest cuisines. Every sort of pasta you can think of . . . Or not. Probably not. It's more than likely just Spaghetti-O's from a can . . . I do believe that is it for your morning announcements. Spongebob will be back tomorrow to deliver them. Made in Australia, Zeiden Izac Macale Junior wishing you a very merry Monday morning!" ZIM promptly hung up the phone and slowly turned to Spongebob with a mischievous grin on his face. "G'day, mate." Spongebob gave him a funny look.

"Where. Have. You. Been?"

"I answered that on the announcements!"

"I know but, how, where, what happened?"

"My nana's ranch is having a cattle epidemic, so we had to help her. This took place in Australia. We got stranded in the Outback when our papa's truck ran outta gas and we didn't bring an extra gas can." The yellow sponge nodded silently looking over to the office doors. He gasped once more when he saw Red enter the office limping, weakly.

"Red! You're supposed to be home!" ZIM said. Red smirked pointing to his leg encased in a grey brace of some sort. The splint replacing the cast which made Red slightly more mobile.

"I had an Irken doctor customize me a splint for pelvic fractures made for walking around. I can walk and this splint thingy will take all my weight so my bones can heal."

"Does Leslie know you're here?" Red's smile faded a tad.

"No." He said, simply leaving the office again to go to his class with Purple.

"She's not gonna like that." ZIM muttered.

"What happened to him?" Spongebob asked.

"I believe there will be an announcement for that too soon. I gotta get going to my class! Ciao!" ZIM bolted from the office down the halls of the studio. He eventually caught up with his brothers walking side-by-side. "So what's today's lesson?" ZIM asked.

"We didn't really prepare one." Purple said. "We're winging it."

"I'm not gonna do anything." Red shrugged. He looked excruciatingly tired. Anyone could see the exhaustion in his eyes. "I'm gonna be in some deep shit when we get home though. I left before Les woke up. She's gonna be pissed to see me not there resting."

"Can't blame her. Bed rest, no activities, doctors orders." Purple scolded Red. "You really, really shouldn't be here. I'd go home before the Misses wakes up."

"Leslie is already awake. I can guarantee it. She's a huge morning person. Always waking up at five or six am. Then she'd wake me up because she wants me to look at the sunrise or snuggle. I don't wanna snuggle at five am. I wanna sleep. My whole childhood consisted of waking up at the crack of dawn to do chores then go to school. Red doesn't like mornings. That's why he sleeps in till noon every chance he gets." Red rubbed his hip sorely as he spoke.

"Red is just becoming lazy." ZIM mumbled to Purple.

"Red is a wussy, city boy now." Purple chuckled. Red heaved over dramatically.

"Why. I. Never! How dare you, sir! How. Dare. You." Red hissed, darkly, walking, or rather limping, slightly faster in front of them, casting a glaring stare back at them. It was clear he was truly insulted by the 'city boy' comment and he wasn't gonna take it lightly. Soon the three of them reached their destination. As they entered the soundstage they were shocked to see Kaddie in front of class talking to them about her job as a military front lines doctor. The students were listening intently to her action-packed stories. When they came into the room the class turned their heads to them.

"Mére?" Kaddie beamed at her son.

"Peder, you got such a well behaved class. I hope you're treating them well."

"What are you doing here?" Purple walked to his shared desk with Red, setting down his travel mug of coffee and some papers among other things.

"I was coming to the studio for a visit but when I got to your classroom you were late. So I entertained your students till you got here. I already gave them a mini French lesson." She turned to the students sitting at their desks. "_Bonjour! Comment allez-vous?_"

"_Bien, merci!_" The children replied.

"Yeah, yeah. Impressive. You can teach monkeys to speak. Good for you. Can you go now?" Kaddie feigned hurt.

"My _fils _doesn't want me here?"

"Wait! Mr. Kinley! That's your mom?" One student asked from the back of the room. Kaddie stepped up and answered for Purple.

"Yes. He's my _bébe_. My second favorite son."

"I'm you're only son."

"So what does that tell you?"

"That you can't count?" Kaddie scowled and pinched her son's leg.

"It means you're definitely not my favorite." Kaddie growled at him. She turned back to the class, grinning as Purple rubbed his sore leg where she had pinched. "I'm only kidding! This young man right here is one of the best things I've ever made! Right below my first batch of brownies I ever baked." Purple rolled his eyes. His mother practically attacked him in a hug just to embarrass him further in front of his students. "Those brownies were so sweet and yummy. Unfortunately they didn't last as long as Peder did."

"ZIM get to your correct class." Purple told his little brother.

"No way, mate. I wanna stay here and listen to mama Kaddie."

"Zeiden-"

"Oh! Let the boy stay! Get that squid away from your genitals and lighten up." Kaddie pushed her son away from her embrace. Purple's jaw dropped. The class roared with laughter at Kaddie's diction.

"Wha- . . . What? What are you implying? Why aren't you leaving?" Kaddie ignored her son's questions.

"_Rouge_, darling, why aren't you home?"

"I decided I'd be really bored if I stayed home. My wifewon't let me do anything."

"And do you know why?" Red didn't answer. "Because you're injured, dumbass! Peder, sweetie, I'm gonna bring this imbécile home. I'll leave you be . . . for now." Purple groaned.

"Just leave, mum." Kaddie nudged him hard in the gut as she walked by him.

"Come on, _Monsieur_ _Rouge_."

"No, no. I'm already here. Going home now would be a waste."

"That wasn't an option."

"I'm staying here. Thanks for your concern, though."

"Red Macale, disobey me one more time and I'll bend you over your desk and whip you right here in front of the whole class!" Kaddie snapped. Red looked at her silently then shifted his gaze to Purple.

"She's not kidding. She really will." Purple whispered to him.

"Your ass ain't what's broke so there's nothing stopping me, young man." Red still didn't move from his spot. He thought she was bluffing until she took an offensive step toward him. He stood, walking to her, head down in submission and embarrassment that he was so easily moved by a woman just barely over five feet tall. Kaddie smiled, satisfied. "I'll see you at home, Peder. You too, Zei-Zei." She pinched ZIM's cheek. Once she was gone with Red, Purple groaned loudly.

"Oh. My. God! What is wrong with her?" Purple looked at ZIM. "Seriously though. Why was she here?"

**Later**

ZIM's eyes kept drooping as he tried to stay awake in Crocker's math class. He was rambling about something or other relating to their chapter test coming up tomorrow. ZIM did a quick scan around the room. He was the youngest in the class as far as he was concerned. He also found out that he was going to be the only one graduating in 2005. All the other years had _at least_ nine students. But when O-Five comes around, ZIM is all on his lonesome. He'd have to walk alone, throw his cap alone, and since he was the only one in his class, he'd have to make a speech because he was also the valedictorian _and _class president. As well as the student with the highest GPA in his class, and best attendance record, and he'd win everything on the student mock election ballads too because again, He. Was. Alone.

Not that it bothered him much. At least he had no competition for best GPA, even if it was only two point O. He and everyone else knew that he definitely wasn't the smartest kid in the academy. They had an honors roll and the only Irken listed on there was Tak. Granted, there were only two Irkens attending the academy.

"Zeiden!" ZIM jumped at the shout coming from Crocker. "Answer, what is it?"

"Uhh . . . Infinity?" ZIM slumped back in his seat. "Mate, I dunno. What was the question?" Crocker sighed.

"Zeiden, you are in no position to be day dreaming. You're not doing so well in school at the moment-"

"You _have _to point that out in front of my peers. Good on ya, mate." ZIM crossed his arms across his chest, peeved. Crocker just shook his head, looking at his watch.

"You have that assembly now. Go meet inside soundstage five and the Nickelodeon Academy Reps would like to speak with you guys." The children all stood and filed out of the room. ZIM met up with Tak, grabbing her hand to hold as they walked.

"Know what the meeting's about?" ZIM asked.

"Not sure . . . Did Crocker embarrass you back there? I think what he said was totally rude."

"We can't control his mouth. I'll just deal."

"But still." Tak murmured. They finally reached their destination. The whole student body was there, sitting in desks. The two Irkens found seats next to each other and waited. The teachers all gathered up front by the actual stage. After awhile, a man and woman got on stage. It was the two bright minds who came up with the idea of an in-studio school.

"Welcome students! We are Mr. and Mrs. Smith, you principles. How's the first month of school going?" The man asked, cheerfully. A few students meekly applauded their response.

"It doesn't sound like you guys are having a really great time. But that's okay! Because we have a way to make your time here better! Starting this fall, we will be beginning school sports! We'll be playing other schools like an average academy-"

"Can we get rid of these school uniforms!" A student shouted, randomly. Mr. and Mrs. Smith gave the boy an inquiring look.

"Ehh . . . No. Anyways! We need an official mascot and school colors if we're going to participate in any sports, so here's where you guys come in! You guys can vote on our mascot and colors! But first, I'm just gonna give you guys a heads up. After today, we will not be calling this Nickelodeon Academy. We've decided to give the Academy an official name, we'll be taking a vote between one of two names. Saugatuck Bay Academy. Or there's Sunset Academy."

"That's lame."

"ZIM, do you always need to add your input?" The man asked.

"No, but I will anyway. I'm an overachiever like that." ZIM said. "But Sunset sounds better in this context, plus you won't be stealing from the city called Saugatuck in Western M.I." The two adults on stage rolled their eyes. The rest of the students nodded in agreement.

"Okay. It's settled, we need to find out mascot. We need three suggestions, then we'll vote. Alright, we'll start with mascot." ZIM was first to speak, as he always was, jumping up with his thought of a school mascot.

"Oh my God! We gotta be the Timber Wolves! I love wolves! Have you ever heard of a wolamute? That's a Timber Wolf, Alaskan Malamute mix!" ZIM looked around. "Is there any Timber Wolves in California?"

"No. Unless you're talking about captive wolves. ZIM sit down. You get too excited." Purple answered from the front.

"Oh! What about Phoenix's?" ZIM asked.

"Yeah, there's not one of those around . . . Like, anywhere." Purple said.

"I wasn't asking about where they are. I think a Phoenix would be a neat mascot."

"Alright. We have one suggestion. Anyone else?" Mrs. Smith asked.

"Falcons!" Some other shouted.

"No way, dude! Those are way overused." Replied another.

"We got two. We need one more." The woman said.

"Bulldogs!"

"Burbank High School's mascot is the Bulldogs!"

"How about Sheep?" The kids went silent at the lame option by some cousin of the Rocket's.

"Okay! We got three then! Now let's vote. Show of hands. Sheep." Out of the hundred odd kids, one-fourth raised their hands, for reasons unknown. "Falcons?" Approximately thirty that time. "ZIM did you wanna use Timber Wolves or Phoenix?"

"Phoenix."

"Okay, Phoenix." The rest raised their hands. "Well by fifteen hands it seems as though the Phoenix's have won. ZIM! It was your suggestion. What colors do you recommend?"

"Red, gold, and black."

"Yeah. That seems like the only fitting color scheme." Dib agreed with ZIM.

"Then so be it. Any objections?" No one spoke up. "Alright then! The student body as a whole will be referred to as the . . .?" The woman stopped, implying ZIM had to answer again.

"Victors? Cuz like . . . that's all I can think of. I kind if stole it from Victory Avenue."

"Perfect! I'm loving it!" Mrs. Smith clapped. "We will now develop a student senate. We need a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Head Representative, and the Representatives themselves. There will be voting ballad on your peers tomorrow. Only high schoolers and up will be on the ballad, middle schoolers and elementary schoolers will all be doing the voting. Next, our school must have sports that we're interested in. So we need to make sure we have sports where we'll definitely have enough teammates. I'll list off the sports and I want your commitment for it right now. Only raise your hand if you're absolutely going to join the team." She started to rattle them off. Every sport mentioned had enough participants for a whole team, some even to make two teams. "Winter boys and girls basketball coached by yours truly and Mr. Smith here? Fall football coached by Dillon Baker's father, Mr. Baker and Mr. Smith?"

"Didn't know your dad was a football junkie." ZIM said to Dib.

"My dad is like your brother. Secret life and all. He's a major football fanatic."

"Fall co-ed golf coached by Miss. Irty? Spring track and field coached by Crocker? Spring lacrosse coached by Mr. Macale? Winter hockey coached by Mr. Kinley? Boys fall soccer coached by Mr. Macale? Spring girls soccer coached by myself? Winter volleyball coach by Miss. Itry? Sorry boys, you're excluded from this sport. Co-ed spring field hockey coached by Kinley? Late winter girls and boys water polo coached by Mr. Macale? Early winter swimming and diving coached by Macale? Fall through Winter competitive and sideline cheer coached by myself? Summer competitive surfing, co-ed, coached by Macale and Smith? Spring baseball coached by Zeiden Macale-"

"Hold on! I'm only thirteen here!"

"Yes. But you're a thirteen year old in the Little League nationals! Step up! This is your calling. Spring softball coached by Mr. Baker? Spring boys and girls tennis coached by Smith? Alright! Well it looks like we got all the sports down pat. Your tuition fees will be going towards sports uniforms and facilities as well as equipment. Zeiden, you're a lyricist, right?"

"Babe, I'm too many things to list. What ya want?"

"Since you're such a talented songwriter, singer, and composer, I was wondering if you'd do the honors of composing our school fight song?"

"Payment?"

"Uh, I wasn't expecting that you'd want to get paid-"

"Kidding. I'll do it."

"Thank you, ZIM. And thank you all for your cooperation and since some of these sports are starting up so soon, you best start preparing now." With that note the students were dismissed to go to their filming sessions.

"Clever mascot. Get that idea from Latin mythology?" Tak asked.

"Yeah . . . I guess. It's from Mårc mythology too though." ZIM mumbled.

"I forget that Irk's Mårcio and Rome and Greece are pretty much the same thing, save the fact that Mårcs are sexy, green, Irkens." Tak pinched ZIM's cheek, complimenting his heritage of that particular, rare, Irken ethnicity.

"Heh, yeah. You know what's up." ZIM and Tak entered the hall where ZIM's dressing room was. They went to the elevator to get to the correct floor.

"What are we rehearsing for today, Zimmy?" Tak asked.

"An episode called, _Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain_."

". . . That's a bizarre title."

"Jhonen is a bizarre guy."

"This is true. Who's in it?"

"Me, GIR, some background characters, and the two dimwit 'Tallests'."

"That's it?"

"It's one of those twelve minute episodes." ZIM opens his door and walked in, Tak following him. As soon as the door closed, Tak practically jumped him. She pulled him in for a bone crushing hug, kissing his temple lovingly. ZIM's face smushed against her bosom. "Um . . . What's with the sudden affection?"

"Do you realize how long it's been since we had a moment to ourselves?"

". . . A week? Two? I dunno. Is it that big of a deal?"

"Of course it is! You've gone missing for a few days. Those were horrible days!" ZIM scoffed.

"Clingy."

"So what?" Tak kissed him again. The two walked over to the couch and sat down. Once comfortable, Tak clasped his face in her hands and pressed her lips against his. The two closed their eyes as they engaged in their favorite pastime together, Frenching and touching, loving every moment of it. Tak glided her hand down his shoulder to his wrist and held on. "You're hiding something." She said through the kiss.

"What do you mean?" ZIM asked, never once breaking the passion between them.

"You've been acting so strange lately." Tak finally pulled away, looking at her boyfriend deeply in the eyes. She kept one hand on his cheek. "It's hot. Why are you wearing long sleeve shirts. It's so abnormal for you." ZIM remained silent. "So you do have something to hide." ZIM still stayed quiet. He tried thinking of any excuse as to why he was suddenly acting weirder than before. "Did you get a tattoo?" ZIM chuckled.

"No, no. Nothing like that." ZIM whispered. He leaned in for a second round. "Why don't we just table this conversation for now and-" Tak pressed a finger against his lips.

"You're cutting yourself." ZIM's heart stopped. A long, eerie, quietness lingered thickly in the room. ZIM felt himself sweat almost immediately. She was gonna tell Red. And he was gonna send him back to that psycho ward. And ZIM wasn't ready to go back there anytime soon.

"T-Tak . . . I . . . Why would you . . ." ZIM was lost for words. "No. No I'm not. I don't do that stuff." ZIM hid his arms behind his back.

"Zeiden," She started, sternly. ZIM gulped. "Give me your arm. Now." She demanded. When he didn't comply she forcefully pried his hand from behind his back and rolled up his sleeve. Tak gasped at what she saw. Scars, some older some newer. Some weren't even scars yet. They were still just scabbed over. Tak intertwined her fingers with his, her eyes piercing him. Her face read concern and love. "Baby, I wanna help you. I love you so much. I don't want you to hurt yourself like this. It doesn't have to be this way!" ZIM tried to pull away but Tak responded by wrapping him up in a hug. "I want to help you."

"Okay."

"But you must promise me this won't continue." ZIM didn't say anything. "Promise me."

"Tak," ZIM kissed her lips. "It's my only relief."

**Later **

Tak kept a sharp eye on him. He was smiling and laughing with his friends as if nothing were wrong. They were doing a reread of the script. It was only ZIM, ZIM's voice-over, Richard, and Rikki that were reading mostly. Then Dib and Purple were helping read the background character's voices until the casting director could find the proper actors and actresses.

"_GIR! We need to concentrate here! As we speak our defenses-_"

"_Boooriiing!_ _Ooohh!_"

"Alright, ZIM, this is where a robotic arm lifts you up and messes with you."

"It what?"

"That didn't come out properly." Steve Russel said. The cast and crew laughed together. "What I meant was, the arm will squeeze you and you have to look incredibly uncomfortable as you struggle to get out of it's grasp."

"Oh. Now I see."

"So lets practice."

"Huh? Whoa!" ZIM was caught off guard when Purple picked him up from behind, giving him a huge bear hug. The older Irken squeezed around ZIM's waist. ZIM gasped and wriggled in his grasp.

"Perfect! Now say your lines while struggling."

"_GIR! What are you doing? Put me down, GIR! Augh! Stop! Oh! Oww, my organs._"

"Good job, ZIM." Russel said. Purple dropped ZIM. The boy landed on the ground with a loud _thud_.

"Oof! Oh you suck!" ZIM kicked Purple in the shin. The man was unfazed by the assault. Tak rolled her eyes. ZIM looked so happy but she knew, she knew that's he's hurting. Not necessarily physically, but she could see that storm in his soul, thundering and strong winds. ZIM was a good actor. How else could he cover up something that would otherwise be so obvious? In her own mind, Tak had a storm similar to the one in ZIM's heart. Only this one was debating whether she should tell someone or not. She promised ZIM that she wouldn't say a word after he begged and begged her to stay quiet. But she had morals and an idea of what was right and what was wrong. If she told, would she be right for saving him from himself or wrong for self harming and breaking a promise? Or would he be right for using this deadly method of 'relief', as ZIM called it, or wrong for destroying his body? Tak was torn. She wanted to help him but he was resistant. She didn't think there was anything she could do but just sit and watch her boyfriend, her fiancé, her future_ husband_, do this to himself.

ZIM caught her stare from the corner of his eye. His smile he was wearing disappeared at her sorrowful look. The two shared this look for a few more seconds until ZIM shook his head and turned his attention back to his buddies. Tak felt disgusted at him. Not _him_. But what he was getting away with. It wasn't right. Tak sat there, alone and in deep thought. She sighed. She decided that she'll wait for now, see if ZIM gets any better. But if it gets more extreme, she'll definitely intervene.

"Hey, Tak." Dib sat next to the Irken. "What's up? You don't look very . . . happy. You and ZIM get into a fight?"

"No. Nothing like that." Tak mumbled her answer. "He's just . . . frustrating me. Like, ugh, I can't say."

"Say what?"

"I just told you I couldn't say." Tak repeated.

"I'm sorry." Dib whispered. "But I know. ZIM's not fooling me, either." Tak's head snapped in his direction.

"What?"

"I'm sure Red knows but he's in denial. I know how Red's psychology works. He only hears what he wants to hear. He doesn't believe what he doesn't want to believe. In his mind, ZIM is just fine. Deep down Red knows what's up with ZIM, that he's depressed and angry, annoyed with himself, but I know for a fact that Red doesn't know ZIM's hurting himself. Otherwise he would've stepped in. He _always _draws the line when it comes to his siblings getting hurt or hurting themselves." Tak was lost for words. "I'm right here with you, Tak. I want to help him too. He'll hate us if we tell someone, so for now, we'll help him in any subtle way possible. If it gets worse, then you and I will tell someone together. He loves you and I can't see you guys ever separating. We're best friends and I'm not sure if he'll let our friendship go if we tell. But we can never know with him. We're helping him because we love him."

"Dillon," Tak started. "Thank you so much." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "You're a great friend. You're very good for ZIM in a time like this. Keep him in your sight often and I'll do the same when we're home." Tak glanced around. "This may sound creepy, but I do check on him every night while he sleeps." Dib shrugged.

"Whatever works." The two smiled warmly. "Now, lets be the best, most supportive friends anyone could ever have."

**August 22, 2001**

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you going in to teach yet. Yesterday was completely uncalled for! Leaving without me knowing where you were going! When I woke up I nearly had a panic attack! Where on earth did my stupid, broken, defenseless husband go? I don't know! Somewhere in this large city getting mugged, raped, murdered, assaulted!" Red snickered. "It's not funny! You do realize that to properly heal, you need bed rest? Like, lots of it!" Red yawned.

"Okay, babe, it's five AM, there's no need to shout."

"Yes there is! I just caught you trying to go out the door to do the same exact thing as yesterday. It's a good thing Kaddie caught you and brought you home."

"Still don't know why she was there."

"Red, just get back in bed." Leslie groaned. She put a gentle hand over the brace on his hip running down his leg. "I know this new brace is awesome for walking around and all but it doesn't mean that you're not working your bones at all. They need to rest."

"I can sit all day."

"No, darling, you need to sleep. Look at yourself. You look exhausted." Leslie touched his face.

"I'm not a morning person, you know that." Red pointed out.

"Yeah, but . . . You seem even more tired this morning then any other." Leslie watched as her husband seemed to fall asleep standing up. "You're concussion, don't strain your mind. You won't be any help for your students if your brain is messed up." Red's eyes closed completely. "Sweetie?" Without warning Red slumped forward. Leslie caught him, surprised. She didn't know if he had fainted or fell asleep. He's never done something like that before. Leslie knelt down and rested him on the hard-wood flooring, face up. She slapped his face lightly to revive him. She continued to tap and call to him until she heard a soft snoring emit from the back of his nasal cavity. Leslie cocked a brow at this.

"What da hell you do to him?" ZIM walked into the kitchen, mouth full. For some reason he had a jar of peanut butter and spoon he was using to scoop out the contents. "He look like you jus kill him."

"I . . . I think he fell asleep."

"Just now? Here? In da kitchen?"

"Yeah. We were talking then he went down." ZIM's eyes went wide.

"Is he hurt? Did you catch him?"

"No and yes. I broke his fall. Huh! It's so weird."

"Maybe he's developing a sleeping disorder from his head injury. That's possible." ZIM said. "We're outta peanut butter." ZIM threw the empty jar in the trash, and the silver spoon on accident. However he didn't make an effort to retrieve it from the garbage disposal. Leslie looked down at Red again.

"ZIM . . . You're gonna skip the first few hours of your classes today. We're going to the hospital."

"Les, it might be that he's tired too."

"Yes but he's not waking up! What if he just fell into a coma?"

"Doubtful."

"How can you be so sure?" Leslie asked.

"Meh . . . Okay. As long as I get outta my math test." Leslie picked Red up from underneath the arms. "Thank God for his underweight ass, right?" Leslie only grunted in reply.

"Zeiden, get the door. We need to get to the truck."

**Later **

"Narcolepsy." The doctor said. "I can guarantee it. The symptoms you listed and his head injury are definitely pointing to narcolepsy."

"It's a type of seizure?" ZIM asked.

"Yes. In a way. The word, '_lepsy_' means seizure. As you would know, you have epilepsy, correct?" ZIM nodded to the doctor. "Like epilepsy, narcolepsy is a life long condition. Or 'chronic' if you will."

"So Red will fall asleep spontaneously everyday?" Leslie asked.

"Not necessarily. It is treatable with certain medications and diet. Does he eat meat?"

"He's a huge meat-eater."

"That's gonna be a problem. If you want him safe and secure, he has to pretty much give up meat."

"You're asking that he converts into a vegetarian."

"For his benefit." The doctor said. "It'll be hard to quit eating meat cold turkey, so make sure you rid of the temptations. Or if you'd rather lock up your meat in a freezer somewhere he cannot find." Leslie pressed her palm to her face.

"You got to be kidding." Leslie rubbed her face. "What kinds of things will trigger a sleep attack?"

"Intense anger or laughter can cause cataplexy. Always plan a nap for him after meals. Fifteen to twenty minutes long. Keep in mind that seizures may occur. Sudden excitement may trigger a sleep attack also."

"Is it safe for him to drive? Or do anything for that matter?"

"It will if he continuously treats his condition. Never wean off of the treatment unless I or another doctor says otherwise. You may want to have an Irken doctor do a check up on him, though. Irkens and humans _are _quite different so some of the rules might not imply." Leslie scratched her head in thought. Just perfect. Another condition she has to deal with. It was bad enough he had night terrors, now this? Night terrors. That reminds her,

"He has night terrors regularly. Will this tie into narcolepsy in anyway?"

"Possibly. But that's amazing. He has night terrors? Usually that only happens in kids, most adults grow out of it. How often do these terrors occur and how violent can they get?"

"Once a week, sometimes more, sometimes none at all. The violence level ranges from just whimpering and crying to screaming bloody murder."

"Does he hit?"

"He does thrash during the more violent terrors." The doctor nodded. All three of them looked to the bed Red was on, sleeping.

"I'd like to perform several sleep tests on him. His condition is interesting."

"I don't think he wants to be some doctor's lab rat." Leslie said.

"No, no. This sleep study will be to treat him. The more I study him, the more I can help." The doctor assured. "I can prescribe him with a few stimulate medications now that will help with this new condition he developed. Ritalin will probably work best for him. But Ritalin is highly addictive so monitor him closely." The doctor started scribbling something down on a sheet of paper just as Red started to stir on the bed. His eyes fluttered open. Leslie went to his side.

"Finally you wake up." Leslie said. Red looked around confused.

"Wha-? Where am I?"

"Hospital."

"Why? . . . Is it because I tried to disobey the doctor's orders again? You're not keeping me here, are you?"

"No, sweetie, we just discovered something startling." Leslie leaned over Red, kissing him between the eyes. "You have narcolepsy. When you fell, you sustained a concussion. That concussion is located in the pons area of your brain which makes important chemicals that help you sleep. But thanks to this concussion, you have a chemical imbalance on your brain. You'll probably have chronic narcolepsy for the rest of your life."

"So . . . I'm going to fall asleep spontaneously throughout the day? Everyday? For the _rest _of my life?" Red asked worried.

"Not exactly. We can treat and control it to a certain degree. But it'll be like your brother here with his epilepsy. You'll have a sleep attack episode every so often." Red groaned, covering his face.

"No! You can't be serious! It's bad enough I still have night terrors that I should've grown out of years ago."

"Sorry, Mr. Macale. I have a sheet here on everything about narcolepsy syndrome and how you can treat it." The doctor handed Red a brochure. "Be careful with everything you do until the Ritalin is in your immune system and doing its job. Don't drive until then either." Red's jaw dropped.

"What the hell? I don't have narcolepsy! What if I just fell asleep standing up? That happens sometimes. I mean, I feel great now."

"Usually after a sleep attack when you wake from your nap you tend to feel refreshed but that's how narcolepsy works." The doctor told him. Red bit his lip.

"This is so stupid. You can't honestly tell me that I've developed a sleeping disorder in just a few short days." Red sorely stood and began to walk out. Red flung the brochure behind him as he limped out. "I'm leaving. Thanks for wasting my time. ZIM, why aren't you in school?" ZIM shrugged. "C'mon." Red demanded. ZIM healed by Red. Leslie shook her head.

"Sorry about him. He's a tad moody all of a sudden."

"Happens." The doctor said. "I understand that he's stressed and confused. He's in a lot of pain too so it's no big surprise to me. Keep him off his feet." Leslie nodded, shaking the doctor's hand.

"Will do."

**Later**

"So I heard that you're gonna be keeping yourself busy with the academy year 'round." ZIM said.

"What do you mean?" Red asked. He still had a grumpy tone in his voice. The two brothers were relaxing in the living room, Red laying on the couch, getting his much needed rest. The Tiger's baseball game was playing on their flat screen.

"You're coaching lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, water polo, _and _competitive surfing?"

"Yeah. They needed coaches and didn't want to hire any so they turned to the teachers." Red mumbled. "I heard that you chose the name for the mascot."

"Uh, you mean I chose the mascot. We didn't decide on a name yet."

"Call 'er Red, like me, Phoenix derives from Greek or Latin meaning blood-red."

"No . . . You're kind of ridiculous. How about Phoebe the Phoenix?" Red scowled.

"Dats dumb."

"Phoebe is a fierce name, what are you talking about?"

"You're dumb." Red mumbled.

"Or Phire the Phoenix! Spelling fire with 'PH' instead of 'F'."

"Dat more dumber." Red grumbled. "Who'd you vote for on the student senate election ballad?"

"Tak for president. She's smarter than all the humans in the school combined. Eliza for vice pres. Debbie for secretary. Vicky for treasurer. Reggie for head representative-"

"Mate, what's up with the female dominated government?" ZIM casted an inquiringly look at Red. He then realized he didn't vote for any boys.

"Oh . . . Well let's face it, the only competent boys to even be considered part of the senate are all closer to my age. I'm mean, do you seriously trust Francis to be the organizer of all student activities?"

"Point. You do your homework?"

"Yeah."

"Can I check it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Avalyn ate it." Red scoffed.

"Zeiden. Do your homework. Now." The little Irken groaned.

"Red, I don't understand any of it."

"Then let me help you." ZIM crossed his arms.

"I don't get why I'm wasting my time going to school. My education isn't gonna come in handy for anything. I already have a career that pays an extraordinary amounts of monies. I don't need-"

"Just finish, for Christ's sakes. You only have four years left. Be thankful because otherwise it'd take five years if it weren't for the year round schooling. 2005, ZIM, you can make that." Red said. "And when comes graduation time, you'll feel like you've accomplished something. Graduating is a huge milestone."

"Know what else was a huge milestone?" ZIM asked. Red perked his antenna to show ZIM he was listening. "Getting a record deal at age _six_. Getting my own clothing line. Becoming a icon for a mobile device. Receiving an award for '_Most Talented Irken_'. Getting my own T.V. series. Starring in several movies. Making it into the Little League championships. Modeling for a popular teen clothing store. And what's graduating high school gonna get me? A piece of paper with my name on it?"

"Zeiden, you would have never of become any of those things if we never by chance ran into Jalo at that hotel. How coincidental was it that he was scouting there at that exact moment when we walked in? And how you went to look at that piano, he was right there to ask you if you could play? And the fact that you knew you could play and sing for him on the spot? Or how about the war that sent us temporarily to Irk in the first place. If it weren't for that war, we'd still be traveling the Outback. _Or _I could possibly be unemployed due to the fact that I was laid off about a year ago. Purple probably wouldn't be married to Tenn because he would've gone back to Canada after the lay off and he'd more than likely already be in the NHL. We would still be living in Alice Springs."

"Where are you going with this?" ZIM asked.

"I'm saying that, if one event such as visiting Irk could change our lives so drastically, then think about how getting a diploma could change your life? My high school diploma got me into college so I could become a freelance, wildlife, and environmental biologist. I traveled Australia with my now best friend, then they sent us to the U.S. where I met my now wife. Then we got pregnant with my now daughter. See how my diploma changed my life? Do you get it, Zei?" ZIM waved Red off.

"I just feel like there's no point in finishing." ZIM said.

"Just stick it through. Have fun with it. I promise it'll all pay off."

"There's my boy!" ZIM craned his neck to look beyond the couch to the stairs. Tak was descending. She had a wide smile on her lips. "Zimmy, I wanna talk to you." She said. ZIM gave her an inquiring look.

"About?"

"About the project we're doing in history together." ZIM saw in her face that, that was not what she really wanted to talk about. They didn't truly have a project in that class. ZIM stood from the floor.

"Think about what I said, Z." Red muttered, his eyes, tired-looking and stressed. ZIM nodded and followed Tak back up the steps. She led him to his room. When they both arrived, Tak's smile disappeared and she slammed the door shut. ZIM jumped at her sudden mood change. Tak grabbed both his wrists in a vice-like grip. ZIM cringed. He felt his scabbed cuts break open.

"You're a God damned fool." ZIM's antenna slicked back to his head.

"Wha-what?" Tak didn't reply. Instead she dragged him across his room to the wall on the other side of his bed. She pointed.

"What are these drawings? What do they mean?" ZIM inspected the wall. He knew exactly what those drawings were and what they meant, but he didn't want to tell her.

"Takayla, give it a rest."

"You've gone mad, Zeiden! I'm not letting it go!" ZIM ripped his hands away from her.

"I'm not your concern!"

"Why the fuck would you say that?" Tak yelled back.

"It's a personal problem! I don't need you prying!"

"I'm going to be your wife! We're going to be married! That means we're going to be one person! That's how marriage works! If this is a personal problem, then it concerns the both of us!"

"Well we're not married yet, so for now just butt the fuck out!" Tak looked hurt.

"I'm insulted, Zeiden. How you won't tell your own fiancée what's causing you to hurt yourself like this."

"Why do you think I'm doing this? Why?"

"I can't know! You have it good, Zeiden! Sure you have a few faults-"

"A few? Just a few? I'm fucking useless! Asthma, epilepsy, I'm pretty much diabetic! I died for a whole minute! That day I went into cardiac arrest, I was supposed to die!"

"You lived because you were supposed to live!"

"I'm a nuisance to my family!"

"You're a blessing!"

"God-" ZIM turned away from her, practically pulling his antenna out in frustration. He bit down on his hand to prevent himself from making the argument even louder. His teeth sunk down far enough into his flesh to draw blood. Tak grabbed his hand and pulled it out of his mouth. "Would you just leave? You don't get it! You don't get what I'm going through! They keep talking to me! They're telling me everything opposite of what you're telling me! Just go-" ZIM was cut off by Tak's lips on his. His eyes narrowed with fury towards the girl. He was about to push her away until her hand rested on his chest, right over his heart. Her fingers caressing his chest through his shirt. ZIM kept his eyes open when he saw a tear escape Tak's eye. Through their closed lips she whispered to him.

"I'm going to protect you from them. I'm going to keep you as mine. They won't be able to bother you." Her voice wavered as she silently cried. "Please, Zeiden. Ignore them. I love you. I know you know that I do." A lone tear of ZIM's own also fell from his eye.

"Tomorrow." Tak released from the kiss but not from the embrace.

"What?"

"I want you to make that promise to me as soon as possible. Elope with me tomorrow. I'll take your name and everything. As long as I know they can't hurt me any longer." The smallest of smiles swept across Tak's face.

"This will be best for the both of us, Zeiden. Tomorrow, we go to Irk and we'll make it official." Tak kissed his forehead. "I love you so much."

**August 23, 2001**

He could feel his heart flutter. It was beating a high tempo cadence as he stood before the rabbi with his bride. He could hardly believe what he was about to do. At the young, yet legal age of thirteen, he was wedding his girlfriend of three years. Something he would have never of dreamed of doing just a few short months ago, but he felt it necessary. He, Tak, and the rabbi were the only beings present. They paid the rabbi extra to keep it completely secret from the Irken media. If the media found out, then ZIM's family would find out for sure. He wouldn't know what they'd do if they found out. He knew they wouldn't be impressed at all.

ZIM wasn't even sure if he was impressed with himself. Running off to get married. Humans did it all the time. It was easy to get married hastily. They'd run off to Las Vegas, demand that a minister wedded them so they could have pure sex. Of course, the majority of those marriages ended in divorce.

ZIM knew his relationship was different though. He's known Tak all his life. He knows they connect like magnets. No one could see them with anyone else. And so, ZIM vowed to submit to his wife. To love her through thick and thin. And to always be faithful to her. And she vowed to protect him. To also love him through thick and thin. And to always be faithful to him. And to seal it. They kissed.

**Later**

Red smirked, watching his wife from his spot behind the wall that separated the dining room and the family room. She was reading peacefully on the couch. Red looked down at the documents in his hands then back to Leslie.

"My intuition is telling me you're up to something cynical." She said without looking up. Red raised a brow.

"How'd you know I was standing here?" Leslie closed her book, giving her husband an 'are-you-kidding-me?' look.

"I heard you belch ten seconds ago." Red chuckled, limping to her. He sat next to Leslie, putting a hand on her knee. "What's that?" She asked pointing to the documents in his hands.

"A quote for the Terica home being built."

"What's the price?"

"One hundred-twenty million."

"Oh that's not too bad."

"Yes, but keep in mind that we're switching locations here too so we're closer to the studio."

"How much is the mortgage for that?"

"Twenty-eight million eight thousand."

"That's not too bad either. That's barely a dent in your and Peder's annual salaries alone. Adding it up with Zee, Tenn, and ZIM's salary, it's like no money was taken out of it." Leslie looked down to her lap. "Is that the reason why you came to talk to me?"

"Not the only reason. You know that brand new Ferrari 370 Spider that you wanted?"

"No. I never asked for a Ferr-"

"Well I went out, went to the best dealers in LA and I got it for you."

". . . Huh?"

"Happy anniversary!"

"It's not our-"

"Manual transmission!"

"I can't drive stick."

"_And_ it's in your favorite color." Red beamed. Leslie didn't speak. She was lost. "A deep sexy red color."

"Red is not my favorite color-"

"Of course it is. Your welcome!" Red threw his arms around her and gave her a tight squeeze.

". . . This Ferrari is actually for you, isn't it?"

"Yup!"

"Figured." Leslie pushed away. "I have some good news of my own." She said with a broad smile. "So you know how my first career was a dental hygienist?" Red nodded. "Well I went to college for four years to become a full out dentist but was never able to continue because of the debt I was in at the time. It only takes two years to become a hygienist so I was well on my way to becoming a dentist. But after I met you and we fell in love I kinda just threw the whole idea away. But now, as I was sitting here pretending to read, I was thinking. I don't do shit anymore! I know what's yours is mine and vice versa but I technically have nothing for you to share with me. And all day I just sit at home and do nothing. I don't even clean! We have cleaning ladies to do that and pretty soon, we'll have maids and butlers living with us on Irk and in the Pacific Palisades! What I'm saying is, I feel useless and I'm going back to college to get my PhD. I don't want to become just a dentist. I want to become an orthodontist. Just an extra four years of dental school then two more for residency, then _BAM_! I'm gonna be a professional at something!" Leslie smiled, wide. Red stared at her, emotionless. "Is there something wrong?" She studied her husband's facial features and he didn't look very pleased at all.

"Yes there is." He said lowly. Red truly didn't look impressed. Annoyance and anger was inevitable on his face. "I got you a Ferrari and you don't even acknowledge it." Leslie rolled her eyes.

"Did you listen to _anything _I just said?"

"Of course! I think college would be good for you! You can be Peder's personal orthodontist because who knows how many teeth he's gonna get knocked out with this upcoming NHL season . . . Of course you can't be his ortho just yet, but when you are an orthodontist, he'll love you . . . Or hate you. Either one." Leslie smiled, kissing his cheek.

"How are you feeling? Sleepy at all?"

"A little fatigued. I mean . . . All that Ferrari buying sure did exhaust me."

"Mmhmm."

"Boy, but it was worth it."

"Yup."

"Yes sir, I sure am glad I got you that magnificent car."

"I'm sure you are."

"Because I knew you would appreciate it."

"Yup."

"And you appreciate all the time and effort I put in to buy it."

"Yup."

"Uh huh! Lots of money was spent on that thing but I know it'll all pay off."

"Are you horny?"

". . . Yes."

"Knew it. Red, thank you for buying that car for yourself, but I'm sorry, I cannot lay you today." She gently patted his broken hip. "Because your whole freaking pelvis is messed up right now." Red frowned. "Don't give me that look."

"I'll give you whatever look I want." His features turned seductive. "Maybe we should go to the garage and I'll let you see that lovely, red hot, Ferrari and maybe, just maybe, we can have sex on the hood. Hmm?" Leslie shook her head. "It's seriously car-gasmic."

"Red,"

"Yes?"

"Stop."

"Make me." Leslie kissed his lips.

"Sorry, but this is all you're getting." She whispered before embracing him and deepening the kiss. Red smiled through the kiss, closing his eyes.

"This'll do." The couple separated when they heard the door open. Tak and ZIM entered hand-in-hand. "There you guys are! Where have you been?" The two shared a look.

"Shopping." ZIM said. Leslie lifted a brow.

"Interesting. You went shopping and came home with nothing." Tak elbowed ZIM hard.

"Window shopping." Tak said. "ZIM's planning ahead for Hanukkah. I was giving him ideas. Then we went to the hospital to visit Zee. But couldn't find her."

"Oooh." Red drawled. "Okay. Well that hospital is huge. She works on the third floor ya know."

"That's why we couldn't find her! We were looking on the first and second." ZIM said. "I'm going to my room."

"Take Avalyn out. Sapphira and that beast are both upstairs and it's unnerving to me." ZIM gave Red a thumbs up and disappeared up stairs. "While you're at it, bring Saph to me!"

"Got ya!" Tak sat on the couch next to Red, smiling broadly at him.

"Hello brother." She said, snickering a bit. Red tilted his head.

"Wha . . .?"

**August 24, 2001**

"Keep a close eye on him. Make sure he doesn't do anything strenuous. If he doesn't listen to you, call me and I'll convince him." Leslie kissed ZIM on the head. "Alright. You better get yourself to school now. Class starts in half an hour."

"He took his meds right?" ZIM asked.

"Yes. He shouldn't spontaneously fall asleep today." Leslie gave ZIM's shoulder a squeeze. "Look at you acting all concerned." ZIM shrugged.

"It's not me hurt this time. I'm just doing exactly what Red does." ZIM said. "After school, I'm gonna a visit Tenn's band camp to see if she needs help. Don't expect me home until five."

"Okay, Sweetie. You have fun." Leslie said as she fixed his sweater vest. Red entered ZIM's room.

"You ready, mate?"

"Yes, sir." Leslie gave Red a quick kiss.

"Let ZIM drive." Red looked like he was caught off guard.

"What? Why? He won't be able to reach the accelerator."

"Then ride in his car with him."

"Why?"

"Because you're a new narcoleptic." Red threw his hands in the air, annoyed.

"I fell asleep once. Nothing has happened since then."

"It's only been two days, Babe."

"Nothing happened yesterday."

"Because you stayed home most of the day. Just be grateful I'm even letting you leave today." Leslie poked Red between the eyes. "Take a nap after lunch like the doctor said. Don't fall asleep in front of the kids. That won't look very professional." Red scowled, crossing his arms. "And remain seated the whole day. I want you to heal."

"You only want me to heal so we can make more smeets." Red muttered.

"That's only one reason." Leslie said. "Now get going before you're late for your class."

"Peder's already there."

"He told me he didn't have a lesson plan." ZIM piped up.

"Well we're fucked." Red muttered. He winced when his wife raised her hand to hit him. "Concussion! I have a concussion, remember?" Red said, hastily. Leslie groaned lowering her hand.

"Gazelle! Come on! They're waiting on you!" Gaz calmly descended from the upper floor.

"I didn't do the homework Dib's dad assigned us. His teaching method is confusing. He talks as if we're all college students."

"So are you saying I'm your favorite?" Red smiled.

"You two make the lessons interesting at least." Gaz said. "The only thing that I despise is all the girls fawning over you and Purple. It's disgusting."

"Know what's even more disgusting?" Red asked. "When you confiscate a letter from those girls who are passing notes back and forth and you read it only to find that they were talking about their sexual fantasies with the different boys in class. ZIM included." Red put a hand on her head. "I'm so glad you're a perfect child and you don't do shit like that." He patted her hair. She waved his hand away and fixed her bangs, scowl on her face.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go." She mumbled. Red grabbed the keys out of ZIM's hands.

"Come on. We gotta leave." Red told him.

"Yeah. Give me my keys back so we can." ZIM said.

"I'll drive. Kay?"

"Uhh, yeah sure. Put all our lives in danger." ZIM reached for the keys. Red held them up so he couldn't get to them. "Come on, Red. This isn't fair. I can't hurt you." Leslie snatched the keys away while Red was preoccupied with ZIM.

"Wha-?" Red pouted. "Please, let me drive. I took the goddamn meds!"

"Not good enough." She threw the keys back to ZIM. "Grow up. You can drive when you're stable again." Red stamped his right foot, like a child, whining.

"Noooo. I wanna drive nooowwww." Leslie pressed her finger against his lips.

"If you're gonna act like a child, you'll get punished like a child." Red blinked then a huge smile crossed his face. "Not a whoppin', you'd like that too much." Red frowned again. "ZIM's driving. That's final." Red looked annoyed. To make him feel better, Leslie whispered in his antenna. "Later, if you do behave, I might just reward you." Red's antenna perked, getting warm. The smile returned.

"Deal."

**Later **

ZIM walked into class late like he expected to. He ignored the stares of his classmates as he promptly sat behind his desk wordlessly. Crocker barely acknowledged him.

"Okay, well now that everyone _did _end up making it, I suppose I will hand out the test today." The class groaned loudly.

"Nice going, ZIM!"

"You had to show up?" His classmates playfully jibed. ZIM raised his hand.

"Crocker, can I have an extra day to study?"

"You were gone for a whole week ZIM. You had plenty of time." Crocker said.

"Yes, I know. But it was just too bad I was fighting for my life in the wild outback, remember?" Crocker shook his head.

"Did you do your study guide I gave to you yesterday?"

"The parts that I learned. I missed a few lessons because of the fact that I was stranded."

"Very well. Then we won't take it today." The class sighed with relief. "Instead we will relearn some lessons for ZIM's sake-" Crocker was cut off by the PA system crackling to life.

"Zeiden Macale, please report to the biology laboratory, Zeiden Macale, to the bio lab." Crocker looked annoyed.

"Okay. You know what? ZIM, I'm exempting you from this test. The rest of you will take it today." The class groaned again. ZIM was confused as to why he was being called down to his brothers' classroom but nonetheless reported there as fast as he could. He was met halfway by Spongebob and Sandy.

"Hey ya, pardner. Your brother kinda just . . . fell asleep, I guess. Like standin' up and everythang." Sandy told him. ZIM nodded.

"I see. Yeah, he's definitely narcoleptic." ZIM walked past them. The two toons followed behind him. ZIM entered the classroom. Purple was chilling on the floor, next to Red who was laying on his back, head turned to the side, snoring quietly. The rest of the class was wondering what the heck was going on.

"Red's sleepy." Purple stated, simply.

"He didn't fall did he?" ZIM asked, suddenly worried.

"No, no. I caught him. I saw him start to sway in and out of consciousness." Sandy knelt down by her friend.

"Poor, ole boy. Developing narcolepsy later in life is gonna take some getting used to. It'll be frustrating. Hopefully he won't have an episode everyday." Sandy picked up Red's injured leg and situated it into a different position so that it wouldn't further agitate his already fractured bones. "When he wakes up he'll feel refreshed. But keep him off his feet and don't excite him."

"You should just stick around. He won't listen to me." Purple said.

"Leslie said I should call if this happened." ZIM said.

"What the heck is wrong with your brother?" ZIM looked up to the random student who shouted at him. Some kid he didn't even know. Though he did look like he was related to a cast member from Fairly Odd Parents.

"Well duh, he's tired."

"Is he gonna be okay?" This time it was Trixie to speak. Her voice was concerned and flirty. "He looks like he had a very rough time recently."

"Uh yeah. Death brushed his cheek a couple days ago." ZIM shook his head at her. He really wished the students would treat their teachers as teachers and not some sort of sexual-fantasy-toy. They even did it to Dib's dad and he wasn't particularly the most 'handsome' man out there. Not only that but Mr. Baker was bisexual, mostly into guys than girls. Or that's what ZIM gathered from the way Dib spoke of his father. "Peder, didn't you tell them what happened yesterday or the day before that?"

"Wasn't here yesterday. Didn't think of it the other day." Purple waved it off. The man nearly fell back in his rear when Red sat up with a startled gasp. He whipped his head about him in bewilderment. It took him a few moments before realizing that he did in fact have another episode.

"Damn it! No! No! I'm not allowing this!" Red grunted, straining to stand by himself. He tried pushing Purple away when his friend assisted him up.

"Dude, you're an idiot. You need to just stay home." Purple said. Red painfully limped over to his desk chair and plopped down, arms crossed. Sandy stood beside his chair.

"Red, sweetie, ya need to face the facts here. You're weak 'n tired and need rest. You ain't no good here when you're always falling asleep. Your wife let you come today or did ya sneak out again?" Sandy asked, a paw on Red's shoulder.

"She let me come. And if I were to go home I'd be bored shitless because whenever I want to have a naughty, my trouble and strife turns me down even though she wants me up the duff again anyway. But no! She tells me to nurse the kiddiwink we already have instead! It's not fair!" Red whined, shoving his face in his hands. His Aussie accent so thick not a soul could tell what he just squeaked out. Which was probably intentional considering what Red just said wasn't entirely appropriate for the children to hear. "I just want to be fixed again." Sandy's face was contorted with confusion.

"What the hell didja just say, pard'ner?" She asked.

"I don't want to go home. I'll be bored. No sex for me even though my wife wants another child anyway. Instead she'd just tell me to give care to the child we already have." ZIM translated by whispering. "It's not that hard to understand, geez."

"You do realize the reason she's turning you down from sex is because . . . You're fucking pelvis is shattered! Don't be stupid!" Purple flicked Red's antenna.

"I'm staying here!" Red snapped. "I'm not going home. I won't be able to do anything."

"You can't do a damn thing anyhow!" ZIM said pulling out his Imp. "I'll just call Les and ask her to come down-" ZIM yelped when he was tackled to the ground. Red snatched the phone from his hands. The older brother rolled off his little sibling, cringing in agony at the stress he just caused on his injuries. "Are you insane? You're gonna hurt yourself even further!" Red was assisted up from under the arms by Spongebob and Sandy. "Acting the fool in front of your class. Calm down, mate." ZIM muttered to his brother. Red clutched his hip, breathing heavily. "Maybe you hit your head harder than we think. You need to go in for another MRI." ZIM took his phone back and called Leslie. Red looked at his students suddenly embarrassed. He _was_ acting smeetish. He felt his body grow tired again. Then without any warning, he went dead weight in the arms of Sandy. ZIM tilted his head to the side. "Wha-? Did he just fall asleep again?" Sandy nodded. ZIM raised both brows. "Well, no one stopping me from calling her now."

**Later**

"She's pregnant?" Purple nodded. Jhonen face palmed. "We need her for an upcoming episode! We can't have a pregnant invader. Just like we can't have a pregnant tallest."

"Trust me, Red won't be pregnant again anytime soon. When is Tenn needed? I never knew she was coming back."

"For a short cameo. Bring her tomorrow for a rehearsal of her lines, then we'll film the scene the next day."

"But Red is still injured."

"Dammit. I forgot." Jhonen sighed. "You Irkens make things so difficult."

"Uh . . . Thanks?"

"Not a compliment."

"Oh."

"I suppose we don't need him to move around so much. The Tallests robes should cover whatever cast or splint he has on. If there's a weird bulge then we can edit it out with the computers." Jhonen said, mostly to himself. "Where's ZIM?"

"Pretty sure he's finishing up his seventh hour." Purple said. "He'll be here in five minutes or so."

"More like no minutes! Here ZIM is!" ZIM entered the room, presenting himself as if he were the most important thing in the world. "What did ya need?"

"To get back on track with our scripts. You been practicing for _Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain_?" Jhonen asked.

"Yes, sir. S'all memorized!" ZIM said proudly.

"Good. As soon as I'm done with Tenn tomorrow, we're gonna jump on it and start filming immediately." Jhonen turned to Purple. "Is Red capable of wearing the Almighty Tallest uniform and standing still?"

"Well yeah. Don't see why he wouldn't be capable."

"Great. He needs to come tomorrow. All he needs to know is those two simple words. '_Me too._' And I know he's probably smart enough to memorize that all in one night. If his wife complains about him going . . . punch her in the throat and throw Red in a sack. We _need_ him here."

"Very well. I'm sure it'll all be alright." Purple said.

"Thank you. Your lines are simple too. You two better not come unprepared. If you do-"

"_I'll _punch you in the throat!" ZIM volunteered. Jhonen nodded.

"Yes, I'll order him to punch you in the throat." Jhonen handed an extra copy of the script to Purple. "Study the actions you'll have to do and what not. Be here tomorrow at seven."

"AM?"

"Yes."

"Guh! I can never have my morning sex!" Purple flung his hands in the air exasperatedly. ZIM cringed.

"Gross, mate."

"Just be here no later." ZIM saluted Jhonen.

"Sure thing. Anything for you, sweetie pie."

"Yeah, no. You're weird. Leave now."

"Don't like my affection?" ZIM questioned.

"Not particularly."

"Well I guess I'll just make tomorrow a living hell for you." ZIM winked then without another word, left with Purple.

**The Next Morning**

**5:00 AM**

"Amazing. Today is our _third_ anniversary. We've accomplished so much in that time." Leslie squeezed her husband tight around his waist. "Can you believe it? It's already been three years."

"Days go by fast when you're having fun." Red stretched in their King sized bed, taking in a deep breath.

"That's certainly true." She kissed his cheek then rested her head back down on his chest. His hand was wound up in her hair, petting the soft reddish-brunette, waves that cascaded down to her shoulders. His other arm was wrapped around her shoulders. Her own arms encircled his waist. "You should get up in half in hour. How are you feeling? Sleepy at all? You had an episode yesterday, I don't want you to have another today."

"I won't."

"How can you be so sure? What if you fall asleep and no one is there to catch you? You're frail enough as it is." She tapped the brace that attached to his pelvis and leg under the thin sheet. "This isn't enough to protect you."

"Then come along with me." Red said. "Or better yet, replace me. Pretend to be Almighty Tallest Red and I'll stay here and sleep till noon like I usually do when I don't have to work."

"No. I don't think I'd pass off as a _male Irken._"

"Oh come on! You don't even have to be tall or toothpick thin to play the Tallest! Look at me and my stature. The height, the thinness, the everything that makes me look contorted on the show, It's all computer animated. All they have to do is replace your face with mine."

"What about the voice, dimwit." Red didn't respond. Leslie could tell he was thinking hard though.

"Do your best me-impression."

"What?"

"Yeah. Do it. Now." Leslie chuckled.

"I don't see how this-"

"Now!" Leslie smirked. She changed her voice to sound a tad nasally, with an extremely thick Australian accent, then to top it all off, she started to rant about random stereotypes that Red would often prove to be true about himself and his nationality.

"Bloody 'ell, didja see that boomah? The ole jack had to be least two metahs tall!" Leslie snickered at what she was saying. "G'day, mate! My name is Red Macale! I'm a true blue Aussie from Kununurra where I dated ev'ry Sheila 'round. I'd rage and pash on with multiple gals at a time! I'd get around on a 'roo and sometimes I like to run down town in the nuddy with all me mates! I'm a jackaroo and I make rash choices by jumpin' on the backs of bulls and ridin' 'em like lil ponies! Always made one rippah stockman, I do. Figjam, this bloke means bizzo right here, mates!" Leslie couldn't help herself. She started to laugh, especially at her husband's reaction. She buried her face into his bare chest and snorted. "I'm sorry, sweetie. But it's true." Red sneered, pompously, snatching his Imp from the night stand beside him, looking up at the screen as if he didn't care.

"I betcha didn't even know what you just said." He muttered scrolling through documents that were sent to him by Jalo. He opened one document that seemed to catch his attention. "Jalo sent me some stage directions for my new music video." Red scrolled through the words. His face twisting as he read. He suddenly gasped, dropping his phone on his face on accident. Leslie pushed herself up, using her elbow for support.

"What's the matter?" She asked. Red sucked in his lips.

"Oh God." He picked up the Imp again and reread a few lines. "That is disgusting! No! I can't do this. It'll ruin my image." Red sat up in bed, he dialed Jalokia's office number. The secretary picked up.

"_Jalokia's Records, Mae speaking. How may I help you?_"

"_Mae, I need you to transfer me to Jalo. I need to talk to him._" Red spoke in Irken. The secretary recognized the voice immediately.

"_Alright, Sweetheart. Just a second._" Red waited semi-patiently for the man to finally answer.

"_Hello?_"

"Jalo, we need to talk about this transcript you sent to me." Red said angrily. Switching back to English.

"_Which one?_"

"The, '_Here I Lay_' one. What the actual fuck is this shit?"

"_Oh yeah._" Jalokia also sounding annoyed. "_Remember posing for that underwear magazine?_"

"Yes."

"_Well, since you neglected to actually have Mevlo read the contract, you agreed to sign off for not only that ad, but several other things that the same company does. Including music producing. Commercial advertising. And book publishing. When you said, 'Send it to Mevlo and have her stamp it with [your] signature', you agreed to do a raunchy music video. Good job, Red! You probably just ruined your reputation._" Red sucked in his breath, seething.

"No, no, no. I can't. I just . . . I'm married, I have a child, my brother still looks up to me as a role model as well as millions of kids on Irk. I'm going to be hated!"

"_How did you not hear of this already?_" Jalokia asked in disbelief. "_I'm gonna send you a video of some news headlines mentioned on a broadcast a couple days ago when you were still missing._"

"Ugh! Fine. This isn't over yet, Jalo. I'm not giving up so easily with this one."

"_Goodbye, Red._" Click of the receiver being hung up. Not a second later was a video sent to him in his inbox. Red quickly downloaded it and watched as two Irken reporters chatted about the latest news on his Imp.

"_And it's still yet to be discovered on where the Macale Brothers have disappeared to. The only information available at the moment is that they are indeed in their homeland country of Australia._" A female broadcaster said, mispronouncing the country's name as any typical Irk native would.

"_Speaking of Macales, the eldest brother, Red Macale has agreed to do a provocative music video for the company, 'My Image'. The contract he signed for the underwear ad from that same company was a joint contract that he'd also have to do a music video for them._" Another anchor spoke up.

"_There has been a rumor going around however that he signed that contract _unintentionally_. Which actually is likely considering the fact that he saves his body for his wife. He's told the paparazzi many times that he respects his body and he doesn't want to exploit it. He's also made it known that he respects other people's bodies and that's why he stays away from any pornographic media. However, it does seem ironic that he would agree to going nude in a music video as a product of lust for its viewers so this rumor may hold to be true._"

"_I think since Red got tied into this without his knowledge that he's forced to do it. I mean, it was a careless mistake he made but if he knew he'd never agree to it. But now he signed the contract, or rather, had his agent do it, he has to do it otherwise 'My Image' is obligated to press charges for breaking the contract._"

"_Red's family is the richest in this solar system. If not, the galaxy. Getting sued shouldn't hurt him too much. A couple million dollars is probably what he'd loose, but he has billions more in the bank yet._"

"_I dunno. There's probably more to that than it seems. In more serious cases he very well could find himself in prison knowing how Meijour's court system works. Broken contracts are usually not taken too lightly. Depending on what the contents is. For instance, he's done the underwear ad and gotten paid for it. He could probably get paid half for the music video up front before even filming it. If he backs out and keeps the money without doing any of the labor, time behind bars._"

"_Macale is a smart man. I would think he knows what he's doing and where he's going with all of this. Knowing him, he'll probably keep his word and do the music video, cuz that's how he is. Honest and keeps his word. I know he's not a fan of being taken to court. It's happened before with his brother on the Zeiden/Larry Trial not too far back._"

"_This is true. For all we know he's probably hoping this song and music video won't be a hit._" The other news anchor scoffed.

"_This is Red Macale we're talking about here. Winner of many various types of awards including; best singer slash songwriter, musician, model, and let's not forget who the sexiest male Irken of the century is. The video is gonna be popular whether he likes it or not._" The video cut off there. Red was speechless. Leslie too. Red put the phone down. Laying back to look up at the ceiling.

"What have I done?" He whispered. Leslie looked disappointed.

"I saw a newscast similar to that on T.V. a couple days back. I thought that it was a rumor that you were going to do a scandalous music video." She said. "Let me see those stage directions." Red shook his head.

"You probably shouldn't." More silence. "They got a few facts right, I'll give them that. I don't publicly act risqué. At least they're naïve of the fact that I am extremely inappropriate when with people close to me."

"Oh yes. You get a bit raunchy at times." Leslie said. "C'mon. Let me see it. I want to know just how bad it is." Red sighed.

"Just . . . Just don't hurt me." He covered his face with shame with his arm, handed his phone to Leslie with the other. The woman took it and scanned through. Her face changing with everything that was written. Never once did she looked pleased. When she got further towards the end of the song she had to stop. She set the phone down on the nightstand and sat. Just sat there. Didn't say anything. Didn't move. She didn't even blink. The tension was killing Red. He could only imagine what she was thinking at that moment. "Les," Leslie didn't turn her head to his voice. She just grunted to let him know she was listening. "I can't even tell you how stupid I feel. I just . . ." Red's voice trailed off. "Don't be mad."

"Don't be mad?" She finally look down at him. Her voice was very quiet. Eyes narrowed in on him. "Don't be mad, Leslie, even though I'm going to use my body as a sexual toy for the entertainment of women and maybe some men. No one will think I'm a skank or anything for it. I'm just an object after all. I'm not anything important. I like it when people use me." With every line she spoke her voice grew louder. "Don't get mad? Are you fucking serious, Red?" Red sat up again so he didn't feel so vulnerable to her.

"I had no idea what I was signing up for."

"And whose goddamn fault was that? You're an idiot, Red! Now your body is going to be exposed to the universe all because you didn't feel like reading through a fucking contract! Your body all over the news, the internet, the world. Everyone will see it. Everyone will pass judgement. I'll be associated with it all as well! It's not just you, your hurting! It's me too! All because your body is mine and mine is yours. We were bound together as one on that day we wedded! Your body is for me to admire! No one else's!"

"You think I don't know that? I don't want to be exposed! I would back out of it if I could but again, there's a risk of me ending up in jail. I could be sued. I could be fired from numerous agents and producers of mine. I may loose clients. Because I backed out of a contract, they'll think that I may do the same to them and it'll hurt their business. A lot of people will let me go and it's possible I could go bankrupt because of it!" Leslie pouted. Red felt a pang of guilt hit his heart. He felt even worse when he saw tears escape her eyes. Red uttered a curse under his breath. He pulled her in for a hug. "I love you, baby, and I would never _want _to purposely do anything to make you look bad."

"I know you wouldn't. It's just," Leslie wiped the tears from her eyes, pulling away to look at him. She pointed at his crotch. "That's mine." Red laughed, kissing her forehead.

"I know, I know." He murmured. "Don't worry. This music video won't change me."

"I sure hope not." She wrapped him up for another hug. "Oh, I love you so much, Reddy-kins." Red chuckled.

"Heh, heh. Yeah . . . Don't call me that."

"Bugga boo."

"That too."

"Cowboy."

"I like that one better."

"Cuddle muffin."

"Okay. This can stop."

"Cutie Patootie."

"Alright. Two can play this game."

"Then play, flutter-nutter."

"Oh I will, Teddy bear."

"Bring it on, handsome."

"Will do, pumpkin."

"Give me your worst, hot mess."

"I'll serve it to you on a silver platter, hot mama."

"We'll see about that, heart throb."

"Super Strud."

"That's cute name play there, num nums."

"That was weak, shmoopy."

"I'll show you who's weak, peaches n' cream."

"Definitely not I, gorgeous."

"Cuddly-wuddly."

"Sweet Cherry Pie."

"Firm butt."

"I know. It's amazing."

"Too bad I can't squeeze it right now, it being fragile n' all."

"Oh I wouldn't hold you back from it." Red whispered, his face inching closer to hers.

"Oh you wouldn't?"

"No way."

"Okay then, big boy, I don't wanna hurt you, so instead I'll just do this." Leslie roughly pushed him back down onto the bed. She smashed her lips against his. He grabbed her waist pulling her over him.

"I'm winning." He said through their Frenching.

"Oh no you're not, Cowboy." Leslie ran her fingernails down his chest, scratching him, leaving marks in their wakes. Red tangled his fingers in her hair, pressing her head down harder on his to deepen the kiss further. "I'm going to own your broken ass." She hissed.

"Then please do." Red never broke the kiss. Their make out session only seemed to get more active and vigorous as if they wanted to devour the other after being starved for five days. "Damn, I want your babies." Leslie snickered at Red's out of line comment.

"You like to ruin our sexy moments, you know that?"

"I wanna foreplay with pudding and a ferret." Leslie laughed. The two remained lip locked the entire time. "Get the paddle baby, I have been _real_ naughty boy."

"God, Red! Stop!" Leslie couldn't handle it. He was just so funny at the most inappropriate times. Not a mood killer. It only made her want to go down on him even more.

"If you let me fuck you, I'll give you the opportunity to see my 'I-Just-Got-The-Wind-Knocked-Outta-Me' orgasm."

"What the hell is that?" Leslie's laughs became silent as she listened to him.

"You don't know what that is?" Red pushed her away from his face. She shook her head. He noticed more tears streaming down her face. These weren't tears of sadness, however, she's been laughing too hard. "Oh my God! Well I just _have _to show you what it is then!"

"No, no. You don't have to do that-" Red cut her off by hitching his breath, his eyes went wide as well as his mouth.

"Oh! Oh, God!" He started to hyperventilate violently, his whole body jerked. His arms around her tightened, clenching his hands. "God! Yes! Yes! Ugh! Yeeesss! Please! There! There!" He gasped for air like a fish out of water. He threw his head back moaning loudly. Leslie gawked at his actions happening just below her. His hips gyrated. He bit his bottom lip, squeezing his eyes shut. Red's claws gripped the bed sheets. "Aaauuuuggghhhh!" Came his big finish. Leslie shushed him as best as she could. He panted hard as if he couldn't catch his breath for the life of him. Red suddenly went back to normal so quickly, Leslie questioned herself if it even happened in the first place. "Get it now?" She slowly nodded her head. Another scream of pleasure rung, but this one came through the walls from the room over. Red sat up, a wide smile on his face. "Peder, did you just fake an orgasm too?" He asked like a peppy school girl.

"What? Fake? What are you talking about! That one was real!" Came the other man's voice from his and his wife's room.

"Boy! You sure do know how to have fun over there!"

"Come join us!" A solid whacking sound followed by a yelp of pain went through the wall. "Never mind! Stay over there!"

"Oh my God! Shut the hell up!" This voice came from another room further down the hall. It was ZIM's voice. "I'm about to rip off my antenna here!"

"Make sure you recycle them!" Peder's voice called out to him.

"Just everyone stop! Please! You're traumatizing me here! Let. Me. Sleep!" This time Gaz's furious voice bellowed out. Red heard Purple cuss in the other room, saying something about, 'That girl is scary as fuck'. Red smiled contently, laying himself back down. He grinned up to his awestruck wife. "Baby, come on. Go back to sleep. You're keeping me up." Red rolled onto his un-injured side and went out like a light almost immediately, leaving Leslie to her thoughts.

"Holy shit, why did I marry you?"

* * *

><p><strong>If you survived through the pet-name battle, the loudest fake orgasm contest, and the pure stupidity of the males of the Macale family, without throwing up, you deserve a Nobel Prize . . . or a cookie. Either one. <strong>

**Anyway! Is Purple's mama cray-cray or what? I don't know about you guys but . . . She just may be my favorite OC at this moment. But I like nana a bunches too. Hmm dilemma. And Red now has a sleeping disorder! Let's hope it's not severe. Narcolepsy really affects individuals social lives- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I'm sorry, I just fell asleep. (Imagine that being your everyday life. Not good.) **

**Moving on! Fun fact of this chapter! Takky and Zimmy are married! (But that wasn't a fun fact because you already know that.) Here's the fun fact, ZIM still is in Red's custody even though he's married to Tak. So they're married, they just aren't like full fledged married quite yet. Red signed a blood oath in which if he ever needed to give ZIM away for this reason, he'd need to personally give ZIM up to Tak. Oooo! Fun! **

**Oh! And freaking Tenn is preggers! Maybe you now realize why I asked you about all those 'P' names. I mean, what? That had nothing to do with this story. (Innocence) **

_**Question: Out of all the characters in this story, make a list of the top five most liked. (To give me a perspective of who I should have more of in the story.) **_


	27. Confessions

**Mikki! Where are these videos you said you'd do?**

**Well my friends! It is simple . . . They're coming. I first need to get another camera instead of my iPad or iPhone, but until then, they'll be uploaded via Apple Products. **

**No. No videos were uploaded yet, but a few playlists have been made. I chose a few songs that fit the story and songs so you can hear what Red and ZIM sound like when singing. (Links on my profile) **

**Enjoy, mis amigos!**

* * *

><p><strong>August 25, 2001<strong>

"You really didn't have to come in today, Red." Mr. Baker said. "I know it's your day to teach but it's also your anniversary." Red shrugged, walking with the taller man down to the soundstage to start the lessons for that day. "At least let me take half the day."

"It's fine. Leslie is busy until this afternoon anyway."

"But I saw her here just a few minutes ago."

"She probably left by now." Dib's father looked down at the Irken.

"She's right over there, Red." Baker pointed by the main office where Leslie and ZIM were standing. Sapphira was in Leslie's arms.

"Oh. Well . . . ZIM's late for class and she's late for her university visit." Red and Baker watched from their distance as Leslie handed ZIM's niece to him. She pointed at Red and told ZIM to do something. The boy nodded and began to walk in Red's direction. Leslie made her way back to her car. Red raised a brow once his brother approached. He eyed his daughter. "Why is she with you?"

"Leslie couldn't find a sitter."

"What's wrong with those two Lombax twins?"

"You don't trust them, remember?"

"Yes but now I have a child to look after and a classroom full of kids."

"Again, Red, I can easily fill in for you-"

"It's fine, Eli! I spent three hours last night preparing a lesson plan, I'm not gonna throw it away just yet. Besides, you can't teach the English classes." Mr. Baker nodded.

"Well at least let me help." Red sighed, taking Sapphira from ZIM's hold. The three of them walked to their soundstage. ZIM broke off from Red and Mr. Baker and headed for his first class as the two older men made their way to their classroom. They entered the soundstage to find all their first hour students all conversing and laughing. The kids didn't seem to notice them until Zita piped up.

"Aww! Look at her!" She cooed running up to Red. A few other girls followed suit, all awing and fawning over the smeet. "She's getting so big already!"

"Her eyes are so big and pretty!"

"Can I hold her, Mr. Macale?"

"Me too!"

"I want to as well!" Red cringed at all the compliments from the girls. He scooted past them, taking a seat behind his desk. The school girls just followed him.

"Ladies, please take a seat and let me begin." A.J. happened to be in his first hour class. "Austin, could you help me here a sec?" The boy jumped up and immediately rushed to Red's side. He still felt like he owed his life to the Irken man.

"Yes, sir?" Red motioned for the boy to take Sapphira from him.

"Hold her. I need to get situated here." A.J. took the smeet from him. Red stood again, walking to the front of his desk pulling the computer chair with him and placing it in front before the class. He sat down sorely and took Sapphira back from A.J. "Thanks, mate."

"I want to hold her!" One girl wailed again. Red groaned. Mr. Baker took a spot behind Purple's vacant desk.

"Later, possibly. Don't let her distract you from our lesson. She's not supposed to be here." Red said.

"How can you tell us not to get distracted by an adorable, baby, Irken?"

"She's irrelevant. Ignore her." Red was about to announce the topic of the day when the smeet in his arms started to get fussy. Red whined. "Why, Saph, why?" The child soon started to full out scream.

"Ignore her, Mr. Macale?" A girl repeated, questioningly. Red rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me." He turned in his chair, putting his back towards the students to give his daughter the proper attention she deserved. "_Migh ko-duh, funt kai. Bebe, funt kai._ Daddy's here. _Com un, ba uppi_. Smile, darling." Red smiled down lovingly at the young girl whose cried quickly subdued. "Good, girl. Good, Saph. Daddy loves you." He kissed her soft, innocent face. He turned back around and was shocked to see all the girls crowding behind him.

"You are so cute!"

"You're such a good daddy!"

"Can I hold her now?" Red took a deep breath. He looked at Mr. Baker.

"Your help might actually be needed." The black-haired man stood and urged the students away from Red. "I have an idea." Red gave Sapphira to Mr. Baker. "Take her to Sandy. She's here and I don't believe she's busy with anything. If she is, then bring Saph to one of the studio nurses." Mr. Baker nodded and went off with the child. The girls in the room made annoyed huffing noises. "Get over it, girls. Once we start to film a whole lot more, you'll be seeing her more and more anyway."

"You're a jerk." Red furrowed his brow at Zita's comment.

"Well then, guess who's never going to hold that smeet ever now." Red smirked when the girl got even more upset. "Now, who's ready to learn about TNT?"

**Later**

"How was Tenn's band camp?"

"Her band looks great." Purple said. "They're very committed music players and all are talented. The colorguard is, ugh, drama queens. All the prettiest girls in the band seem to be in the C.G. And having twenty girls on one section, it ain't no good."

"Heh, I figured. They fighting over boys?"

"Tenn put me in charge of them for sectionals and it was a mess. All they did was talk about boys. A few even hit on me. They're so repulsive."

"Eugh, feel your pain. The girls in class were bad today." Red said.

"When aren't they bad?" ZIM asked, prancing in on their conversation. "Leslie just pulled in the driveway." Red stood and went to greet his wife. He was about to open the door for her when it swung open and slammed into the wall. In the doorway stood a furious Leslie and a balling Sapphira in her arms. Red's heart stopped as he came to a realization.

"Oh uh . . ." He scratched the back of his head. "I forgot her at the studio again." Leslie's eyes went wide.

"You left her there _twice_?" Red winced, mentally smacking himself for mentioning the other time. Leslie pushed past Red and stomped to the living room, giving Sapphira away to Purple. She then turned back to face Red.

"I was uh . . . wondering why it was so quiet here." He said, meekly. Leslie's outraged features did not change. Red bowed his head in defeat. "I'm on the couch tonight, aren't I?" Leslie covered her face with her hand, frustrated.

"It's . . . Ugh! It's still our anniversary, we still have to celebrate it. It's just," Leslie groaned, highly irritated. "You forgot . . . She was at the studio and . . ." Leslie stopped talking. She finally gave up trying to make sentences and decided to get her point across by lashing out her hand. She backhanded Red clean across his face. He winced, holding his now bruising cheek. Leslie grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him close to her. "You're an idiot and you don't deserve to get treated nicely tonight, but since it's our anniversary, I have no choice but to-" Leslie cut her self off again and brutally smacked him again. "I'm sorry it's just- No, I'm not sorry." This time, she grabbed his antenna. "Oh to hell with this." She pulled him by the stalk into the kitchen to scream at him in private. Purple and ZIM sat there. The two shared a glance. ZIM spiked a conversation.

"Red once forgot me at an airport."

**Later That Night**

"I feel like I ruined your night."

"You didn't."

"I'm pretty sure by the way you slapped me twice that I did."

"Honey, shut up. You ruined my day, not my night." Leslie shot Red a glare from the driver's seat. "Redeem yourself within the next hour and maybe I'll stop being pissed at you."

"Babe, Sandy had her! You trust her right?"

"Of course I do! It's the fact that you forgot to pick her up! You left her at the studio!" Red pouted.

"You're right! I'm sorry! I'm so unworthy to be her father and your husband. I'm better off dead!" Red slumped back, melodramatically and pretended to cry. "Is there anything I can do, my queen, to make this night special for you?"

"Oh, stop, Red. You know I hate it when you talk that way."

"I can't even prop'rly speaketh to thou without offending thee! I'm so daft and pathetic! Please! I begeth f'r thou to loveth my stupid self!"

"Red I will smack you!"

"She's speaks such fie threats! Oh her remarks makes her appear more beautiful to me! My love, will thee partake in Fornication Under Consent of the King with me when night falls and the moon kisses our fancy?"

"What?"

"And when dusk turns to night on the earth and the King agrees to the F.U.C.K. then the whole village can watch as thee falls into me . . . Oh lord. Did I say, '_into me_'? Haha! I meant, 'onto me'!" Red elbowed her gently, winking. "Or did I?" He spoke his next words in a mumbled whisper. "Ya shtill hav dat shtrapon, roight?"

"Can you please at least have some sort of linear thought going through your mind?" Leslie asked.

"I put in a lot of thought to speaketh that way! Old English is no easy task, my love." Red put his hand on her knee. "Where are we going?"

"Well, I figured since last year you picked our date, that I'd pick where we go this year. So it's a surprise."

"Is it somewhere cliché and cheesy?"

"No, actually." Leslie smirked. "It's something you'd never ever guess."

"Oh really? So it's _not_ spelunking?" Red asked. Leslie gave him a curious look.

"Okay, maybe you'd guess what it is because I have no idea what that is."

"Something I've had a bad experience with in the past." Red stared off into space, looking disturbed. "So much . . . screaming . . . Darkness . . . enclosed, tight areas. Cold, dark, cave. I miss you, Jonah. Never again." Leslie didn't know what to say. She just accepted the fact that Red had issues and moved on.

"Just wait and see." It didn't take much longer until they reached their destination. Red nearly dropped his jaw when Leslie pulled into the driveway of a tattoo parlor.

"What the hell?"

...

"Well this is one of your more unique and contradictory to your beliefs ideas you've ever had." Red said as he watched his tattoo artist prepared him for the inking process. Leslie was sitting back in a chair next to him. "Hey while I'm here can I cover this tattoo up?" Red asked pointing to the cross of stars on his chest. "I kind of want my family's tribe symbol instead. It's neater-looking."

"Babe, we can do whatever you want. But the main thing is that we're both getting a tattoo of the same thing." Leslie said. Her idea was to go to the parlor and to use an ink pen to write, 'I love you' on his body with her own handwriting, and have him do the same to her body with _his_ handwriting, then have the tattoo artist go over the ink with the permanent ink so their, 'I love you's would last forever. "You can't tell me that this wasn't a cute idea." Red smiled at her.

"Adorable. I get to choose where your tattoo goes, right?"

"Yes, same with me getting to choose where _yours_ goes." She ran a lone finger down his chest. Red smiled dumbly.

"I'll do your . . . did you say your family's tribe?" The artist asked. Red nodded. "Didn't know Irkens were sorted into tribes." Red just nodded not really feeling like explaining why his Irken family was so different from others'. "Draw out the symbol and I'll get to it." Red was handed a notepad and pen. He immediately began to scribble down the symbol. In the mean time, Leslie was handed a pen as well and was told to write the, 'I love you' where she wanted to on Red.

"Where you planning on putting it?" Red asked as he continued to draw.

"I thought it would be cute if we had it over each other's hearts but since your family's tribal symbol will be there, then maybe on your wrist?"

"Okay. Yeah, I don't think Jhonen would mind one there. I have to wear those bulky gauntlets anyway when filming." Red finished his drawing and showed it to Leslie. "Voilà! Macale family crest, Madame!" Leslie studied it.

"Looks great, babe. What's that say?"

"It's Hebrew characters that spell out my family's name. The letter, 'E' does not exist in the Hebrew language, so our name is technically spelled, MaCal, but we turned it into a name so English people could better understand." Leslie took Red's wrist and was about to ink him.

"Which wrist would you like it on?"

"Put it on my dominate hand so every time I write I get to be reminded that you love me." Leslie awed and kissed his temple. She took his left hand and wrote, 'I love you' in her slanted, neat, cursive handwriting.

"There. Now do me. Do the same thing on my right wrist." Red nodded and wrote the same phrase but in Irken on her wrist. Leslie raised a brow.

"An _I love you_ from your Irken lover. I just figured that we should write it in our own separate species' language."

"Huh, good idea." The artist return and sat down.

"Now. Who's first?"

**Later**

"Hurts a lot worse on the inside of the wrist than on the chest." Red looked at his newest tattoo on his arm. The couple walked up to private room that they rented at a nice, five star, hotel right on the Pacific Ocean. The two reached their room on the top floor and entered the suite with their card.

"I wouldn't know." Leslie said, looking at her own tattoo on her now red and sore skin. "Oh well." Leslie shoved Red further into the room to the bed. "Time for the gift exchange." A malicious smile played on her face. Red cocked a hairless brow but went to retrieve his present to Leslie. He hid it in his duffel bag. He pulled out a small, perfectly square box. Leslie took it and opened the lid to the velvet box. Inside was three things. She pulled out the first item. A small, glass, container of fancy perfume. But not just any perfume.

"Read the collection representative." Leslie looked closer. The perfume's liquid itself was a deep, crimson, color. Gold, engraved, Irken letters spelled out, '_Red Hot_'. Below in tinier letters was his name.

"What? You have a perfume collection now?" Red nodded.

"Came out earlier today. This is the first one. It's a mix of honeydew, cherry blossom, and ylang-ylang." Red took it from her and spritzed it. "I made sure they let me smell it before making it into a perfume to sell. Guess how much for this one ounce?"

"Uh . . . Twenty?"

"Try one hundred-fifty." Red said. Leslie gawked. "It's amazing really. Slap a celebrities name over a product and the price of the item will skyrocket."

"That's insane."

"No. The fact that over one million, one ounce bottles have already been sold is insane." Red said. "I also have a cologne coming out soon. Next month another perfume will be released, Seeing Red, then Sexy Red, then Forever Red, then Angry Red, then Red Passion, then Red Heat, then Red Lights, to name a few. A whole freaking lot of them are coming soon. And that's all the perfumes. I didn't even start on the colognes. They insisted all of the names have the word 'red' in it because it's the 'Red Collection'." Leslie just chuckled.

"I never really smelled a perfume that reminded me of you quite like this one has. It smells so good." Leslie pulled out the other item. Two plane tickets. "What's this?"

"A long, weekend getaway for two. _Mystique Resor_t on the Greek Island, Santorini. You're welcome." Leslie bit her lip with excitement.

"Gotta brochure?" Red reached into his pocket and pulled out the said paper.

"I researched a lot. It's beautiful and shouldn't disappoint." Leslie nodded.

"Thanks, baby. This is great."

"Finally get to go back to the place of your roots."

"I know! That's exciting!"

"You still got another gift." Leslie looked through the box again and found the last object. A black velvet box for jewelry. She opened it and saw a beautiful necklace with a round, green gemstone that was outlined with what looked to be white, bone almost. "Oh my God. This looks pricey."

"Thirty million for the ten carat jadeite. It's the most expensive gemstone in the world. It was mined in Guatemala. Surrounding the jadeite is rhino ivory from Africa. Two-hundred for that. Then the chain itself is pure rhodium mined from the Ural Mountains in Russia. It's the most valuable metal in this galaxy. Two and a half thousand for point O five kilograms."

"You spared no expense for these presents, huh?"

"Anything for my dearest wife." Red said. "Notice how you got three presents?" Leslie looked at him inquiringly.

"Yeah . . . What about it?"

"Three presents for our third anniversary! Duh. And you say there are no linear thoughts going through my mind." Leslie scowled at him.

"It's our second year anniversary." She hissed. Red raised a single eye ridge confused. He then looked up at the ceiling and counted on his fingers.

"Oh . . . You're right." Red paused for another moment before taking the necklace he got for her and shoving it in his pocket. "Guess you only get two gifts now."

"You're something else, ya know that?" She whispered. Red gave her a toothy smile. Leslie rolled her eyes and decided to ignore his idiocy. Red was taken off guard when she pushed him down onto the bed. "I did some research of my own. The traditional gift to give on the second year anniversary is . . ." She went rummaging through her own duffel bag. Red watched her as she searched. Leslie finally found what she was looking for. Red blushed at the sight. Restraints and a blindfold that all had something in common.

"Cotton?" Red whispered. Leslie smiled, sadistically.

"I did the same thing you did. Getting a gift for the number of years we've been married. Only difference, I got the correct number." She approached him, using her index finger to push him down on the bed. "If it weren't for this stupid injury of yours I wouldn't be so gentle with you tonight." She mounted him around his waist, making sure to avoid his pelvis. "But I know you'll be fine . . . As long as you're not allergic to cotton." She leaned down kissing him. "Can't wait for next year."

"What's next year?" Leslie kissed his jawline.

"Leather, baby." The two scooted up the bed so Red could lay down fully. As the two were lip locked, Leslie started to use the cotton restraints and bound Red's wrists to the headboard above him. Red furrowed his brows as the kissing became more lively and intense. Leslie tightened the straps for a firm hold. She then blinded him with the black fold. It made Red's back go stiff now that he had no idea what was coming next. She broke away from him and began to unbutton his shirt. "I know just how much you like being punished, and you've been so very naughty lately." Red held his breath, squeaking.

"Oh fuck."

"With pleasure."

**August 26, 2001**

"You ready?"

"No. I don't want to face them."

"You're gonna have to eventually."

"True." Red sighed. He was just off stage before going on for a press conference to update the media on everything that has been going on. ZIM, Leslie, and Purple were next to him also about to go on with him. Purple also took off from teaching leaving it up to Mr. Baker. They'd all have to go in later however, for the filming of _Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain_. Jalo walked past the small group.

"You're on now. Red, look innocent and pure. ZIM, stay composed. Leslie, just be your normal self. Peder . . . Would you please put that plastic sword away?" The violet-eyed man pouted but dropped the toy nonetheless. "Alright. Get your asses on stage. Only truth. Go." Jalokia demanded. The four walked out from behind the wall. Leslie held Red's hand as he climbed the four steps. The press were already shouting and making a huge commotion towards them already.

"Where were you?"

"What happened?"

"Are the rumors true?" And all questions in between were shouted. Purple put his hands up to silence them.

"Please, please. We'll get to all your questions in time." The company sat down behind their individual microphones on the table in front of them. "Now please, one at a time." A peppy journalist spoke up quickly before anyone else could.

"Red, is it true you are going to do a provocative music video for _My Image_?" Red sat back in his chair groaning at the hard question.

"This rumor is true, unfortunately." He started. Whispers erupted amongst the press. "I have no choice. I made a stupid error of not reading the contract and signed it. I would back out of it, I really would, but jail time is floating above my head. I do not wish for anyone to see me in such a state. I'm hoping to get a rewrite of the stage directions to make it less risqué."

"What would this music video have you do?" A man asked.

"It's kinky more than anything. But everything I'm going to do in the video symbolizes something. It's suppose to be poetic not a tool for lusting. If you happen to see my music video, know that it's not porn I'm making, but rather '_art_' as some of the abstract genius artists would say. However, I don't care about any of that shit. If I look at this in anyway, it wouldn't be porn nor _art_. It's just simply doing a job and getting paid." Another reporter stood.

"I have a question pertaining to your disappearance!"

"Shoot."

"What, how, where, and why did this happen?"

"What: we were going to the center of my home country to retrieve some vaccines for my family's bovine. How: we ran out of gas coming half way back from the center of the country. Where: the outback. It's a desert. Scorching hot days, freezing nights. Think of it like South Irk but only less extreme. Why: I do believe I already answered that in the 'how' question."

"Explain this injury!" Someone piped up. Red opened his mouth to speak but couldn't really remember what had happened.

"I'm having mild amnesia. I'll let Purple and ZIM take this one."

"Well, I'll tell it from my perspective first." ZIM said. "Long story short, as we were legging it back to the nearest town we came across a massive gorge in which was so long horizontally that we could not simply go around. It'd take too long. So we descended down this gorge then we walked to the other side to scale it going back up. We had safety harnesses going down but going up was a whole new challenge. We had to climb 6 meters high to reach the top without any means of safety. So my friends and I were first to climb. Red and Purple took up the rear to keep an eye on us. About half way up, one of my friends froze, too scared to keep climbing. Red told the rest of us to reach the top and he'd stay with him. Once Red convinced him to keep moving, my friend's foot slipped and I think kicked Red in the head knocking him off balance and caused him to loose his gripping. He plummeted three meters to the ground and was unconscious for I don't even know how long. My friend made it to the top but was nearly ill with guilt and worry that he might have killed my brother. Red is lucky that he has no spinal cord injuries or a cracked skull. He obviously must've landed hard on his left."

"A day later I think Red revived himself." Purple added. "He couldn't move himself so after a whole night of debating with myself, I decided that the next morning I would climb down and assist while the boys stayed at the top and walked along side the gorge until we found some way to exit the ravine. When I finally reached him, his arm was dislocated, his leg was bent in a contorted way, and he was so out of it, obviously from a concussion. It was not a happy day for any of us."

"What are the injuries?"

"Fractured pelvis in numerous areas. Severe concussion and sprained shoulder." Purple answered.

"We also made a startling discovery that he may have sustained narcolepsy." Leslie said. A quiet gasp swept across the room. "As far as we know right now, it's treatable. Not curable. We have it under control for the most part. A change in medications, diet, and sleep hours are necessary. He's gonna have to learn to adjust to this new lifestyle but we're hoping he won't suffer from it everyday."

"How did this sleeping disorder occur?"

"A knock to the pons area of the brain." Red answered. "That's where my concussion is located. Back of the head. It's effecting my sleep."

"Can you remember anything just before or after the incident?" Red bit his lip thinking hard.

"No. But I remember the void of unconsciousness, oddly enough. I do believe I had a vision, a dream maybe, as I was out." Red scratched his head. "This will seem crazy to you. Like, really crazy but," Red trailed off for a moment trying to word his next words correctly in a believable manner. "My mother comes to me. She speaks to me. I'm not sure if it's truly her, or if it's all my own imagination and wisdom, but she talks to me. Who knows, it could be very possible that Yahweh himself sends her to me through these visions. In times where I need her most. I mean, God is good all the time but, he took her away from me when I was so young, leaving me behind with two beautiful younger sisters and a precious smeet brother. I was nineteen going on to twenty in a few short months. I had no experience, knowledge, advice on how to raise these children while balancing school and two jobs. It seemed impossible. So I do think I have a reason to believe that God is helping me by sending her to me to give me advice every now and then. And it truly does help. It helps a lot." Red looked down at the table. "When I was unconscious, she came to me again. I do think she even showed me part of my future." He looked to ZIM. "_Our_ future. Sounds cheesy, but she told me that I couldn't give up. I have a family who loves and needs me. I could have easily died but she wanted me to . . . fight, I guess?" There were a few coos coming from the mass. "So that's what I remember."

"Is there anything else we should know about your situation? Your condition? Maybe just an update on life?" The four of them looked amongst each other. Purple leaned over to the mic and simply said,

"I'm going to be a father."

**Later**

"Mate, that was so mean." Red laughed, limping alongside his friend just outside the interview hall to get back to their hoverlimo to be transported to Jalo's studio. "Tell them you and Tenn are expecting a smeet then up and leave without acknowledging any of their follow up questions." Purple shrugged.

"Well . . . I like to keep them wondering. It's fun." Purple said. "I hope they don't think I'm pregnant though. Not a whole lot of people realize that I'm incapable of conceiving."

"That's because Red bore a smeet once that they assume all of us male Macales will get knocked up." ZIM said. "Though Tak made it very clear that I'll be birthing the first child whether I like it or not."

"Are you two already freaking married or something?" Red asked. "You keep talking like you are."

"Mate, we do believe we'll be spending the rest of our lives together." ZIM said. "I can't see myself being more faithful to anyone else."

"This is true. Nor can I see you with anyone else." Purple said. They continued to discuss all the way to the studio. The driver opened the door of the limousine for the stars. They got out and walked into the tall skyscraper and to an elevator which lifted them several stories up to Jalokia's office. There the secretary buzzed them in immediately. They walked into the large office. Jalokia behind his desk. He looked up then back down to his paper, then did a double take, standing up.

"You're pregnant?" He asked.

"No! Christ! My wife is." Purple seethed. "Why? Does it look like I gained a few? Is my body no longer appealing?"

"Sorry, sorry. Congratulations, Peder. I'm congratulations to you and best wishes to your family." His eyes glanced over to Red next. "And you too. What happened must've been very traumatic."

"Probably more so for ZIM than myself." Red said.

"Indeed. Sit down." The Irkens sat. And since there was a shortage of seats, Leslie butted ZIM out of his chair and offered for him to sit on her lap. "I wanna discuss something about Sapphira then the upcoming movie."

"Yes?" Red acknowledged him.

"I don't know if you two noticed this or not, but your daughter's name is currently the top web search subject on Irk." Leslie and Red looked shocked.

"Like . . . Wait . . . Why?" Was all the woman could muster.

"Celebrity infants. The people want to see their favorite stars' children. The second most searched is 'Sapphira Lynn Macale images'. And of course, no correct pictures of your daughter have been posted."

"Are you hinting that we should start exploiting our daughter so she gets used to fame at a young age whether she wants to be a star or not?" Red asked.

"Well when you put it that way-"

"No." The parents said in unison.

"I'm not saying _exploit_ her. I'm just saying, allow yourself to hold a few interviews about her, how you guys are coping with this new child stress, maybe even give them some of your personal parenting tips."

"She hasn't been shown on the reality T.V. show yet?" Red asked Leslie. She shrugged.

"I dunno if they got footage of her or not. One of us are always holding her. But not much attention is drawn to her."

"Answer some questions people have about her." Jalokia stood, sauntering over to a closet. He opened the door and bent over to grab something. He pulled a crate out full of letters. "This is fan mail for Sapphira alone. I have two more crates. And I'm sure your family fan mail email address is full of hundred thousands of letters to her as well." The family looked to one another.

"When's the last time we check?" ZIM asked.

"A month?" Purple said.

"I think three months, unless you checked it last month."

"I thought _you_ checked it last month."

"I didn't check it. I checked it like half a year ago."

"You guys have to keep up on fan mail! Fans like it when you interact with them!" Jalokia said. "You boys are so famous, you vomit Oscars and cry Stars on the Walk of Fame! Red, you're sexiest man of the century! ZIM you're the best overall artist of the year! Peder . . . you're . . . adorable?" Purple put his hands on his cheeks and awed, blushing modestly. "You guys are lovable, modest, billionaires. Do you know how rare that is?"

"To find a modest billionaire?" ZIM asked.

"Yes."

"Um . . . Hard?"

"Yes! Very much so! You Macale bros are top on every possible chart that has to do with fame and fortune. You're associated with huge industries. Invader ZIM is the top show on Irk now. The show that Invader ZIM knocked off the list of most viewers was your very own reality show! Now it's number two." The boys shrugged. Jalokia sighed exasperatedly. He looked to Leslie. "You understand where I'm getting at right?"

"Oh yeah. People want more of them. That's why everyone is going nuts over Red's upcoming sketchy music video." She muttered. Leslie glared at her husband. He was staring at the wall, probably in his happy place. Leslie rolled her eyes when suddenly an idea popped into her head. "You two, form a band." ZIM was the only one still in the room mentally.

"Red and I?"

"Yes."

"What about me?" Purple pouted.

"Honey, you can't sing." Leslie pointed out. "But you are a killer instrumentalist. Percussion right? Drums?" Purple nodded.

"Yeah . . . I like to bang things." Leslie stared at him, not replying. ZIM stifled his laughter. Purple grinned then at the same time both boys were thrown into an uproarious laughter. Leslie sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Remember, Les, you _chose_ to marry into this family. Yes, there's drawbacks and sacrifices, but you love them." She grit her teeth when the laughter didn't die down. "You _love_ them very, very, _very_ much." Jalokia beamed at her idea.

"Leslie, you're the woman of the hour! If they form a band, their popularity will increase even more so! It'll roll in more dough, _and_ it will make composing music and writing lyrics less effortful. The concerts will be absolutely packed! One hundred monies for the ticket for the worst seats. The best seats would sell for thousands!" Jalokia was getting giddy. "This will be great. And once you build your home here, you'll be able to spend more time on Irk." Jalokia started to write fiercely on a notepad. "I'm getting a jump on this right away. You four are dismissed but I'm giving you homework. Begin to form your band. You need a manager, a name, instruments, songs, genres, figure out which people you're trying to appeal to, your theme, get up, everything. Take everything into consideration when you start this band. You guys leave now so I can start working."

"Shouldn't you form a contract?" ZIM asked.

"I will as soon as you come back with details," ZIM nodded.

"Can do." ZIM pulled out the transporter device, zapping them back to the studio. "Well, best get this school day started . . . I mean, we're late by four hours but we can still catch the last two periods."

**After School**

"And then she called me a station wagon. The end." ZIM finished. The car was silent. Leslie was driving home with Red in the passenger seat. He was out cold. He had another episode as he just buckled himself in. Leslie hummed.

"Mm hmm . . . Yeah . . . That was interesting."

"Did I win?"

"Mmmm . . . No. Cuz I got something better." ZIM folded his hands in his lap, leaning forward to better talk to his sister-in-law. Sapphira was sitting next to him sleeping in a car seat.

"Do tell."

"So I was driving my banana to KFC when a UFO came and abducted me. Ironically, the alien who abducted me was your brother-"

"If this is a sexual fantasy your sharing with me, then your disqualified." Leslie shook her head.

"No, no! Once inside the ship, Red Macale told me that he just wanted to say hi and asked how I was doing. I didn't feel like talking because my toes hurt, so I did what any normal human would do, I threw a pickle at him. It tickled him so he giggled. I thought his giggle was cute so I got a pickle shooting gun out and started pelting him mercilessly with a variety of pickles; sweet, dill, peppered, bread and butter, garlic, even relish. He loved it and asked me to marry him. I said yes. And that is the story of my biggest mistake ever." Her and ZIM laughed at their silly contest.

"That was beautiful . . . Okay, you win. But I will get you. I just need my creative juices to start flowing again." ZIM said. Leslie smiled and pulled into their driveway just as Red woke up.

"Good morning, my precious princess." Leslie jibed at him. He groaned, rubbing his eyes. Leslie chuckled then looked straight ahead. She gasped before she could open the garage door. "Oh. My. God."

"What?" ZIM asked, leaning forward again to see what she saw. He gasped as well. "What the fuck happened . . ." Leslie elbowed her groggy husband.

"Red, come to, baby, look." Red stretched out. His vision focused finally. He saw what caused both his brother and wife to be shocked into horrified states.

"Fuck." He opened the door of the car and was about to climb out when Leslie grabbed his arm.

"Don't go out!"

"Just wait here. Keep the car running just in case we have to make a quick escape." Leslie bit her lip but nodded nonetheless. Red got out and inspected their beach home.

Cruel, vulgar, offensive, vandalism. Spray paint on their garage door and sides of their house. Offensive symbols and signs posted. The worst offense was what was in their front yard. A cross being burned. The flames still active on the wood. Red choked up at the thought of even having such a disrespectful sign on his property. He managed to tear his eyes away from the horror to read the lines and threats written.

_Anyone green should be unseen_

_Go back to Israel, kikes!_

_Warning: Jesus killers live here_

_Beware of the Abos_

_Ice Nigger resides here_

_Illegal immigrants!_

_Go home, boomers!_

Red was disgusted with the racial slurs. What was even more scary was the fact that windows were shattered and the front door was wide open. Red made his way over to the door. The car behind him beeped. He looked back and saw Leslie shaking her head 'no'. Red held up a finger as if to ask for a moment. He walked through the door and nearly collapsed at the damage and even more graffiti.

"Why?" He whispered to himself. He was glad no one was home yet. Gaz and Tak were still out shopping, Tenn and Zee at work. Peder was running errands. The dogs were all home. Purple's sled team behind the house were all yipping. Red saw Avalyn walking aimlessly, smelling random things. She had what looked to be a bloody, tattered cloth hanging from her fangs. Tyson laid on the torn up couch. Items were flung off the shelf, possessions were no doubt stolen, things were strewn about. Red sighed heavily, rubbing his face. The twins would be upset that all their cleaning and fixing up of the home was a huge waste of time. Red turned to leave the home but stopped dead in his tracks. In huge black paint on the back wall, was the Ku Klux Klan symbol.

**...**

"I can't believe this. We're being terrorized by idiots dressed as ghosts." ZIM was flustered, sitting in their hotel room. They had five body guards with them that the police station assigned them to. ZIM scratched his dog behind the ear with one hand, he cradle his niece with the other arm. Avalyn was transported back to Irk to stay with the twins for the time being. The Lombax girls more upset that the Macales were targets of racism than the fact that the home they just cleaned up was ruined. Purple's dogs were staying at a shelter until they moved into their new home in the hills. ZIM has been watching his brother pace back and forth for forty minutes now. Leslie pleading for him to stop creating stress on his injuries. But it was no use, Red's paranoia has gotten the best of him.

"We need to get out of the state for awhile. If the KKK moved this far west then we're not safe. Especially since they're targeting Jews specifically. And there's a number of Jews here in LA, but we're still a minority." Red said. "Turn on the news to see if anyone else was targeted." Leslie grabbed the remote and turned the T.V. on to the twenty-four hour news. Sure enough, an outrage of burning crosses on lawns and vandalism was being broadcasted.

"_After years and years of being quiet, it's no wonder most people thought the KuKluxKlan has vanished. Unfortunately, we were sorely mistaken. A group of Arkansas adults migrated over here to make a racial statement against primarily those of Jewish ethnicity. Examples are everywhere, from average citizens to even two celebrity households that all have Jewish heritage and religion. Only a handful of African-Americans were terrorized and a few Hispanics and even a home of Irken extraterrestrials. Police have yet to find this group and also want those of non-white heritage to be wary on the streets. Police have estimated a number of fifty-seven Klan members are in the area at this moment. Located in Santa Monica and moving inland towards Hollywood. Again, those of mixed race or of a minority group, be wary on the streets._" Red shook his head. Shaking with rage.

"My family is not safe." He muttered to himself and started his pacing again. "Just when I thought I was in the clear from racism, my past comes back to haunt me." Leslie walked to her husband, putting a hand on his lower back another on his arm.

"Baby, I'm sorry I can't sympathize with you. I mean . . . I've witnessed a light racial degrading to you when you met my mother. Obviously she's not in the picture and never would she do something like this, but I understand to a degree as to why this scares you so much. You've been abused in school growing up, right? Has anything like this happened before?" Red nodded.

"Rocks thrown at me, beatings, ethnic slurs, threats. Everything. I hate this world. Not that Irk is a perfect Utopia or anything. She has her faults too, but at least everyone is equal." Leslie wrapped him up in a hug. She placed a hand on the side of his face and pressed her own face into the nook of his neck.

"You've been through a lot, sweetheart. And you're right. We should leave the state. Wanna go back to Michigan for an end of the summer vacation?"

"Sure would."

"Can I purchase a paintball gun?" ZIM asked, laying on the bed, rising Sapphira over his body, holding her in the air as he smiled and made faces. She chortled, a string of slimy drool dripped from her mouth and landed on ZIM's face. He sat back up, cringing, wiping his face as his brother answered him.

"Zeiden, that's irrelevant."

"It's harmless defense." Red raised a brow at this.

"Harmless defense . . ." Red shook his head. "No, you may not get a paintball gun. Nor will you be allowed to use mine." ZIM groaned.

"Only because Leslie banned you from it!"

"Shush." Red hissed. ZIM jumped a bit when he felt his phone go off. He looked at the caller ID. ZIM answered it.

"_Ita vero_, Dillon?"

". . . _Shut up and tell me you and your family is alright_!"

"We're fine, Dib. Will you get me a paintball gun? My brother won't let me get my own."

"_Zeiden! Your lives are in danger!_"

"Not at this moment, they're not. Wanna get one for me?"

"_No one got hurt?_"

"I'll pay you back."

"_You realize you're still in potential danger?_"

"Which is why we're leaving this godforsaken city. It's for a couple weeks. You game for leaving now? I need that gun, like, stat." Dib sighed on the opposite line.

"_Zeiden. I'm intrigued by your lack of caring for your own well being._"

"It's impressive isn't it?"

"_No! It isn't!_"

"I'll just tell Red you said yes."

"_ZIM, I'm not even old enough to buy something like that!_"

"I love you."

"_You're annoying-_"

"Bye!" ZIM hung up. "He's going to buy me a paintball gun, Red. You should book our plane tickets now, though. Make it first class, baby." Red tilted his head to the side.

"You . . . I can't even . . . Why are you the way you are?"

**August 28, 2001**

"I've never been called an ice nigger before. That's something new." Purple threw a duffle bag into their beach home in Michigan carelessly. "I think I might use that actually."

"Don't be that guy." Red muttered, limping in the home.

"What guy?"

"That guy who's racist to his own kind."

"You called yourself a JewJew Berry the other day."

"I was doing word play. It's called experimenting."

"It's called hypocrisy." Red flipped him the bird and slumped down on the couch.

"It's already two. I keep forgetting the three hour time difference." Red said. "Zimmy!"

"Whaaat?" The boy's voice came from outside yet.

"When did you say you had to be in New York again?"

"We have our first world wide game in New York on September fourteen. But we have to be there on the seventh for conditioning and practice and we're staying till . . . I can't remember." ZIM answered walking in holding his own duffle. "Hey, look how sexy I am." ZIM started up the stairs.

". . . You do crack?" Red groaned.

"You're pretty damn hot too, Red. Bet you get those looks from mum!" ZIM called from upstairs.

"Yup, definitely on crack." Red said, under his breath.

"Tyson!" Red messaged his temples to rid himself of the headache his little brother was giving him. With all the shouting and talkativeness. The dog mention bolted inside, running full speed to Red. The Samoyed stopped abruptly beside the older Irken.

"Do I _look_ like ZIM, dumbass? He's upstairs! Go!" The dog ignored Red and jumped on the couch. Tyson laid himself down, setting his head in Red's lap. The man just sighed and stroked the soft fur. "I don't blame you for not wanting to go by him either."

"Look at what I found!" Purple walked back in holding Sapphira. Red smiled, opening his arms to receive his daughter. Purple scowled and cuddled the smeet closer.

"Uh . . . No. My turn."

"She's my kid."

"_Noooo_ . . . My turn."

"Pur-"

"My turn."

"I just want-"

"My fucking turn!" Purple snapped. "You get her all the time!"

"You have one on the way!"

"I have to wait another five and a half months!" Purple sat on the couch across from Red. "You're a crippled idiot."

"No reason to insult me because I have a smeet."

"You're a crippled idiot, daddy." Purple pretended Sapphira was like a puppet and spoke for her so he could get his point across. Red frowned deeply and was about to retort when ZIM came rushing down the stairs.

"I made a discovery!" ZIM said, jumping on the couch by Red. "We've never celebrated our birthdays on Irk, have we?"

"No." Red said.

"And why not?"

"Earth and Irk's calendars are different."

"By how much?"

"Twenty-one days. It's the seventh on Irk today." ZIM smiled, broadly.

"Which means my birthday is January ten on Irk!" Red raised a brow, wondering where he was going with the conversation.

"Yeeeaaahh . . . And?"

"What else makes the calendar different?" Red shrugged.

"Different holidays."

"The leap years!"

"Oh yeah." Red realized.

"In the year sixty-eight here on earth, we had a leap year. Irk's leap year is a year later. In sixty-nine. Which is your birth year. A year with a leap year has twenty-nine days in February instead of the regular twenty-eight. Your birthday is March twenty on earth according to the Gregorian calendar. You subtract twenty-one days from March twenty on the Irken calendar and it lands on the leap year. Do you know what that means?" Red didn't respond. "It means you're a leapling! Which also means your technically only eight and a quarter years old. Which also means that I'm older than you! Which _also_ means I'm in charge, Leslie is a pedophile, you're an underaged drinker, smoker, driver, and husband, you're an illegal employee for the academy, you got an illegal tattoo without parental consent, you're young enough to be in third grade, _and_ since I'm older than you, therefore, in charge, you're grounded for all of the things I just listed. Get thyself to thy room and start making plans to annul your marriage. No little brother of mine will marry a cougar!" Purple laughed. Red was at a loss for words.

"ZIM, I heard all of that in the kitchen. Would you like to be debated with against your assumption that Red is only eight?" Leslie asked.

"He's a leapling. Need I say more?"

"March one is the day he legally gets to age another year older. It's true for all leap day children. On and off Irk." Leslie walked behind Red and pressed her face against his, snuggling into the nook of his neck. "Besides, it just makes this already rare, crimson-eyed, dark skinned, sexy-beast, that much more unique." ZIM wrinkled his nose-area in distaste.

"He's not that sexy."

"Yes I am." Red closed his eyes, pressing his own face into Leslie's thick, wavy, hair. Leslie smiled, raising her head to look at ZIM. She moved over to whisper to him as quiet as she could, knowing that Red's hearing was even better than Tyson's.

"You wanna hear a grown man purr like a kitten?" Leslie asked. "It's involuntary and embarrassing." ZIM nodded. Leslie chuckled, going back to her husband, wrapping her right arm around Red's chest, using her left hand to gently pinch the base of his antenna where the stalk met his head. Almost immediately a soft, low, clicking noise sound from Red's larynx. He gasped at what his wife had done.

"Jesus, no!" Red turned his head to glare at her. "I don't even like that when we're alone, then you had to go and do that in front of Pur and ZIM!" Leslie cackled along with the other two boys present. "Do me a favor and go find their disambiguation arousal, make them purr."

"I don't have one." ZIM said.

"Mine is left antenna, on the triangular tip." Purple said. "There, I said it. Now Leslie doesn't have to touch me."

"She wouldn't want to touch you anyway, loser." Red muttered. Purple brushed his hand in the air.

"I'd think she'd rather touch a man like myself rather than a child."

"I'm thirty-three here on earth!"

"But not on Irk." Red didn't say anything for awhile.

"Why'd you have to make that stupid discovery?" He asked ZIM. The boy smirked.

"I wanted to let you know that I'm older than you." He responded.

"How are you older?" Zee asked her little brother as she walked into the house carrying some luggage. Tenn, Tak, and Gaz followed her in.

"Irken calendar says that Red was born on leap day."

"You didn't know that?" Tenn questioned. "Both of you didn't know that?"

"Well how'd you know?" Red asked.

"I looked it up, duh. And he's only born on leap day according to the Northern hemisphere Irk calendar. The Southern Hemisphere his birthday ironically falls on another celebrated day. New Years Eve. Not only are you a leap year smeet, but you're also Eve's child."

"That is ironic. I like that birthday better than my one here on earth. March twenty, yeah, it's just another day to most people." Red said.

"Why is it that you get the cool birthdays?" ZIM pouted.

"Oh, so now you're jealous?"

"I wish I was Eve's child, but no! I had to be born one month later."

"You have a cool-ish birthday." Tak said. "Last day of the first month. Easy to remember and a bit ironic."

"This whole day has been ironic, it seems." ZIM said. "Didn't know the Southern Hemisphere had a seventy-nine day difference-" ZIM gasped with an epiphany. "Guys we can totally have three birthdays a year!"

"Happy one day early birthday, honey." Red smiled big at Leslie. "There, I was the first one to say it. Where's my thank you kiss?"

"Is my birthday really tomorrow?" Leslie asked.

"North Irk, yes." Red said. "Your birthday is on September 19, right?" Leslie frowned at him.

"Pathetic that you have to ask me for verification."

"November fourteen? Ew, I don't like that birthday." ZIM said. "November fourteen is the day my south hemisphere birthday falls on."

"ZIM, that's a holiday."

"Veterans days is November eleven, Pur." Tenn pointed out.

"No, no. I don't know if you guys know this or not, but every day on the American calendar celebrates a certain food." Purple scrolled through docs on his Imp. "November fourteen, national guacamole day." ZIM beamed.

"It's green and delicious like me!"

"Oh my God, ZIM." Red muttered. "What's March twenty?"

"Lemme look," Purple continued to browse. "National French bread day."

"C'mon! I'm not even French." Red whined.

"I am." Purple said. "Wanna trade because it's telling me my birthday falls on national pineapple upside-down cake day. I hate pineapple."

"That's ironic too! Cuz that's the date of Spongebob's half birthday!" ZIM said.

"Okay, this is starting to get creepy." Gaz muttered.

"Gaz, your birthday is two days after national gumbo day."

"Are you serious? Are you being truthful or are you just saying that to be even more ironic?" Gaz asked. Purple handed his phone to her to prove himself. Her eyes went wide. "That's weird."

"I don't get it." Tak said.

"Gaz is Cajun, a Louisiana native. I adopted her from New Orleans." Leslie told her. Tak nodded understanding.

"What about me? December fifteen?" She asked.

"Lemon cupcake day."

"Ew, I like lemons. I don't think I'd like it in cupcake form."

"Zeiden, you're human birthday falls on popcorn day."

"I can live with that." ZIM said, satisfied. "Can we go out and do something? It's a lovely day in the neighborhood."

"We don't live in a neighborhood." Tenn said.

"Yeah but you know what I meant."

"It's Tuesday, I get the dunes aren't busy if you wanna go there." Red suggested. "I obviously can't do shit, but you can."

"Uh, fo sho. I promise I won't break my leg this time."

"You better not, you have that important game to play yet." Red said. "Peder, will you chaperone him?"

"Meh, I don't feel like it." He said, then pointed to Sapphira still in his arms. "I'm holdin' a bay-bay."

"Then give her here."

"No." Purple said. "I'm not done." Purple held her for another half a second. "Okay, I'm done." He gave up the smeet to her father. "Let's go, ZIM."

"I'm coming too." Gaz said.

"Me as well." Tak added.

"Wait a minute. Don't you have an interview on Irk?" Leslie asked.

"Not me." ZIM said. "Red does."

"You do too, bud." Red said. "I forgot until you reminded me." He said to his wife. "Damn, it's at four?"

"Three."

"That only gives us an hour." Red mumbled. He sighed exasperatedly. "We just got here and we have to leave again. Perf." ZIM groaned, trudging up the stairs.

"I'll go get ready." Red grunted, standing himself following ZIM.

"Need help, Red?"

"Nope!" He said. "I'll be just fine."

"Alright. You should leave as soon as you're done getting ready so you have time to talk to the host before you're on." Leslie said. "We'll be watching on the T.V."

"Kay. I'll see you in awhile then."

**Later**

"Our guests today came all the way from Earth. They're known for both being on the list of Sexiest Irkens of the Century. They're also known for their singing and acting career-" ZIM rolled his eyes as the host, Chec, kept rambling about him and his brother, getting the audience all antsy. He was watching the Irken from off stage of his talk show. ZIM looked at Red. He was trying to decide whether to leave four or three buttons left undone at the top of his dress shirt that was mostly hidden underneath a black suit jacket.

"Have a reason for the dandy get up?"

"I do actually." Red said.

"You're making me look under dressed." ZIM said.

"You look fine. You got that country boy chic style going on. It's nice."

"I got the country boy chic going on everyday except for Tuesdays and Thursdays. They're sports fashion days." ZIM said. "So the suit?"

"You'll have to wait and see." Red told him.

". . . They are the lovely and talented Macale Brothers!" That was their cue. The two put on bright smiles and walked out onto the light, wooden stage. The audience all stood up and roared with applause, screaming their names like mad. The two shook Chec's hand as he greeted them. He then told them to take a seat on the leather sofa by his desk. Two mugs of daleroi, a strong Irken espresso, sat before them on a coffee table. It took awhile for the audience to calm down. When they finally fell almost completely silent, Chec began to speak. "How are ya, boys? It's been a rough past few weeks I can imagine."

"What are you talking about? I feel great." Red said, sarcastically. Chec chuckled.

"You look great."

"I always look great."

"Once again, Red Macale's modesty never ceases to amaze me." Red grinned at the man. "This metal contraption looks painful." Red looked down at his hip.

"Well yeah. You can't see it, but I got rods protruding from my skin and several bolts in my hip. This brace is just so I can walk without any stress on my leg."

"Genius. I understand that guys like you prefer to be up and about." Chec said. "ZIM! How are you coping with all this?" ZIM snapped out of his day dreaming.

"With what?" The audience laughed at his cluelessness.

"With your brother's injury." ZIM shrugged.

"He's not in life threatening danger anymore. I'm fine." Chec nodded.

"You look somewhat bored, Zeiden. Am I putting you to sleep?"

"No," ZIM replied. "I'm ADD."

"ADHD." Red mumbled under his breath. Still audible to the audience.

"Let's talk baseball." ZIM beamed, sitting upright. The audience awed at how ZIM got excited with the topic. "You're baseball team on earth is now traveling worldwide. You're in the finals now. You need to win this upcoming game, then the semi finals, then the finals."

"Right. I'm starting pitcher for the _Bronx Broncos_. We'll be playing _Tokyo_."

"Who's gonna win?"

"We're going to kill them." ZIM smiled.

"You better. Next time I see you here on my stage, I expect to see you holding a golden trophy." ZIM gave him a thumbs up. "Now, you two are saying that not a whole lot has been going on and everything is fine. But did you forget that you were being terrorized just a couple days ago?" Red and ZIM looked at each other.

"Oooh yeeaaahhh." They said in unison. The crowd laughed at how alike the two were.

"Tell us a little about it." Red answered.

"Well there's this terrorist group called the Ku Klux Klan that lives in the southern states of America. They're all about white power. Now you guys don't get to see a lot of white humans . . . You guys don't get to see much humans at all. And I know the human population here on Irk is one. And that's my wife. Humans are a lot different than us. They have a different range of skin tones than we do. They come in black, white, brown, pink, yellow, and olive, whereas we come in greenscale; pale, mint, sea, olive, gold-green, camouflage, chartreuse, and dark spring green. They're olive is much different from our olive, however. Leslie has an olive complexion. So I'm gonna give you guys imagery so you can see how the humans work. To them, being black or white is equivalent to being pale green, like you Chec, or dark spring, like Zeiden and I. The blacks are the minority on earth much like the dark springs are here on Irk. Recall the invasion of Vōltaniae by the mints of Massaq. That was nearly a four thousand years ago when we struggled with our government and deciding the Irken boundaries. The mints seized the dark springs and used them as slaves. Whites did this to blacks on earth. So this Ku Klux Klan is a klan of white people who are still living in the past, believing that white is the superior race. Now these members of the KKK weren't targeting my family because my siblings and I are dark springs. They attacked us simply because we are green in general. They left some racist comments on our house, offensive symbols displayed, accused us of being the murderers of Yeshua himself."

"That's ridiculous!"

"Oh trust me, we know. So to take precautions, we left the state to go across the country and live in a home we have there."

"Well I'm very glad to see that you and your family are alright. This KKK is similar to the mint power group?"

"Exactly like them."

"Wow. That's unbelievable." Chec said. "Now are you ready to here some unbelievable facts from me?"

"Sure." ZIM said.

"They're all relating to you and your family. This is what has been going on here on Irk these past three years." Chec looked at a paper on his desk. "In 1996, the number of Irkens named Zeiden was two, you and your father. 2001, the number of Irkens on Irk named Zeiden is six thousand." ZIM's jaw dropped. "Fans of yours been having smeets and named them after you."

"I'm flattered but a little bummed that my name won't be so original anymore."

"Yes, but you'll always have the title of being the first Irken named Zeiden to live on Irk, minus your father, I mean." Chec told him. "That being said, in 1998, the number of Red's on Irk was one. There has been people before in the past named _Kòdīa_, the Irken way of saying '_Red_', but as of 2001, a thousand people have named their smeets Red, spelling it the English way."

"Fricken trendsetter. I'm amazing." Red said.

"1996, there was no such thing as baseball. 1997, after you were introduced as a new artist to Irk, ZIM, baseball has been adopted by over five hundred public schools around Terica alone." ZIM was shocked. He honestly had no idea. "Since this past summer, the name Sapphira spiked up in popularity by eight percent. Leslie was a nonexistent name until you married a Leslie when the name suddenly went skyrocketing. The Australian accent is now spoken in different areas of Irk. The genre of music you two invented, pop-country soulbeat is now number two most liked music genre on Irk. Piano players increased by seventeen percent. Marching band is a popular sport now, thanks to your sister, Tenn. Nickelodeon is now a full-time T.V. network here. Recreational boomerang is popular. Rodeo, which was a dying sport, is renewed and even more popular than it was before. Hockey is becoming popular but is in need of leadership due to the lack of comprehension of the rules and regulations-" Red's Imp began to vibrate loudly in his pocket.

"Sorry," Red said, pulling it out to send the caller to voicemail. "Ironically, Purple is calling me right now-"

"Answer it!"

"What?"

"Answer it and put it on speaker!" Chec said. The audience cheered. Red cocked a brow but nonetheless did as asked.

"Aren't you watching us on T.V.? Why'd you call?" Red answered.

"_I volunteer_!" Was the man's response. "_Imma start teaching young Irkens how to play hockey and I'll revolutionize the sport and all will be good on Irk!_" The audience laughed at the excited voice of Purple. "_It might take sometime before a NHL is developed but I don't give a puck. It'll be worth all the time and effort._" ZIM thought for a moment before chuckling.

"I see what you did there. Heh heh . . . I don't give a puck. That's good."

"Peder!" Chec called to the man. "How does it feel to be a father?"

"_I ain't a father yet, but I guess it feels good._"

"Any ideas on names?"

"_Yeah, if it's a boy we're calling him Paco._" There was a smacking sound that sounded on the other end of the line. Purple yelped and started to speak angry English at whoever attack him. It was obvious to the Macale brothers that it was Tenn who did the assault. "_Fine. Just kidding. He or she won't be called Paco. But it will be something just as cool._"

"We're very excited for you two. Congratulations." Chec said.

"_Thanks! It took a lot of effort._"

"I'm sure it did." Chec snickered.

"_But I did a good job._"

"Peder, you should stop talking." Red said.

"_I must go now._"

"Keep us in touch on Tenn, will you?" Chec asked.

"_We'll see_." With that, Purple hung up.

"He's uh, challenged, ya know?" Red said.

"He keeps us entertained. That's why he's the favorite Tallest of _Invader ZIM._" Red stared at Chec wordlessly.

"Oh."

"I'm only kidding."

"No you weren't."

"Yeah, okay."

"It's okay though!" Red put his hands up. "I'm used to it."

"The people on earth only seem to watch it for GIR." ZIM muttered.

"GIR? Of all characters, _GIR_!"

"I know, right? Forget about Dib, Gaz, and ZIM who have the most lines and most character development. Let's love the robot who doesn't really exist, does nothing for the plot, and is highly annoying." ZIM said in a mocking tone.

"Why humans be dumb? We dun know." Red shrugged. "My personal favorite character so far is Gaz. She's most like her character in for really life. She's so natural when she acts."

"I think Dib is a terrific actor. He's nothing like his character in for really life. He's very shy and introverted, whereas Dib in the series is hellbent on saving earth and is very outgoing."

"I half expected to hear you guys say that your own character is your favorite."

"Pfft! No! I hate ZIM! He's racist and a total jerk!" ZIM sat up straight. "He's nothing like me, but I'll give him credit for putting up with GIR." Chec nodded, looking to Red.

"What about you? How do you feel about your character."

"Tallest Red is . . . He's not fun to play, costume-wise, first of all. Whenever I'm getting dressed to play Tallest Red, and this goes for Peder too, we have to squeeze into a green corset, then we have to put on these heavy shoulder pads, and then we have to wear a skirt. Now we don't get squeezed by the corset to the same size as our waist in the series, the reason why our corset is green is so that the editor can do their movie magic and make our waist much, much narrower. The skirt is something I trip on all the time when we're not in the hover belts."

"Are those hover belts fun to wear?"

"Oh yeah. They're fun and easy to use. The first time we put on the belts, however, I threw up. Once you put those belts on, you feel weightless and my body doesn't like feeling weightless. It's no fun."

"And your character?"

"I don't like Tallest Red for making GIR, I don't like him for being sexy, I don't like him for being hilariously rude, I don't like him for being a master at lying. I like myself for being ironic, though. That Tallest Red fellow, is too damn hot. For his own good, he must end."

"You have issues with your physical attractiveness?" Chec asked.

"Yes. It's rough being a sexy beast. But I learned to cope." Red said. The audience laughed. Chec smiled, shaking his head.

"Do you like your wardrobe, ZIM?"

"No. Too hot. I'm wearing all leather and stuff." ZIM said. "I fainted a few times when we had to film outside."

"Oh boy. I never been to California, but I know it has one season year round. It's hot."

"Cali is a large state. It does get four seasons in some areas." Red pointed out.

"Speaking of California, when are you moving into your new home?"

"Very soon. It's a beautiful home. Very contemporary and unique. It's best feature is to get from the kitchen to the living room, there's a pool river that flows across the border of the living room and kitchen with a glass bridge. The river flows from out of the house and into the backyard and down a waterfall that flows into our pool."

"That's brilliant!"

"Yeah. I'm scared that someone is gonna fall in though. It's only about three foot deep, but it's deep enough for a smeet to drown."

"That's true. And what of your Irken home?"

"Currently under construction. We also decided to purchase a home in our native land. We found family in Mårcio and wanted to go back to our roots just to be with our original people."

"So a home on Vōltaniae and on Terica soil."

"Yeah, on Irk. On earth we still have a beach home in Michigan, a home in L.A., a home in Perth, which we're leaving by the way. We're moving from Perth back to Kununurra and are building a home a few kilometers away from where I grew up." Red counted in his head. "Five different homes in five different locations."

"You got a home in the Northern Hemisphere of Irk and one in the Southern Hemisphere. Look at you covering all the ground." Chec said. "Decided what kind of home you want on Mårcio? And what city?"

"It's gonna be a penthouse in the city of Zypher."

"Oo, the City on Fire. It's famous for its night time lights and skyline. It's right on the very peninsula tip of the island. That'd be a beautiful home." Red nodded.

"Hoping so." Red said.

"Now, I have the thought that your upcoming movie is gonna be filmed in Mårcio, right?"

"Parts of it, yeah." ZIM said. "South Irk, Mårcio, and Terica with a few other places. We'll be all over the place."

"What can we expect from this movie?"

"Um . . . Awesomeness?" ZIM shook his head. "I don't know. You're gonna have to find out for yourself."

"Ugh, I hate waiting." Chec said. He turned to look directly at the cameras. "We'll cut to commercial for now. When we come back, Red and ZIM will be performing for us they're newest single. Stay tuned!"

**August 30, 2001**

"What else is on the list?" Leslie asked.

"Bread and honey. And a pound of sugar and kosher salt." Gaz replied, looking at the list of groceries they needed. ZIM came prancing down the aisle of the supermarket holding a large watermelon. ZIM plopped it into the cart.

"Watah-Mewon!" ZIM darted off again to look for other things he wanted.

"He's embarrassing to shop with, mom. Why do you take him along?"

"He likes to run errands." Leslie said, simply. "Literally, _run_ errands."

"I don't like him coming with us. He throws random things none of us like into the cart all the time."

"It makes him feel helpful." ZIM came running back to them with a large bag of cat food. He threw it into the cart as well.

". . . We don't have a cat, mom."

"Honey, leave him be." Leslie told her daughter as she looked at the canned foods. "Go get him and bring him back here so he can choose what kind of fruits and vegetables he wants." Gaz groaned and went off to look for ZIM. It didn't take long to find him climbing up a wine shelf to reach the Italian import wines.

"Hey, idiot. Get down before you fall down." Gaz grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back. ZIM gasped and went tumbling to the ground. The tiny Irken paid no mind to her and bounced back up and snatched a random merlot off the rack and went off back to find Leslie. Gaz sighed, following him back.

"Gazzy?" Gaz froze at the oddly familiar voice from behind. She slowly turned to face who spoke. Her eyes lit up when she saw a tall, brunette man holding a basket of groceries.

"Uncle Ty!" She said excitedly. She ran up and gave him a hug. He smiled and returned the hug. "Hold on! Stay here! I'll get mom!" Gaz ran to get Leslie. She nearly slipped when she turned down the aisle too fast. "Mom! Ma! Uncle Tyler is here!" Leslie cocked a brow.

"Ty is here?" Gaz nodded vigorously.

"Who's that?" ZIM asked. Leslie didn't answer. She followed Gaz to where she found him. Leslie beamed when she saw the mentioned man.

"Oh my God! It's so good to see you!" She squealed running to him. She threw her arms around him and gave him a huge hug. ZIM observed from a distance. "How are you? I haven't seen you in nearly a whole decade!" They released each other from the embrace.

"I've been doing good."

"How's the wife?"

"She's excellent."

"No children yet?"

"Not quite yet. How have you and Gaz been doing?"

"Oh better than you can imagine." Leslie said. "A lot has happened since last you saw me."

"Like what?"

"Well," Leslie looked at ZIM. "You'll just have to find out. Come home with me and meet my family."

"What? You have a family now?" Leslie smiled.

"Just come and see."

**Later**

"Honey!" Leslie called as soon as she entered their home. Tyler was looking around the ginormous household in awe. "Babe! Come here! I want you to meet someone!" Tyler looked at Leslie.

"You married?" Leslie nodded happily. "I had no idea!"

"We literally just celebrated two years."

"My God. I should have never of moved to West Virginia." He said to himself. Red finally made his way into the kitchen. His eyes were half shut, antenna slicked back, he was wearing only plain pajama bottoms, which allowed the massive bruise on his waist to be visible.

"Why are you yelling?" He muttered.

"You have another sleep attack?" Red nodded. Leslie approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Baby, I want you to meet Tyler." Red tried his best to focus his eye sight on the man in their home. Red took in a deep, tired breath.

"Ex boyfriend of yours?"

"Brother actually." Red's eyes opened a bit more at that.

"Totally forgot you had a brother." Red walked up to the man who stood five inches taller than he. He held out a hand for the man to shake. "My name is Sexy. But you can call me Red. I'm Leslie's husband." Tyler gawked at the shorter, green male standing before him. He slowly took Red's three-fingered hand into his own and shook.

"You're . . . You're an Irken."

"Am I really?" Red asked as if he didn't already know. "I was naïve of this! Thanks for telling me!" Tyler didn't know how to respond. Leslie nudged Red.

"Don't be an asshole, Red." Red shrugged and plopped himself down by the table. "Sorry about him. He's zealous and rude." Tyler still didn't have anything to say. "ZIM, will you go get the groceries from the trunk?" ZIM nodded and went off to do his assigned task.

"Uh, Les. Can I speak with you privately?" Red at the table raised his antenna.

"Is there something wrong with me hearing whatever it is?" Tyler shook his head.

"No, no. It's just, I haven't seen my sister in a while and I'd like to catch up on some things." Leslie led her older brother to the living room. Purple and Tenn were there cuddling on the couch.

"Can you two get a room? Me and my brother would like to talk." The couple frowned at Leslie.

"Your brother?" Purple asked.

"Yes. I'll fill you in later. Just please leave for now?" The two sighed exasperatedly. They got up and headed up the stairs, talking about 'getting it on'. Leslie sat on the couch. Her brother taking a seat next to her. He started to whisper to her.

"You married an Irken!" Leslie furrowed her brows.

"Yes. I did. Is there a problem?"

"Do you think mom would've wanted you to marry him?"

"Mom was racist and narrow minded. I'm sure if she met Red more than three times, he would've grown on her . . . Maybe."

"Ugh, Leslie, I just . . . I'm not trying to be racist here but Irkens are so . . ."

"No we're not!" Leslie face palmed when her husband's voice called to them from the kitchen. "Whatever you're about to say is false!" Tyler was gobsmacked.

"How did he hear me from way over here?"

"He's an _Irken_, Ty. They have better hearing than bats. What about the Irkens makes them so repulsive to you?"

"We eat our children if they disappoint us!" Red yelled again. "By the way, Les, Sapphira mysteriously disappeared earlier today!" Leslie was about to shout at him to be quiet when Tyler interrupted.

"Who's Sapphira? Was he implying that you have a daughter?"

"We do have a daughter! You're an uncle all over again." Leslie grinned. "She's beautiful. Icy blue eyes, minty green skin, cute, little, curly, antenna. She's so precious."

"She's got her daddy's good looks!"

"Red! Please! Shut up!" Leslie snapped.

"Les, I thought you were barren." Leslie held up a finger.

"Hold that thought." She bounded up the stairs. Moments later she returned holding a tiny smeet in her arms. She took her seat again by her brother. "Look. Your newest niece." Tyler looked at the smeet-baby hybrid. He truly had no words.

"How is this possible? You're barren!"

"I am." She kissed her daughter's head, "But Red isn't." Tyler's eyes went wide with horror.

"I am one sexy, fatass when I'm pregnant!" Tyler looked like he was gonna be ill.

"_He_ was the one who got pregnant?" Leslie nodded. Tyler shook his head in disbelief. "Wow just . . . Wow." Red limped into the living room and sat right in between Leslie and her brother. Leslie pinched Red to get him to behave but he ignored her.

"Tyler, you've got the prettiest eyes." Red said.

"Red, please go back to bed."

"You're on the 'bed' of which I sleepth on, darling." He countered. Tyler ran a hand over his hair.

"Listen, I don't mean to be rude. It's just . . . maybe all of this was too much for me to take in at once. I mean, first surprise, I finally get to see my sister again after eight years. Next surprise, she's living large in a mansion by the lake. Third surprise, she's married. Fourth, she's married to an _Irken_. Fifth, she has a child. Sixth, her husband gave birth to the child. It's just all way too much." Red pursed his lips, scratching his chin like a thoughtful gentleman.

"Hmm, yes, quite. Indeed . . . Hey! You wanna stay for dinner? Sapphira disappointed me and I think she'll make a really good appetizer." Red said, playfully hissing in his infant's face. He then kissed her all over her face. The Irken child squeal and giggled, clapping her hands.

"Red, please, you're obnoxious." Red feigned hurt.

"This is what I get for giving you life? Shame on me."

"Honey, you have serious brain damage. Go back to bed." Red just scowled at Leslie and left them alone. Once Tyler was almost positive Red was out of ear shot, he dared to speak again.

"Seriously though, what is his problem?"

"Ty, when I said that he has serious brain damage, I meant it."

**...**

"A bull rider?"

"Yup! A professional bull rider. Started when I was real young, made hundreds of thousands per ride."

"Jesus, why?"

"I dunno. But I made bank, so it's alright." Tyler agreed to stay for dinner and now was engaged in casual conversation with the Irkens of the house.

"You guys look oddly familiar." Tyler said. Leslie slapped a hand over her forehead.

"Oh yeah! God! How'd I forget to tell you? ZIM here has his own T.V. show. Gaz is in it. So is Red and Purple. Tenn and Zee have cameo appearances."

"It's no big deal." ZIM said. Gaz nodded.

"Yeah. It's whatev."

"They might be planning on putting me in the series for an episode." Tak said. Tyler gawked at their lack of interest in their careers.

"Are you really all from Irk? You sound European."

"Tak is European. Purple is Canadian but he has an awkward half French, half Canadian accent. The rest of us are from Down Under." ZIM said. "We're positive we're Irken though."

"Where is Daisy?" Leslie asked her brother.

"Daisy? Is that your dog?" ZIM asked,

"Daisy is my wife's name." ZIM narrowed his eyes at Tyler.

"I don't like it." Tyler watched as Gaz smacked the little Irken. "I'm sorry. It's just, I wouldn't want to shout that name out in bed." This time Red smacked ZIM. Tyler didn't know how to respond, so instead he decided to answer Leslie's question.

"She's still in West Virginia."

"Why the hell would you move there anyway?" ZIM asked. "It's landlocked, full of deformed cannibals, and home of Silent Hill where shit gets real every time it's a foggy day!"

"ZIM is referencing the movie, _Wrong Turn_, and the game, _Silent Hill_, and he's not a fan of not being surrounded by water considering he was born and raised on a massive island continent." Red said. "But seriously, why there?" Tyler shrugged.

"My wife is from Charleston, West Virginia."

"And how does that make you feel?" Red asked, leaning in a bit.

"Uhh . . . I'm indifferent."

"Interesting. And you have no children?"

"No."

"Well shit," Red looked at Tenn. "Guess I gotta wait till that thing pops outta you before I can be an uncle yet." Tyler's face lit up.

"You're pregnant?" Tenn nodded.

"Yes. It's been like a month now. We can expect the smeet next February."

"Well, congratulations you two."

"Thanks." Purple said. "We already agreed that his name will be Paco."

"Paco? Are you . . . serious?" Tenn shook her head.

"No, Peder's a dumbass. We don't even know the gender yet."

"Well, it still must be exciting. Daisy and I should've tried to have children awhile ago, but now we're getting older and I just don't know if we should anymore."

"There's always adoption." ZIM suggested.

"I suppose you're right." Tyler said. Tyler stood from the table. "It's been very nice meeting you all. It's exciting to see my sister's family. I had a hunch you got married but never would I have thought that you got married to billionaire aliens."

"You're leaving so soon? Did I freak you out? If I did, I swear it wasn't intentional." Red said. "I still feel bad for that mortgage loaner that you brought home." He said to Zee. She crossed her arms.

"And _I'm_ still trying to forget about it!"

"No, no. It's not you guys. I had to get going anyway." Leslie stood as well with Sapphira in her arms to give him a hug. "Will you be staying here for awhile?"

"It depends." She answered. Tyler nodded.

"Well, maybe I'll come to see you again tomorrow." Tyler looked at Red. "Hope you heal alright."

"I do too . . . I mean, thanks." Leslie left the table to walk him out.

"I'm sorry. He doesn't make very good first impressions."

"I understand. He's an extrovert and very foolhardy, if I'm not mistaken by that injury. Falling from twenty feet to solid rock. Does he overestimate himself?" Leslie sighed.

"All the time."

"Do you miss mom?" Leslie pursed her lips in thought. The topic changed quite dramatically.

"I'm gonna sound horrible if I answer that."

"I don't miss her either."

"Good. It's not that I don't miss her, it's just, when she died, Red immediately offered to let me move in with him. Not too much longer, he asked me to marry him. It just went uphill since ma's death. We weren't that close anyway."

"Do you like living in California?"

"It's alright. I know Red and ZIM hate L.A. but they have no choice. ZIM is always busy with the T.V. series and stuff." Tyler let out a long slow breath.

"I just cannot believe how far you've come in these past eight years. You married a celebrity _and_ you're going back to college to become an orthodontist." Leslie smiled.

"Like I said, it's all going uphill. Sure there's a few bumps in the road but they're usually resolved quickly." Tyler hugged his sister again.

"I'm glad for you." He said. "I met up with a couple of your besties from high school. They asked me how you were doing."

"Gale, Alli, and Victoria?"

"Gale and Victoria was at the restaurant where I met them. Alli must've been busy. They'd like to see you again. Have you talked to them at all?"

"Rarely." Leslie scratched her head. "Guess I know what I'm going to do tomorrow. Thanks, Ty."

"No problem, Les. Stay out of trouble."

"It's not me who you should worry about getting into trouble." Leslie pointed with her thumb back into the home where the Irkens' loud voices projected all the way from the living room. Tyler just chuckled and went on his way. Leslie went back to the dining room just in time to see Red pour his wine on ZIM's head. "Red! Seriously?" Red put his hands up in defense.

"I told ZIM to stop wearing this shirt cuz it makes him look like a rent-boy!" ZIM wiped the beverage off his now stained, white shirt as best as he could. But it was hopeless. Nothing was getting that wine stain out.

"You're an asshole." ZIM muttered. "What part of this shirt makes me look like a prostitute?"

"It's thin material and see-through."

"Oh and you don't flaunt your body by wearing suggestive clothes . . . Or no clothes at all?"

"Yeah, Mister Underwear Model, he's got a point." Leslie said.

"That's different. I'm an adult."

"You're eight years old!" ZIM snapped.

"Stop! We're on earth. Not Northern Irk. Only then will I technically be eight." Leslie shook her head.

"I should've never introduced you to my brother. He's probably judging me because of you guys." Leslie went to the land line and picked it up. "Everyone shut up. I'm making a call."

"To whom?"

"Some old friends." Leslie sat back down at the table as the phone began to ring. After three rings a female finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Vic! It's Leslie! It's been such a-"

"_Oh my God! Leslie! Ugh! I miss you so much girl! It's been a long, long, long while! We need to hang out! I heard you moved, but never found out where. What are you doing tomorrow? Any plans?_"

"No, no, that's why I called you-" Red leaned over to Leslie and obnoxiously talked into the phone.

"_Hiii_, Michael." Leslie elbowed him in the gut. "Oof! Why'd you do that?"

"Sorry, Vic-"

"_Who was that? It sounded like a man. Is he your friend? Boyfriend?_"

"Vic, we're just gonna have to get together and you can find out for yourself."

"I had a Billy goat named Victoria." Red said into the phone. Leslie pinched his leg, making him jump.

"_Seriously! Who is that?_" Leslie scowled at her husband.

"Let's meet up at the parking lot at the dunes. We'll catch the sunset."

"_Now?_"

"Yes, you, Gale, and Alli. We obviously need to catch up on some things."

"_Alright! I'll see in ten minutes!_" Leslie hung up.

"What are you doing?" Red asked.

"What are _we_ doing. Since we wanted to go to the dunes anyway, might as well invite some of my old high school friends."

"Mm. Okay, have fun with that. Watch ZIM closely for me?" Red pushed himself away from the table to get his daughter in the other room.

"Oh no. You're coming with. How else will I explain that I married an alien to them?"

"Easy, you say this, '_I married an alien . . . He's sexy_'."

"No, it won't be that easy. Just come with. You don't have to do anything." Red whined.

"Why didn't you invite these women to the wedding? That way they already know!"

"The wedding was on Irk and there was limited space on the space carrier, remember?" Red sighed.

"I just wanna sleep."

"You always wanna sleep."

"It because I'm narco. My pons don't funtion riiight." Red plopped back down at the table and laid his head down into his arms. "My body say no to you."

"C'mon, Hun. Please, just meet them. It'll only take like an hour." Red didn't say anything.

"I'll pretend to be your husband." ZIM offered.

"That's sweet, honey. But I don't want to look like a pedophile to my friends."

"Wha-! I'm older than Red!" Red raised his head.

"You part tard, part stupid."

"You've been speaking complete nonsense for your past few sentences! And you're calling me a stupid tard?"

"Tard stupid, dumbass."

"You are so cranky." ZIM said, squinting his eyes at his older brother.

"No. You suck." Red stood again. Leslie grabbed his wrist.

"Listen, if you come with me I'll let you snuggle with me before bed."

"You mean, I can cuddle with you during your alone time?"

"That's right." Red beamed. He poked her nose.

"I always liked you."

**Later**

Leslie pressed her palm into her face, trying to hide her embarrassment. Maybe it was a bad idea to introduce Red to her friends.

"Well, Les," A woman with blond hair started. "He's hot, I'll give you that." Leslie the blonde and two other women sat on the bed of Red's truck on the beach, observing him as he tried his hardest to stay awake as he interacted with ZIM who insisted on playing catch with him. "But he looks like he's drunk."

"We just found out that he's narcoleptic." Leslie explained. She cringed when the baseball ZIM threw to Red hit him in the gut. This only happening due to the lack of paying attention to what was going on. "He's . . . different."

"He's one of those audacious, outgoing fellows. I get it. It's just . . . Well I dunno."

"No, no. I get what you're saying, Vic." Leslie said to the blonde. "I'm sorry that the first thing he did when he met you was flirting. He likes to make people feel uncomfortable. He once told his music producer that his voice sounded like a rapist. As if he knew from experience of what a rapist sounds like."

"He's been raped?"

". . . I don't think so."

"Well, I'm not gonna lie, he's very flattering. Does it concern you that he's unfaithful though?"

"I trust that man with my life." Leslie said.

"He's kind of stupid, ain't he?" A black-haired women piped up.

"He's not stupid, Gale." A brown headed woman told her. Alli was her name.

"He's definitely not stupid, book smart-wise. However, when it comes to commonsense, he's lacking for sure." Leslie said. "He's a smartass, that's a given."

"Babe, I hear everything you're saying!" Red called from down the beach more.

"I know you can, sweetheart!" Leslie called back. "Hun, come here and sit! I don't want you to strain your pelvis!" For once, Red listened to her. He stood at the end of the bed, putting his waist between Leslie's legs. He leaned forward and embraced her. She returned the hug. The other women cooed at this.

"My husband is totally against PDA." Gale said.

"Mine too." Vic added.

"Maybe it's a human husband thing." Alli suggested. "Red, you have any friends you could introduce to us?"

"Alien friends?"

"Yeah."

"Some. But you're not getting any details about them outta me." Red mumbled. ZIM hopped up on the bed and sat on Gale's lap. This caught the woman off guard.

"Oh, sorry about him too. He's not shy." Leslie said. Gale smiled at the boy.

"Aw! Just look at you! Aren't you just the most precious thing!" Gale looked at him. "You're eyes are so big and innocent. And you have that baby face! You can't be older than eight, right?" ZIM's grin disappeared.

"I'm thirteen."

"Oh," Gale said, hoping she didn't offend him. "Well, that doesn't make you any less cute."

"I'm cute too." Red muttered, his face was pressed into Leslie's stomach. Leslie chuckled and petted his antenna down.

"You're so jealous."

"Not jealous. I'm Irk's sexiest man of the century. Suck it, ZIM."

"I'd rather see you suck it yourself . . . Wait."

"I'm gonna change the subject right now before things get bad." Leslie butted in.

"So where's this child of yours, Red?" Vic asked. "Leslie said you . . . Uh . . . conceived?"

"Yes. Saph is home right now. Sleeping."

"Ooh! I want to see her!" Vic pursed her lips. "Why don't we meet up at your home again so I can meet the rest of your family, Les?"

"Oh no. You're not ready for that. Once you get this kid and the other big kid together, hell breaks loose in the house." Leslie said, pointing to Red. "And ZIM gets rowdy after sundown."

"I turn into a completely different person at night. Specifically at eleven."

"At eleven he has a stereotypical, Italian, alter ego that comes out named Queen Kyle the fifteenth and he's been pregnant for nine years and he has an aversion for yellow pickup trucks and a fetish for T.V. remotes." Red said.

"Like your alter ego is any better, Kelly."

"I'm going to shut you up by shoving my entire fist into your mouth until your jaw dislocates."

"I'm gonna stab you in the butt with a spoon while you're at the library."

"That's cold." Red hissed. Leslie nodded.

"Yeah. I live with this daily."

**...**

"It's been so nice to see you again, Leslie! We absolutely must hang out again sometime soon! Before you go back to California." Leslie smiled and nodded at her three friends who were walking down her driveway to their own separate cars.

"I'll call and let you guys know!"

"Give Zeiden a little squeeze for me, will you?" Gale asked.

"Of course!" Leslie waved at them goodbye and closed the front door. She let out a long weary sigh. She turned to walk to the living room but stopped dead when she almost stepping on ZIM and Tyson who decided to play on the floor right behind her. "Zei, get to bed. It's almost eleven." ZIM held up his finger and took out his phone to check the time. He kept his finger up as his eyes remained glued to his phone screen. This went on for a minute longer until ten fifty-nine turned into eleven. ZIM looked back up to her.

"That's Queen Kyle to you dearie."

"Oh God, not this again." Leslie scooped ZIM up in her arms.

"What? What is the meaning of this? I demand to be released!" ZIM shouted with a horrible Italian accent.

"Shut it, ZIM. You're going to bed before you try to make out with the remote again."

"I don't approve of your judgmental nature! Be careful with me! If you hurt my smeet, I'll hurt _you_."

"I really wish you were somewhat normal." Leslie climbed up the steps. She carried the boy down the hall to his room. "Please, sleep now, sweetie. Maybe tomorrow you can call up Sam and arrange a practice."

"Queen Kyle does not play baseball! Thumb wars is the only sport I believe in." ZIM huffed crossing his arms. Leslie rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." She laid him down on his bed. "I have to go snuggle with your clingy brother like I promised. Please, please, _please_, keep the remotes downstairs." ZIM didn't say anything. He crawled under his sheets and waved his hand as if to dismiss her. Leslie left his room and went to her own room. She opened the door and found Red fast asleep, their daughter curled up on his chest. Her fuzzy hair and antenna rubbing against Red's chin. Leslie smiled at the sight. She crawled up the bed toward the two. She kissed Sapphira then moved her lips to Red's and kissed him. "Hey, cowboy," She whispered into his antenna. "If you don't wake up within the next five seconds, the cuddling is off."

"I woke up as soon as you kissed me." Red mumbled. He cracked open his eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

"No."

"Alright. Are you really embarrassed of me?"

"Oh, baby, no. You act so natural and that's what makes you so fun to be around."

"What?" Red furrowed his brows. "I was asking so I know to embarrass you even more." Leslie laughed.

"You are something else." Red's gaze softened.

"I know. I'm definitely one of a kind and never should you ever take me for granted." Red said. He looked down at the sleeping smeet on top of him. "Look at this little thing, drooling all over daddy's chest. I should've put on a shirt." Leslie plucked Sapphira off of Red and kissed the girl. Leslie put a hand on Red's face. "I'll go put her in her crib."

"No need." Red reached up and pulled Leslie over him. "We can have a cuddle party. All three of us." Leslie grinned, kissing him between the eyes. She rolled off him, resting her head in the nook of his arm that he wrapped around her shoulders.

"You sore?"

"Yes. Very sore. I was planning on getting hammered once we got home but your friends just _had_ to come see our home."

"Oh stop. You shouldn't be drinking so much anyway. It's no good for your narcolepsy."

"It numbs the pain."

"So do pain relievers."

"Yeah, but those are no fun." Leslie looked down at the contraption on Red's hip. She sat up, putting Sapphira on Red's chest again and started to unfasten the splint. "What are you doing?"

"Just taking this off." A sly smile crossed Red's features. "And no, you're not getting laid." The smile faded.

"Then why?"

"Just so you can relax better tonight. You still have the screws to hold the bones in place. It'll feel good to have this off for once." Leslie pulled the splint off, setting it on the ground by their bed. She then tenderly rubbed his injured hip. "I'm so, so, so glad you're alright. I don't know what I would do if I lost you."

"You'd move on, marry another man, raise Sapphira and have more kids."

"I don't know if I'd be willing to remarry." Leslie said. "Did anything else happen in that desert?" Red shrugged. "Nothing noteworthy?" Red thought for a long time.

"Pur and I had a heart-to-heart."

"Aww, look at you guys being besties."

"It wasn't a pleasant one. Peder revealed a secret that I really wasn't expecting."

"What is it?"

"I shouldn't tell you until he tells Tenn first."

"Uh oh. It sounds serious."

"It kind of is, yeah." Red stared at the ceiling. "We made a deal actually. If he told Tenn his secret then I'd tell you mine." Leslie scrunched her brows.

"What secret?"

"I don't know if I'm ready to tell you yet or not."

"Two years, Red. It's been three years since I said, 'I do'. I think it's probably a bad time to tell me your secret any later that I should have known years ago." Red took a deep breath.

"I dunno, babe. It's not something you'll like to hear."

"Out with it." Red didn't meet her eye. "Here." Leslie got out of bed and brought Sapphira out of the room. Moments later she came back without the smeet. She climbed in bed again, sitting, cross-legged, looking down at Red. "You will tell me."

"You'll just feel betrayed and furious."

"I'll be furious if you don't tell me."

"Les, I don't wanna hurt you."

"You're really making me nervous, Red. Tell me." Red closed his eyes, biting his lip.

"Fine. But before I tell you, I wanna get one thing straight." Red sat up. "I never loved another women more than I love you. I swear. I'd give up everything I have for you and Sapphira. And I'm not proud of my past, especially all of the mistakes I made and bad choices I had." Leslie raised a brow. "Les, I was not a virgin when we got married." Leslie's eyes went wide with pure shock. "I've slept with over fifty different girls. All throughout high school, every girlfriend I had, I had sex with. Sometimes we weren't even a couple and I slept with strangers . . . for money."

"F-for money?" Red held up a hand.

"I'm sorry, babe. It gets worse." Red kept an eye on Leslie, watching her face become more and more heartbroken. "Yes, I was a slut, unfortunately. And I even worked for a pimp and madam at a underground brothel . . . or whatever the opposite of that is, once a week for six months. Clients who were vacationing in Kununurra would come often." Leslie's mouth was agape in disbelief. Tears fell from her eyes.

"Wh-why would you do such a thing to yourself?"

"I had no self respect, Les. I swear. I hated myself growing up. I was an arrogant, slut who cheated, lied, back stabbed, conned, and hurt other people. But I've changed! For my mom's final wish, I promised her I'll be a better person. Since then, yes, I have relapsed a few times, but when ZIM turned three, I felt like I changed completely for the better. Three more years later, I met you, Les. And from the moment when we first started dating, I vowed to treat you like I should've treated all the other girls before you."

"But . . . Charity. You didn't sleep with her, right? She said you didn't."

"We never had sex together. No. And quite frankly, she had no idea about my life either. She still doesn't. She's like you, naïve to what I was."

"Adelaide?"

"Yes. We slept together." Leslie bowed her head, burying her face in her hands. Red placed a hand on her knee. "That's not the worst part, Les." Her head snapped up.

"Not the worst part?" She bellowed. "What could you of possibly done that's worse than whoring yourself out?" Red scratched his neck. His own heart was pounding harder and faster than a military march. He almost felt physically ill. Sweat started to gather on his brow.

"I'm a murderer."

". . . What?" Leslie asked, almost silently.

"I . . . I . . . Ugh." Red sighed. Tears escaped his eyes. "I'm unforgivable. You should just leave me now." Leslie grabbed his upper arm tightly.

"What. Did. You. Do?"

"I was pregnant twice before, Les. I aborted them both before I was even a month in." Leslie stopped breathing, and for a moment Red thought that she was going to pass out by the way her face paled. She didn't say anything and the silence killed him. She had this look of disgust and relentless fury all over her features. Without a single word, she got up from their bed and was about to storm out of the room. Red jumped up and chased her, cringing at his unsupported pelvis. He grabbed her arm before she could leave. Leslie spun around, back handing him across the jaw. He let go of her, holding his face, shocked and hurt. With tears streaming from her eyes, teeth gritted, fists clenched, Leslie hissed bitterly at him.

"Sapphira would be dead if it weren't for me." With those final words she left the room, stomping down the stairs. Red rushed down after her.

"What do you plan on doing?" He asked, desperately. Leslie faced him again.

"You're evil! Killing two unborn children! Sleeping with lord knows how many women! Sometimes doing it for money! And you never told me. Never once. Instead you told me lies and more lies! And sometimes you'd lie within a lie! I thought I could trust you. You've probably been with women while dating me too, huh? Or perhaps even while we were married?"

"No! No! I changed. You changed me! No other woman could've tamed me like you did! Charity was thoroughly impressed with you! You managed to break me!"

"That doesn't change the fact that you murdered! How did you even get away with that? How did you kill your children?" Red put both hands on his head, wanting to collapse to his knees and have Leslie just kick him in the face as hard as she wanted repeatedly till she felt better. "Well?"

"A hanger! A metal coat hanger." Leslie was appalled.

"H-how . . . could you do that to yourself?"

"My girlfriends who impregnated me did it."

"What did you do with the embryos?"

"Buried them both . . . In the northern pasture of our ranch." Leslie shook her head, disappointed.

"And how did it feel to bury your flesh and blood?" Red didn't say anything. Leslie just reached his breaking point. Slumped against the wall, sliding down to a sitting position. Ignoring the searing pain from his fracture.

"I deserve to die. Eye for an eye. I killed and now I should be killed. Why? . . . Why am I so evil?" Leslie knelt by him.

"You're disgusting, Red. I've never been so absolutely nauseated at you. Look at me!" Red lifted his gaze from his lap to his wife's eyes. He slicked back his antenna, submissively.

"You deserve better, Leslie." Red's voice cracked. He was in a numb state, emotionless and lethargic. "Sapphira deserves better. I nearly killed again." Red looked down again. "My would be children, dead because of me. I'm unforgivable. My-" Red cut himself off. He swallowed hard. "I don't want you to leave me, Les! I was terrified you'd leave me and now you are! Because I told you the truth and now you're going to leave!" Red broke down, crying hard, holding himself by wrapping his arms around him in a lame attempt for comfort. He curled up, completely grief-stricken. Leslie was taken aback by this. He really didn't want her to go. He wouldn't be so distraught if otherwise.

"What? No! I would never!" She got closer to him, taking his face in her hands. "Babe! Babe! Listen to me! I'm not going anywhere! I was going to just take a walk! I was upset, okay? I wasn't leaving forever!" Red was inconsolable. The false assumption that she was leaving him was still in his head. "I wasn't going to leave, baby. I wasn't going anywhere." She pulled him in for a close, tight, secure hug. She rocked him slightly, continuing to make calming words to sooth his frightened being. He was like a petrified child in her arms. He was so limp, like a wilted rose. It took a bit of Leslie's strength to hold him up so he wouldn't fall over onto the floor. She was positive that he probably messed up his leg going after her.

It gave her a piece of mind actually. Knowing that he would put himself through immense pain to go after her. To spill his heart out to her then break down right there. There was no way someone could deny that what he was doing isn't called love. He was truly upset. He was truly scared. And he was truly remorseful. And he was truly in love. Leslie held him for a long, long time. Waiting for his cries to subside at least a little bit so she could talk to him. She kissed his head multiple times. "Listen to me." She wasn't quite sure if he was. He didn't respond at all. "Nod to tell me you're listening." A slight tilt of his head indicated that he was. "I'm furious, Red. But I don't care what you do, I'm going to love you through it."

"B-but h-how could y-you ev-en-"

"You're a blubbering mess, baby. Calm down, then speak." Leslie pulled away from him to look him in the eye. "Take deep breaths so you don't hyperventilate." Red could only make short, shuddery breaths. Leslie placed one hand on his cheek. The other hand made motions. "In through the nose, fill your lungs. Out through the mouth." It took a few tries for Red to do this successfully. Leslie's thumb caressed his cheek. "Now speak." Red moaned, holding his head.

"I feel dizzy." His face was turning a ghostly white color.

"Hang in there-"

"What?"

"Just sit tight and-"

"I can't hear. I can't hear anything."

"You're about to faint, hun. Just stay still." Red's head drooped then snapped back up alert, and repeated. "You need water. Don't move."

"What?"

"Stay. Put."

"I don't . . ." He trailed off. Red looked off into space, half conscious. Leslie went to the kitchen to get him a glass of cold water. Only to find him asleep when she came back. She got on her knee by him, pinching the base of his antenna to wake him. His head jerked back up. He looked at her. "What happened?"

"You just got a little excited. Your body couldn't handle it." She handed him the glass. He took it gratefully, but his hand was shaking so hard it was next to impossible to get himself to drink it. "What you told me, Red, obviously cannot be ignored. Who knows about this?"

"Me and the girlfriends who would've been the children's mother."

"Your own parents never knew?" Red shrugged.

"Can't remember anything right now." His head hung low in shame. "You have every right to be disappointed. I, myself, can barely tolerate what I did. Sleeping with so many girls, killing unborn smeets. I'm sick."

"No. Not anymore, you're not. But before, yes. You did have sick intentions." Leslie said. "Try to think, who were the two women that made you pregnant."

"There were two girls that made me pregnant. Then another girl that I made pregnant."

"And she aborted it too?"

"I think. She cut off all communication with me after she got pregnant. She was Irken too." Leslie's eyes widened.

"You don't know if she killed the smeet or not?"

"I couldn't know! She stopped talking to me!"

"Do you realize what that could mean?"

". . . No."

"It means that the smeet could be alive! You could've been a father before Sapphira and you wouldn't have known it!" Red didn't know how to respond.

"Fuck . . . I never thought of it." Leslie became even more serious than before.

"What was her name?"

"Huh?"

"The girl you impregnated! What was her name?" Red thought hard. His memory was so hazy.

"Eustacia. Yeah. Her name is Eustacia Blackwood." Red recalled. "She was twenty-six and I was seventeen."

"Where does she live now?"

"Why must you know?"

"If you have a preexisting child, I want to know!"

"She moved to Iceland!"

"Iceland?"

"Or Ireland."

"Well which one?"

"Neither. I think it's Scotland. I'm next to almost sure."

"We need to find this woman, Red." Red scratched his forehead. "We've got to find her. If you have a child already before Sapphira, wouldn't you want to see him or her?" Red nodded.

"You're right. We have to find her."

**August 31, 2001**

"Will you please tell us what this is all about?" Purple asked. "And why you decided to have a familia rendezvous right now."

"Yeah. What gives? I wasn't expecting any cheesy family meets." ZIM said. "Are we going to cry?" Red shrugged. He looked exhausted by the way his eyes were sunken in with dark rings around them. He kept his stare to the hardwood flooring. Leslie sat next to him, putting a reassuring hand on his knee. "Fuck! No!" ZIM dashed to their side. "Please! I beg you not to get a divorce. Leslie is the only one who knows how to handle you, Red!" The older Irken leaned back to get away from ZIM's yelling face in his face.

"We're _not_ divorcing!" Leslie snapped, grabbing ZIM by the arm, she pulled him into her lap, snuggling him like a teddy bear. "But there has been a bump in our marriage." She had her family's undivided attention. Irken antenna perked, listening. Gaz had her eyes opened wider than normal too. "Red, uh . . . Red made a confession yesterday. Something he's been hiding for awhile for Zeiden's sake as well as Tenn and Zee's. He wanted to be a good role model for ZIM so he told you guys lies."

"That he was a whore and impure when you married?" ZIM asked. Red looked shocked at ZIM.

"H-how did you find out?"

"Next time you should make sure I'm sleeping when you and Peder spill out you secrets and confessions." Red's head hung low again. Tenn and Zee had inquiring features.

"Zee and Tenn, there's no way you would doubt that I was impure since age twelve."

"Your lying was convincing. But I must say, I'm not surprised." Zee answered.

"Well, this next detail will surprise you." Red said. He rubbed his left eye, tiredly. "I got pregnant twice before Sapphira." Silent as death. Jaws dropped to the floor. Lingering tension hung in the air. "I aborted two of my own children." Tears were next. They seemed to immediately leak from the eyes of his sisters. ZIM was too numb to even think about crying. "And at one point I impregnated an old Irken girlfriend of mine and I think she aborted that one too. But I'm not positive."

"Red, how could you?" Tenn bellowed. "You've always been for right to life! You say all the time that everyone deserves to live and that there's always other options!"

"I didn't want nana and mom to find out." Red whispered, shamefully.

"You got to be kidding me! I can't even trust you anymore! I don't even know who you are-"

"Tenn, please!" Purple interrupted her. "You don't know me as much as you think you do either."

"Why? Did you kill unborn smeets too?" She roared.

"No! No . . . It's something I should've told you awhile ago though." He said.

"God! Please tell me it's not as bad as what Red did."

"I can't tell you if it is or isn't. Depends on your opinion." He sighed. "Tenn, I was molested for the longest time while growing up. From age five to fifteen. Every time my uncle came to visit." Tenn gripped his forearm, disbelievingly.

"You're joking, right? Please tell me you're kidding!" Purple furrowed his brows.

"Why would I joke about something like that?" Tenn finally lost it. She was full out balling in a matter of seconds. Purple encircled her waist with his arms to hold her as she cried.

"What uncle would do that to his own nephew?" Purple didn't say anything. "You should've told me so I knew how to approach you on our wedding night!"

"I'm sorry. It's not a big deal anymore-"

"It is a big deal! You're probably traumatized from the experience and I would have never of known." The two sat in each other's embrace. Purple kissed his wife's head numerous times, waiting for her to calm down. Leslie rubbed the back of her neck.

"Anyone else wanna put something on the table?" ZIM and Tak shared a glance. She nodded.

"Now is the time." She told him. ZIM's stomach turned.

"Tak and I," ZIM started, swallowing hard. "We eloped behind your backs. We returned on the same day we ran away." Red gasped.

"No. No you didn't!" He growled furiously. Leslie grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't you dare get mad at them! You slept around and killed two children, they got married behind your back. How could you even compare that to what you did?"

"I signed an oath, Zeiden! My blood is on a document that specifically states that I'm your very own soul protector. The only way that oath can be broken is when it's replaced by someone else's blood indicating that you now belong to that individual." Tak fidgeted a little. She looked at her hand for a prolonged amount of time before raising it up for Red to see. A healing cut that swept across her palm.

"Mine replaced yours." She said. Red ground his teeth. He stood up, stalking towards her. She backed up a bit, intimidated by the taller and no doubt stronger Irken. Even when out of commission, Red can still be dangerous.

"Stand." He ordered. The attention from everyone in the room was on them. She did. To her surprise, Red got down on one knee and held her hand. "There's a ceremony we must do. You have my blessing to be married to my Zeiden, but he doesn't belong to you until I willingly give him to you." Red dug in his pocket and pulled out a pocket knife. He pressed the blade into the palm of his hand and cut himself. "Get the document." Red told Zee. His sister left to get the paper. Only a few seconds, she returned with the doc. Red pressed his palm over his name where he signed and bled over the first time. Tak's blood mixed with his old blood and now his new blood would cover hers to cancel out whatever it meant to have her dried blood over the name. "It's not official if you do not have the soul protector's consent." He told them. Red glared at the couple. "He's not yet yours, Tak. But in time when I think he's ready and more importantly, when _you're_ ready. You have no idea the responsibility you'll have when he's yours." ZIM and Tak nodded. "Have you two had intercourse?"

"Not yet." ZIM said. "We were waiting for your consent." Red felt better at that news. At least they waited for something.

"Anything else. Now is the time because any other time would be inappropriate." Leslie said. "Gazelle, anything?" The purple-haired girl bit her lip.

"I don't want to be shunned from you guys." She said. Red sat back down. Gaz was sitting in between him and Leslie.

"We won't close our doors on you. We promise." Leslie said. Gaz looked from her mom to Red.

"I know you won't," She said. "But what about you?"

"What about me?" Red asked.

"Tell me you won't hate me." Red's gaze softened. He put an arm around his step daughter.

"Oh, Gaz," He started. "I've always hated you." Gaz chuckled half heartedly. "But seriously, Hun, what is it?"

"I think . . . I think I might be bi." She admitted. Red stared at her for a long time. He retracted his arm from around her. Gaz's heart sank. She looked at her mom who looked equally concerned. Gaz then looked to the rest of her family for their reactions. All surprised. "I shouldn't have said anything. Now you think I'm a disgust-" She was startled by two arms hugging her.

"No, no!" It was Red again. "We would never hate you. I don't care about your sexual orientation. I'm not for it, but I won't hate you." Leslie nodded.

"Who are we to judge?" Gaz sighed with relief.

"Thank you."

"Let's agree to keep this all between us." Leslie said. "But Red," The man looked to her. "We need to find Eustacia. If you have another smeet, you have some custody of it."

"What if Eustacia aborted it? Or put it up for adoption?"

"Don't you want to know?"

"Yes. Of course."

"It shouldn't be hard to find her. Look her up online." Leslie said. "We've got time so wherever she is, we can find her and get some answers." Red nodded taking out his Imp.

"Will you get me a bandaid?" He asked. "I'll find her."

**September 1, 2001**

"You've been so quiet, lately." Purple kissed Tenn's arm. He was laying behind her, the couple was cuddling on their king bed.

"I don't know what to do about your past."

"You can't change it, Tenn. Don't bother. Just know what happened to me, but don't act and dwell on it. It's pointless. You deserved to know and now you do. That's that."

"What would he do to you?" She asked, curiously yet shyly. "And how come you showed no signs that something like that happened to you when we first had sex?

"I'm like Red, good at hiding things."

"Well don't. Don't you hide anything else from me ever." She shifted to face him.

"And to answer your first question," He paused for a moment. Tenn noticed the hesitation and spoke up quickly.

"You don't have to say if it brings back memories."

"It's fine. My uncle, he was a big, lonely man. And not the most attractive Irken. The only way he could have sexual pleasure was either by his own hand or me. If he got bored with his hand, he moved to me without hesitation. The first time, it was horrifying. He snuck into my room and laid in bed with me. I was about to ask him what he was doing when he put his hand over my mouth and whispered crude language to me. He first said this, 'This is what I'm going to do, Peder. I'm going to touch you and you won't scream because mom and dad are right down stairs. If you cry, I'll rape your mom and sister then kill them.' I didn't know what rape was, but I knew what killing was at the time and I held back my tears. He stripped me naked then started to grope me. He had this fetish of taking his finger and making me shiver by using the tip to run down my body from my chin to in between my legs. He touched pretty much every square inch of my body. _Everywhere_. My ass and crotch were no exception. He targeted those areas the most. He shoved his fingers in me and I bled. It hurt so badly. What came next was worse. He made me suck him. I choked and gagged but he wouldn't let me be until he came and I swallowed it." Purple wiped the tears from Tenn's face with his thumb. "Yes, it was traumatizing. But I know you'd never do anything of that sort to me."

"That's because you'll like it too much." Tenn and Purple shared a chuckle.

"Yeah. I guess you're right." The door to their room bursted open and ZIM came in.

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"We found Red's ex-lover." Tenn and Purple sat up interested. "We're going to Scotland."

**Later**

"Inverness is a city in the highlands of Scotland." Red pointed on a map. The family was quick to pack up and book the first plane ticket to New York, which would take them to Dublin, Ireland, which then would take them to Glasgow then from their they would have their final plane trip to the said city. "That's where Eustacia resides. And that's pretty much all the information I've gathered too. No husband yet, and no records that she has a child but we could be mistaken."

"Why'd she move to Scotland?" ZIM asked.

"Her place of origin."

"She's Gaelic?"

"Scottish Gaelic. Yeah. I do believe that used to be a distinct ethnic group. But now days I think it's just a language." Red said.

"We should go cliff jumping." Purple said. "They do have cliffs there, right?"

"Yes. And I've done enough _cliff jumping_ recently, thank you."

"You mean, _cliff falling_." Red elbowed his giggling friend and scowled at ZIM who found it amusing too.

"Shut up. You're fools."

"Yeah. We can laugh now. But it wasn't funny at the time, huh?" ZIM shook his head.

"Nope. Not at all."

"Listen you guys. We're only going because we need answers." Leslie said. "It's important you guys don't act like fools."

"We won't. We know how important this is for Red and we won't do anything to fuck it up." Purple said.

"Thank you." Leslie said while pinching Purple's thigh hard. "And don't swear."

"What does this Eustacia, sheila look like?" ZIM wondered.

"She was pretty." Red remembered. "She was a centimeter taller than me because she was nearly an entire decade older than I. Emerald green eyes, chartreuse complexion, her antenna were narrower and box curled, a lot like Tak's. She had dimples and a few light freckles that are barely noticeable."

"She sounds equivalent to a human ginger." ZIM said. Red thought for a moment then snorted.

"Hah! You're right!" Leslie rolled her eyes.

"It's gonna be a long trip with you three, huh?"

**September 3, 2001**

They've landed in Inverness. Awed at the scenery. It looked like a vacationing town. Of course, everywhere they lived were considered vacationing towns too. But they've never been to Scotland. It was new and the highlands were gorgeous.

"What's her address?" Leslie asked her husband.

"It's uh," He looked at a sheet of paper. "450 Midmills Rd."

"Hail a taxi." Leslie told Purple. "That must be in the residential area. We're downtown, it shouldn't take long to get there." A cab pulled up along side to them. "Red and I will go. The rest of you, find something to do. This may take some time."

"Good luck." ZIM said. Red patted the boys head.

"Behave. Okay? I don't know how people are in this country, so stick with Peder at all times. Got that?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Red kissed his brothers cheek. "We'll meet up at the hotel we chose. Check in for us while we're out, okay?" Purple gave them the thumbs up. The married couple got into the taxi and like that, they were off to reveal even more secrets.

"Let's get going to the hotel then." Purple said. "Then we can mess with the locals."

"Let's pretend we're from a different country!" ZIM said, excitedly.

"We are."

"They don't know that." ZIM giggled as if he were mischievous and naughty, when in reality, he was just dumb.

**...**

"I don't know about this, Les." Red said. "What if I do have another child? I can't just walk into his or her life and say, 'Hey! I'm your father! Come live with me because I love you!' It just doesn't work that way."

"It won't be easy, babe. But I do believe you deserve to know. So let's find out." The cab driver stopped in front of a house that looked exactly the same as the ones surrounding it.

"Here ya go." He said. "450 Midmills Road."

"Thank you, Sir." Red said, tipping the man.

"Now, now, hold on! What did you hand me here?" Red looked at the money.

"That's fifty bucks worth of Aussie currency. I don't have pounds or euros or whatever, I'm sorry."

"That's fine. Have a good day. Word of advice though," The driver said, leaning out the window. "Go to the bank and get pounds. It'll come in handy with your stay here. Not a lot of places accept U.S. dollars."

"That's Australian dollars, mate."

"Same difference." The man mumbled, driving off. Red sneered at him. He turned his attention back to the home. He took a deep breath.

"Leslie, you should wait here."

"No way. I wanna hear everything." She said, starting up the driveway. Red groaned, following after her. They got to the front step and stood there. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Knock."

"I don't want to. I can't do this." Red said.

"Do it."

"I . . . Fine." Red raised his a hand and knocked three times. A few moments passed with no sign of any activity. "Must be out-" Red couldn't finish his sentence. Not a second later, the door opened, revealing a teenage Irken girl.

"How can I help ya?" She asked with a thick Scottish accent. Red looked closely at her, squinting. Darker green skin, long, thick, box-curled, antenna, dimples. But her most eye catching feature of her's to Red was her seemingly familiar, bright, _crimson_ eyes.

"My God, you changed." Leslie pulled his arm.

"I don't think that's your ex." Red perked.

"Oh! Uhh . . . Is Eustacia Blackwood in?" Red asked, looking the girl up and down.

"Aye. I'll go get her." The girl retreated back into the house. Red turned to Leslie.

"Did you see that?"

"The resemblance is uncanny."

"Do you think . . . ?"

"Can't know for sure yet." Leslie said. A minute no later another woman came to the doorway.

"Yes?" Green eyes caught sight of Red. She scowled deeply. Her face started to turn a shade of pale red. "What part of, 'Go die' didn't you understand?" Red bowed his head.

"Believe me, I tried." The woman was about to slam the door but Red put his foot in the entry way. "Wait, 'Stacia! We must talk!" The older woman opened up again.

"About what? My parents kicked me outta the house because of you!"

"You were twenty-six. It was time for you to get out anyway." Red ducked out of the way of a fist about to collide with his head. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, that wasn't called for."

"Damn, right it wasn't! Leave!" Red put his hands in front of himself defensively.

"I think you know why I'm here." He said.

"I do." Eustacia growled. "And I don't want you in her life. So stay out of the way. She's already having a hard time in school. I don't need an obnoxious player to screw her up even more!" Red nearly fell to his knees. So it was true. His ex never aborted the child like she said she would. She left and had the smeet without his knowledge. To keep her safe, from her very own father.

"I-I . . . You said you were going to kill it."

"Are you crazy? I only said that so you wouldn't freak out! I know how you are with kids. You hate them! And there's no way you could be a father and not screw up." Red's antenna slicked back against his head. "And who is this? Your thousandth whore?" Leslie crossed her arms.

"Excuse me?"

"No! She's my wife! We just celebrated our second anniversary." Eustacia raised a brow.

"Second anniversary as in second month? Because I know better than to assume that you'd stick with the same bitch for two years." Red frowned.

"I've change since then!"

"That's what they all say. You wore your heart on your sleeve. You told me that you loved me. You told every girl that you loved her just to get her fingers toying with your cunt-"

"Okay! Okay! Look!" Red stood tall. Of course he still fell a centimeter shorter than her, but that doesn't mean he can't be assertive-looking. "My mother died and my dad was taken as a prisoner of war for thirteen years now, and I'm not even sure if he's still alive. That was when I was nineteen, almost twenty. Since then, yes, I still slept around until I attempted suicide. That was the turning point in my life. And ZIM, my youngest sibling was growing up and needed a role model. I wanted to be that model so I changed my entire life! For three years I remained single. Can you believe that? It's true, I swear. I met Leslie, here. And we dated for four years. Yeah! I stuck with the same woman for four years. Then I asked her to marry me, and I've been with her since. And you'll never believe this! I have a daughter-"

"She's my daughter-"

"No, no! A newborn! I gave birth to a beautiful smeet earlier this year. May 29, Sapphira was born and she's changed me even more!"

"What made this child so different from the ones you've previously aborted?"

"I was a stupid, rash, whore of a teenager who always made bad decisions! Please. What is her name?"

"Who's name?"

"Our daughter's."

"_My_ daughter's name is Scarlet Rose." Red smiled.

"Very similar to my name, don't ya think? Naming her after a color. A _red_ color. And a red flower on top of that."

"Roses can be a variety of colors-"

"Shh, Les. I'm making a point."

"I like the name, okay?" Eustacia butted in. "Doesn't mean I like you! And besides, she prefers Rose."

"You can't keep her from me. I must have some custody over her, right? I'm her father." Red crossed his arms as well. "I'll take you to court."

"You didn't want her!"

"At the time! But I want to know her now!" Red grabbed Eustacia's hand. "I can give her an equally good life."

"You'll mess her up!"

"She needs a father figure."

"She remained fine for the first sixteen years of her life." Red scowled, peaking behind Eustacia into the home. She moved to block his view. "Stop being nosy."

"Where do you work?"

"Why do you care?"

"I'd like to know." The woman shifted.

"I'm a librarian."

"How much do you make?" The woman pursed her lips, offended.

"I won't say! It's none of your business! Or shall I say, _bizzo_." She hissed. Red smirked.

"Miss the Aussie slang, do ya?"

"Australia just reminds me of you. Shithole."

"Ouch." Red mumbled. "But seriously. How well off are you?" The woman was getting even more agitated than she was before. Finally she groaned.

"Not well off. Not at all. I'm alone and all I make eighteen thousand pounds a year. I'm struggling, okay? But who isn't struggling?"

"I'm not."

"Woohoo! Keep bragging, asshole!"

"Lemme make a proposition." Red said. "I will pay off whatever debt you owe to your government and anyone else! _And_ I'll buy you the vehicle of your dreams and I'll throw in an extra million for gas and insurance money. And what about child support, huh? Don't you want me to be responsible for my actions. Getting you knocked up? I'll give you an extra million for the support I should've been paying all her life."

"Two million pounds?" Red thought for a minute. He pulled out his Imp to convert.

"I'm counting in U.S. dollars here, actually. It's what happens when you live in America for longer than five years." Red got his answer. "Two million US dollars is one million pounds rounded down. I'll give the money to you in American dollars so it's more valuable."

"I don't believe you for a second."

"Are you up to date on Irken media?"

"Of course. You're a singer and model and actor and everything nice and beautiful. I hid my daughter from it all."

"You have my word! I'll pay for all of it! I will!"

"And what's your catch?"

"Let me gain some custody of my- . . . _Our_ child."

"I don't like how you're buying her from me."

"I don't like how you're keeping her from me." Red retorted. "_Please_. At least consider it." The woman looked as if she were going through mental turmoil.

"Fine. Annoying bastard." Red beamed, never being so excited. "You might as well come in and introduce yourself."

* * *

><p><strong>So just a few things happened in that chapter. No biggie. *nervous laughs all around* I have no excuse for my absence on updating. But what's really shocking is that I'm currently writing chapter 32, I believe. (And now I shall hide to avoid trash being thrown at me) So yeah, I've written a lot of the stories and haven't bothered to update. I'm lazy. Sorry. :**

**Anyway! Fun fact time! Scarlet Rose was originally supposed to succeed Sapphira in Red and Leslie's children lineup. However, one drunken night, I got the idea that since Red was a effing man whore, that I should add a little more drama and make him have a child he's never met. And there you have it! (Don't drink underaged, kids.)**

**QUESTION TIME: Who would you like to see come back and make a bigger appearance in this story? **

**That's all for now. Review and be merry! **


	28. Remember September

**Say it with me guys**.

**U-Stay-Sha! U-Stay-Sha! Eu-Sta-Cia. Eustacia! Good job! I knew that'd be a hard name to pronounce so I did the honors of breaking it down for y'all. It could also be pronounced U-Stah-Cha too. Whatever floats your boat better. :)**

**Another thing, I may actually upload the videos of me reading aloud to Tumblr for now instead of YouTube. YouTube isn't working on my iPad so I'll have to make due with Tumblr. I'll put my Tumblr page link back up on my profile here again. There's no videos yet, but there are some Before You Know It related things on there. So check it out.**

**On that note, enjoy! **

* * *

><p><strong>...<strong>

Red sat down on the sofa with his wife in the living room of Eustacia. "You stay here. I'll get Rose." Red grinned, nudging his wife.

"Red and Rose." Leslie giggled.

"That's cute. You're already like two peas in a pod."

"I hope she's a good kid and not a troublemaker like I was."

"She seemed sweet when she answered the door."

"True." Red said. "But that means nothing really." Eustacia entered again with the teenage Irken. The young lady sat across from Red. She eyed the handsome man and beautiful woman she's never seen before that day, interested. Eustacia took a seat by her.

"Honey, I have something to tell you." Rose looked from Red to her mom.

"What?" She asked, slowly. Her voice reminded Red of his mom's, minus the Scotch accent of course.

"Remember how you were always asking about your father and who he was?" She nodded. "Well, sweetie, I don't know how to tell you this." Eustacia stopped for a time to think and how to phrase her words. "I never told you much about him except that his name was Milton."

"Where are you going with this?" Eustacia raised a hand to silence her daughter.

"His name wasn't really Milton, it was Red-"

"_Is_ Red."

"Shh. Your father is a bull rider from Australia. I dated him back when I was still living there." Rose sat at the edge of her seat, very curious. Finally after all these years her mom was speaking about her mysterious father. "He doesn't know you exist, sweetie, well, he knows you exist now. But he didn't because I left before a lot of things that would have went down if I stayed. Well, Rosie, this man sitting right there." Eustacia pointed at Red. "He's your father, honey." The look of shock was priceless on her features. Jaw agape, scarlet eyes wide. It looked as if she saw a ghost, only not petrified, but rather in awe.

"Wha- But . . . Why did you . . ." Rose stood and shyly walked to Red. The man sat up straight, allowing her to look him up and down just like he had when he first saw her. The teen girl pouted and threw herself over Red. "Where have you been all my life?" She cried. An overwhelming wave of emotion flowed over Red too.

"I'm sorry . . . I'm so sorry. I was young when I dated your mum. I was very irresponsible and trust me, it was probably better that it happened this way." Red let the girl cry into the nook of his neck. Her tears soaking his shirt. Leslie was watching with a soft smile.

"I want to know everything about you!" Rose plopped onto his lap. Red smiled widely. She was definitely a Macale. Comfortable around strangers, easy going, loud, and emotional. "I want to see where you live and what you do." Rose looked into his eyes. There wasn't a doubt that she was looking to see the similarities. "I get a lot of my good looks from you." Red chuckled. "Our eyes are the same. We have the same smile, minus the dimples. You don't have any, unless," She looked behind Red and lifted up his shirt a little. "You do have back dimples! Me too. Oo. Our antenna! They're alike! And our skin color. This is amazing! I can't believe it's actually you!" Red glanced over to Eustacia. He was surprised to see that she was actually smiling.

"I'm sorry. It's just," She wiped her own tears from her eyes. "I haven't seen her this happy in awhile."

"If you don't mind, 'Stacia, I'd like to take her home with me for awhile so she can meet the whole family and get to know them." Rose gasped.

"Yes! Yes! Please! Mom, please? It would be such a great experience!"

"Honey, you just started your junior year. You need to be in school."

"I know an academy perfect for her close to where I currently reside. It's private, I even teach there sometimes."

"You're a teacher too?" Rose asked.

"Oh honey, you'll be surprised with everything that I do."

**Later**

"Wait here a second, okay?" Red told Rose. They were in their hotel that they'd be staying in for a day or two. Or at least until Rose was packed and ready to go on her adventure with them. "I got to warn you, you're about to meet some psychos, so be prepared."

"Got ya." Red winked at her and patted her head. She stood at five foot three inches tall. Still had some growing to do. Red used the key card to enter with Leslie. He walked into the suite where every family member sat or stood.

"Well?" ZIM asked. "What happened?" Red sighed, shaking his head. "Don't just stand there and say nothing. Do you have another daughter or not?" Red looked at ZIM.

"I have to show you something." He said, simply. Red held onto the lever of the door and opened it again. Rose stood in the doorway, beaming. ZIM gasped, bouncing up and down. "Don't come off too strong, ZIM, she doesn't even-"

"_Hiiiiiii_! I'm your uncle!" ZIM ran to her. She took a step back. "My name is Zeiden, AKA ZIM. But you can call me Uncle ZIM!" She looked down at the shorter Irken. Her upper lip curled up a bit.

"This is your little brother?" She asked Red. He nodded. ". . . How old is he?"

"He's thirteen."

"Oh." Rose kept her eye on him. "You're a cutie. Is it okay if I just call you ZIM?"

"Yeah . . . With an uncle in front of it." ZIM glared at Gaz. "Because she won't."

"Everyone," Red picked ZIM up and tossed him to Purple who wasn't expecting it. "This . . . This is my," Red bit his lip. "Daughter. Scarlet Rose." She waved to them.

"You can call me Rose." She said, sweetly.

"Please, sit anywhere you feel."

"Okay." She chose a seat next to Leslie, since she was the only other person she sort of knew at that point.

"You already met Leslie," Red said. He pointed to the next people over. "Those girls right there are my sisters, Zee and Tenn, your aunts . . . And yes, they're older than you. ZIM introduced himself. He's my smeet brother. And I know it's probably awkward to have an uncle who's younger than you, so don't bother calling him uncle. He doesn't deserve the title anyway." ZIM scoffed.

"Sapphira told me I was a great uncle!" Red waved him off.

"Tak is a family friend as well as ZIM's girlfriend, or, wife? Girlfriend-Wife . . . Gaz is . . . my step daughter. Your step sister. In her arms," Red walked briskly over to Gaz and snatched the sleeping smeet out of her grasp. He brought Sapphira over to Rose. "Is your half sister, Sapphira. I birthed her in May." Rose gasped and looked over the smeet.

"She's so pretty! What's her eyes look like?"

"Like her mom's."

"She has hair!" Rose ran her hand over the fuzzy reddish-brunette hair. "And her skin is mint! May I hold her?" Red handed off the smeet to Rose.

"That man is your married-in uncle. His name is Peder, husband of Tenn. He's from Canada."

"Wow. I only ever knew my mom and whatever boyfriends she'd take home. I never had a full extended family like this."

"Tak is around your age. You're sixteen, right? She's fifteen so you have a peer too."

"This is so cool! I really can't believe all of this is happening."

"Rose," She looked at Red. "I'm gonna bring you home now-"

"What? No! I just got here! I still need to get to know you-"

"So you can pack your things and come travel with us back to the States." Rose went quiet.

"I thought you lived in Australia."

"I live in the U.S. as well. Remember, my wife is American." Rose jumped a little.

"You're really taking me to America?" Red nodded.

"Your mother agreed to let you live with me for a month until I can gain some custody over you. Then you'll bounce between Scotland and wherever we just so happen to be living at that time."

"How are we going to afford that?" She asked. "Plane tickets aren't cheap." ZIM laughed from the ground that Purple threw him on. He was laying on his back.

"Oh, sweetie, honey, darling, face! We're a lot more ritzy than we let on! We may look like bogans but," ZIM sat up. "We be billionaires." Red smacked his forehead.

"ZIM, c'mon." Rose was speechless. Red moaned. "Yes, yes. We do have some money. And you'll learn why when you get to know us more. But I'd like for you to find out some things by yourself instead of me just straight up telling you. It's more fun that way, don't you think?" Rose shrugged.

"I guess it'll keep me on my toes."

**That Night**

"Okaaay, favorite movie?"

"Oh gosh, I dunno." Red had his head propped up in the palm of his hand. The two were laying on the floor of the suite they rented for the night. They each had a beverage to drink and as they talked, they partook in a simple card game that required little to no consciousness. "I really love action/adventure movies. Ya know, like Indiana Jones, that new movie that just came out, Pirates of the Caribbean, I like Star Trek. But my all time favorite movie genre, is horror." Rose perked up.

"Mine is too! I love getting scared! My mom hates everything to do with horror!"

"Finally! I have a horror movie watching buddy now!" Red said. "The Exorcist, The Evil Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, the Shining, Dawn of the Dead, Halloween, Carrie. All of those I had to either watch alone or with my stuffed animal- I mean, yeah. No. I watched them all alone. I love zombies! They're my favorite."

"Yes! You and I will be prepared when the apocalypse comes, right?"

"Why, of course!" Red grinned. "I have an entire room back at our L.A. home completely dedicated to the outbreak when it comes."

"May I see it?"

"I don't let many people go in there because I have over fifty guns laying around. But I think since you and I will be the only survivors of the epidemic, it's probably best I let you in and see."

"Cool." Rose grinned. "So I wanna learn something major about you. You seem to be keeping a lot of secrets."

"I told you I'm gonna have you discover things yourself. But if you want to learn something right now, turn on this T.V. right now." Red looked at his watch. It was 8:58. "And change it to Nickelodeon."

"I'm not allowed to watch that network." Red huffed.

"I wonder why." He muttered. "I give you permission."

"Okay . . ." She eventually found the right channel. _Fairly Odd Parents_ was just finishing up. _Invader ZIM_ would be next. The last two minutes of the show passed. Rose looked at Red, 'nose' wrinkled questioningly. "That didn't seem like a very funny show." She said. Red held up a finger. A transition commercial was playing right now. After that finished, then came the electronic, march-like, beat of the opening credits. Rose's eyes widened. "What? That's the Irken symbol! . . . And that's ZIM!"

"Hi!" ZIM called randomly from the other room, upon hearing his name.

"What is this? Is that Gaz?" The theme soon ended and the title card told Red that it just so happened to be an episode he was in. It was the premier of the episode they _just_ got done filming. _Invasion of the Idiot Dog Brain._ Very first thing she saw next when the title disappeared was her father and Purple's faces. "That's you and Peder!" She gawked at her father. Her head looking back and forth from the screen to him. "You know you just got a hundred percent cooler, right?" Red chuckled. "So you're a-"

"Yes. I'm an actor."

"Geez! A bull rider, teacher, and an actor! What else?" Red pressed a finger to his lips with a sly smile. "C'mon! You gotta tell me now! I'm too curious." Red just smirked.

"I got to introduce you to the rest of my family. They'll love to see you, I'm sure!"

"I can't wait to see them!" She said, sitting forward. Her attention turned back to the T.V. "What are those things on your backs?"

"PAKs. Our producer insisted that all Irkens in the series have them."

"What for?" Red shrugged.

"To make Irkens more machine-like and emotionless. I guess."

"That's terribly racist."

"Isn't it?"

"What were you wearing? What's your role? What's your characters name?"

"I'm wearing Almighty Tallest garb because my role is Almighty Tallest Red. Almighty Tallest Red is my name . . . Though it hasn't been said aloud yet . . ."

"How did they make you look so skinny? You're not really that skinny. No one can be that skinny."

"An editing process. They used computers to make our waists look like twigs."

"Why?"

"I dunno why. Jhonen wanted us to look strange . . . He, himself, is rather strange."

"Meh. You look better in real life, no offense."

"Oh no, I agree. Jhonen definitely cartoonized all of us."

". . . How old are you?"

"Me?" Red asked. Rose pursed her lips.

"_Nooo_. Your invisible friend sitting next to you." Red laughed.

"I like you! You're definitely on my 'Do Not Kill' list!"

"I like you too. You're on my 'Okay People' list!" Rose said. The two shared a laugh. Both laughs sounded so much alike.

"And to answer your question, I'm thirty-three."

"Whoa! You're young! My mom is forty-two!"

"Well yeah. I was only seventeen when I fucked your mom." Rose furrowed a brow.

"You swear like a sailor, ya know that?"

"Yeah. Does that bother you?"

"Fuck." Red's eyes went wide at his daughter's response.

"Hey now-"

"Does _that_ bother you?" She asked, cockily. Red couldn't help but nod.

"Yup. You're definitely my daughter." Red shook his head, happily. "I cannot believe that I never knew about you until recent."

"How come my mom never told you that she was pregnant?" Red bit his lip. He didn't want to tell her that he did in fact know. Then the next question would be, 'Why didn't you stay?'

"I dunno. I guess it was because I was too young and still in high school."

"Oh! I can't wait to know more about you! Ever since the day I found out what a father was I wondered why I never had one. I wondered who he was and where he was and what he looked like." She said. "You're Australian! I always wanted to go there because the only thing I knew about my father was that he was Australian . . . And that his name was Milton, but that's obviously not true. Red . . . I like that name on you."

"Thanks. I tend to wear certain names well. Like Kelly."

"Kelly? Who's Kelly? Ex-girlfriend?"

"Me."

"You?"

"You just learned another thing that I'm not proud of. My birth name was Kelly." Rose snorted. She sounded exactly like him when she did so too.

"Kelly is a gal's name!"

"And that's why I changed it." Red picked at the carpet on the floor. Leslie crouched by her husband and handed him a contract sent to her by Jalokia. "What's this?"

"A commercial contract. Don't worry, I read it and okay'd it. All you have to do is sign."

"Commercial for what?"

"Your perfume and cologne line."

"Oh," Red said. "Jalokia warned me about that." Red took the pen from Leslie's hand and scribbled down his signature. Rose gasped.

"That's where I get it from!" Red glanced up at her inquisitively.

"Get what from where?" Rose snatched the pen away from him. She began to write her name on his arm with her left hand.

"We're both left handed!" She chirped. Red raised his hand and both gave each other a high five. Leslie rolled her eyes.

"Ironic how you both high fived with your right hand just now . . ." She took the paper and walked away. Rose grabbed Red's wrist and inspected it.

"You have a tattoo!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah. For our third year anniversary-"

"Second!"

". . . Yeah. Leslie and I both got tattoos on our dominate hand's wrist. She wrote, 'I love you' in English and I wrote it in Irken. So that way whenever we write we can be reminded that our love will last as long as these tattoos. Forever." Rose smiled, warmly.

"That is so sweet and cute!" Red grinned, looking at his tattoo.

"I have another tattoo on my chest of my family's coat of arms." He said. Rose sat up.

"Can I see?" Red shrugged, also sitting up he unfastened two buttons on his shirt and parted it to expose his chest. The crest consisted of five stars that made up the southern cross, Hebrew characters that spelled out their family name, the Hebrew symbol _chai_, and an Irken phrase written above that translated into, 'Love Conquered Fear'. "Neat." Rose looked closely at it. "What does your family crest symbolize?"

"Life and love and family bond."

"My family crest doesn't look as cool." Rose mumbled. A random thought popped into Red's head.

"You have a car?" Red asked. Rose shook her head.

"No. Mom couldn't afford it."

"Would you like one?"

"What? Me?" Red gave her a toothy grin.

"No your invisible friend sitting next to you!"

"Huh! Nice one, where'd you get that from?" She retorted. "I would love a car."

"What kind?"

"You're not planning on getting one for me, are you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You shouldn't."

"Why?"

"Because I don't deserve a car. I gotta work for it."

"Why?"

"To learn responsibility."

"Why?"

"That's what my mom believes in. That's how she raised me to be. Work for what you want."

"Eventually the word 'why' won't be a relevant response."

"Why?" Rose threw an ice cube from her glass at him.

"Please don't get me a car."

"Why- _Ehem_. You're getting a car. I insist. You have your license, right?"

"Yeah, since I was twelve." Red rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"A truck for you. I'm getting you a truck. Cuz guys are intimidated by chicks in trucks that are bigger than theirs."

"I always wanted a four wheel drive, diesel."

"Make?"

"I like Chevy." Red outstretched his arms and exclaimed loudly.

"My girl!" He hugged her tight. "You. Are. Awesome. And Imma give you a big, sexy, Chevrolet truck. You can get an Avalanche just like mine!"

"Make it black and it's a deal."

"Honey, you can't have black. My Chevy is black, we're gonna get our vehicles confused that way."

"Fine then, silver ice metallic."

"With LTZ trim, ebony interior. 22 inch, six spoke, chrome wheels. Built in GPS. And I'll add some Irken tech on top of that so it's not so . . . _human_."

"Hey you two," The father and daughter looked up at Leslie who interrupted them again. "I know it's early, Rose, but Red needs as much sleep as possible."

"It's only nine. Why do you go to bed at nine?"

"She makes me go to bed at nine." Red crossed his arms. "Add this to your 'journal of fun facts about my dad', I'm narcoleptic."

". . . You're right. I gotta start writing down everything I'm discovering about you." Rose said. "So you fall asleep randomly?"

"Mmhmm."

"That's crazy." Rose whispered. "Does it happen often?"

"Only if I don't take my medications."

"Oh! I never asked you. How did you get so hurt?" She pointed to Red's splint.

"That story has been told numerous times and I'm getting sick of repeating it. So take my Imp, go online and the Irken headlines should still be raving about my incident." Red handed her the phone.

"Rose, this suite only has three rooms." Leslie said. "We already kicked ZIM out on the couch so one of the rooms could be shared between Tak, Gaz, and Zee. Would you like to stay with them or-"

"Can I stay with you? I don't mind sleeping on the floor." Rose said.

"Oh, Hun, you don't have to do that-"

"I don't mind, really." Leslie thought debating whether or not if that was a good idea considering all of Red's sleeping conditions.

"Well, I suppose. You can come in whenever you're ready for bed. You won't wake Red up and I'll more than likely will still be reading."

"Thanks!" Rose said. Leslie smiled, helping Red up off the floor. The married couple went to their separate room. Leslie closed the door behind them. Red walked to the edge of bed and plucked a few spare pillows off so he could make a bed for Rose.

"My life feels like it's traveling at a thousand kilometers and hour. So many things have happened in such short period of time."

"Mm yeah. You started the year and before you know it, you became an earthen cartoon celebrity, you became a father, you got lost, had a near death experience, then you were found, you became a father _again_. So many surprises and good things. Some bad, but mostly good." Leslie turned him so he was facing her. She leant her face in and cradled it in the nook of his neck. Kissing the soft, warm flesh there. The affection sent shivers down Red's spine and caused goosebumps to form across his entire body. Leslie pulled away, resting a hand on his cheek, looking at him lovingly. "You need sleep, baby. It's been an exciting day and I'm sure your medications are wearing off by now. So get in bed before you fall over sleeping." Red nodded, sitting on the bed. Sapphira was in the middle, right between where Leslie and Red would sleep. He laid himself down and picked the smeet up, laying her on his chest and kissing her fuzzy head.

"Leslie,"

"Yes, cowboy?"

"Are you mad with me?" Leslie let out a long breath, sitting by her husband's side.

"I was at first. I'm just irritated now. There was no reason not to tell me that you were impure. You should _never_ hide secrets from me."

"Do you have any secrets?" Leslie paused, thinking.

"Actually . . . I do."

"Do tell."

"It's nothing major like getting an abortion. Because unlike you, I was practicing abstinence."

"Yeah, yeah. You were a perfect little saint and I was the spawn of the devil. Just go on."

"Well, I got a tramp stamp when I was nineteen." Red opened his mouth, a smile forming on his lips.

"You little slut." Red sat up. "Look at you being a hoe!"

"Red, shut up! I never whored myself out! They were trending, so I got one. Then after four years I wanted to get it removed so badly that I saved up a couple thousand dollars for laser removal." Red set Sapphira back down in the center of the bed. He got behind his wife, kneeling. He wrapped his arms around her waist. He got close to the side of her face and whispered lowly.

"I think you should've kept it. I would've _loved_ seeing that." Leslie elbowed his gut. He keeled over, grunting.

"Pervert." She stood up to walk to the bathroom. "Get to sleep." Red got out of bed to go after her. He slipped through the door before she could shut and lock it. "Red, I have to pee! Get out." Red sat on the vanity.

"Didn't get a goodnight kiss."

"I sleep with you!"

"I'd like to start sleeping in you a bit more, if you know what I mean." Red wiggled a brow with a seductive look on his face.

"You're awful." Leslie hissed. "If you don't get out now then I will start peeing in front of you. And I know just how much you hate when I do that."

"Just because we're married, doesn't mean that entitles you to pee and poo freely when I'm in the bathroom with you."

"Then. You. Should. Leave!" Red raised his hands, sliding off the counter.

"Fine." He said, as he walked past her. Before he left he smirked and pinched her butt which made her squeak. She grinned playfully.

"Do you want a spankin', young man?" Leslie quipped. Red yelled back at her from the other room.

"Yes, please!"

**September 5, 2001**

"Wait a sec."

"What?" Rose asked Red who was looking behind him from his first class seat on the plane to Australia.

"It's September 5 . . . Shit." Red unbuckled himself and went back a few seats to where Zee, Tenn, and Purple were sitting. Rose cocked her head to the side then turned her attention back to the window watching the clouds go by. She's never been on a plane before and for some reason, the clouds being _below_ her was extremely intriguing. Red came back with a scowl on his face. "Geez. Forget your sister's birthday and the whole world blows up. I'll get her a gift later."

"Who's birthday?"

"Zee's. She's twenty-six today and she just kicked me in the crotch. I let her get away with it . . . But only for today."

"You two have issues?"

"We used to. Not anymore. We get along fabulously now."

"But . . . She just kicked you."

"Heh. Heh. Yeah." Red chuckled. Rose raised a brow but shook her head at her father.

"What is your last name anyway?" Rose asked.

"Macale." Red answered. "I was waiting for that question."

"Macale. Sounds unique. How's it spelled?"

"M-A-C-A-L-E. People mispronounce it all the time."

"It seems simple enough to pronounce."

"Humans don't know how Irkens pronounce our vowels though."

"Ahh, good point." Rose said. "I think I like that name better than Blackwood. I mean, c'mon! Scarlet Rose _Blackwood_. Scarlet is red and then we have the word black in there. It's not right. Scarlet Rose Macale . . . Yup. Definitely changing my name."

"Only if your mother is okay with that." Red kept his eyes on his digital newspaper he was reading. They caught a few folks from the KKK and they refuse to say where the rest of the gang is. At least there was some progression.

"So where did you say we were going?"

"Kununurra!" ZIM piped up from the plane seat behind them. "And we're landing right now. Be prepared to meet our family. They not all there in da head." ZIM whispered in her antenna. "They weeeeeiiiirrrddd." Rose looked to Red.

"Uhh, yeah. Actually I should warn you about them." Red scratched his neck. "They don't know about you. When they first see you and I tell them who you are, I'm pretty sure there will be some mixed reactions. Some might be excited, others mad. Not mad at you of course, mad at me. For being on helluva screw up as a stupid teenager."

"You'll like them though!" ZIM butted in again. "All fifty of them! And that's not counting our immediate family." Rose's eyes went wide.

"That's gonna be a lot of names to remember."

"Don't worry about it, darling. They won't hold anything against you if you don't get all their names right away."

"Do your cousins have any children?"

"Nope. I'm the only one out of all the cousins who's had smeets so far. The rest of them are waiting till they're at least one hundred. But I married a human, so things are different for me."

"Ah. I was hoping for some second cousins around my age."

"ZIM, Tak, and Gaz are gonna be the ones closest to you."

"Aren't I good enough for you?" ZIM asked, pretending to be offended.

"Nope! Maybe you should try befriending someone in your social ranking. Maybe a pig or a goat." ZIM's jaw dropped.

"Red, you're daughter inherited your assholery! Nice going!" ZIM flopped back in his seat. Never taking his gaze off his tablet, Red stuck his hand out flat for a high five which Rose happily slapped, cockily grinning at ZIM. "Demon child." ZIM mumbled. The plane gradually began to descend, going in for a landing at the Kununurra airport.

"Wow, this place looks like it's out in the middle of no where."

"That's because it is." Red answered. "I'm a home grown jackaroo. Right here on this red, Aussie soil."

"It's beautiful. It's very close to the ocean!"

"Do you surf?"

"You must be a wee bit delusional if you even think that I can swim." Rose laughed. "I'm frightened of the sea!"

"Oh well now, that simply will not do. If you wanna be a Macale, you gotta learn to surf." Red said.

"Come now, da. That's not even fair. You're daft if you'd willingly swim in the ocean I live by. It's freezing all the time!" Red just shook his head, standing to exit the plane. Rose followed him out. "It's hotter than hell here though."

"You know what's even more shocking?"

"What?"

"It's winter time here right now."

". . . You've got to be messin' with me."

**...**

"Just stick by me, alright? It's ten in the morn, which means everyone in the fam should be lounging around by the main barn. They just got done with morning chores so they may smell like shit, unpasteurized milk, and more shit."

"Oooh-Kay?" Rose opened the door to the truck. Red exited from the driver's side. Behind them, the rest of their family piled out of their separate vehicles. Red walked to the entrance of the large concrete-floored milking parlor where his family was drinking and smoking. He caught sight of his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents all sitting in chairs, kicking back, relaxing, and chatting.

"Well! It's the city boy! He's back for another adventure where he can break his other hip bone!" Red thumped Dural on the head.

"Don't call me a city boy, or I'll rip yer antenna off."

"Geez, just trying to poke some fun, coz." Dural adjusted his Akubra hat. "Who's the young Sheila?" Red sat down in the only open seat available. He motioned for Rose to come to him. He held her hand tightly.

"She's actually the reason I returned." Red said. He waited for ZIM and the others to enter the barn before saying anything else. They stood near the circle of Irken family members, eager to see the reaction of their extended family. Red removed himself from the seat. "Tenn, sit here." He told her. Red stood before his family. Fidgeting nervously. "I don't know how to really introduce her to you without you guys asking a million questions and/or getting mad." Nana groaned loudly, slumping back, rubbing her forehead exasperatedly.

"Dju, what did you do this time?"

"It's . . . It's something I did sixteen years ago, actually." Red said. "This is Scarlet Blackwood, though she prefers to be called Rose. She's from Scotland."

"Good mornin'." She waved.

"She's with me because just recently I have made a startling discovery." Red swallowed. He could only imagine how his nana was going to react. "When I was only seventeen years old, I did something that I'm not proud of. I slept with a woman outta wedlock. And not just any woman. It was her mother." The parlor was deathly silent. "Rose is my long lost daughter I never knew I had." What felt like a whole minute of silence had passed. Red blushed, ashamed of himself. His family was judging him. He could see it in their eyes. Suddenly, nana sprang up from her chair and stomped towards Red, yelling all the way.

"Why you irresponsible, bugger! What would your mother say? You've got to be fuckin' with me here! You better be fuckin' around!" Nana grabbed the front if his shirt, taking him down so he was eye-to-eye with her. "You mean to tell me that you impregnated a woman before? We never found out? You kept it a secret from us? Is that what you did?" Red cringed. Nana was screaming in his already sensitive antenna. She never seemed to help with any of his headaches, that's for sure. "You bloody fool! You're a shame to this family! You're always thinking with the wrong head." She hit him in between his legs with her cane. Red crumpled over, holding his nether region in pain. "You're always full of surprises! You're so stupid, I swear I could beat you senseless right now! Welcome to the family, by the way, darling." Nana turned her attention away from her grandson for a split second to welcome Rose. "Kelly Eliasetto, get your ass in my office right now!"

"That's _not_ my name." Red growled. Nana whacked him over the head with her cane.

"Now!" Red glared at her for belittling him in front of everyone, but he nonetheless obeyed her command. Nana was right behind him as they both left the parlor and entered the barn over which held farming equipment and housed the main office. Red pushed the office door open, nana slammed it shut behind her. "Sit."

"I'd rather not."

"Why? So you make it easier for me to whip your ass?" Nana snarled. Red sneered and grudgingly sat down. The elder, however, did not take a seat behind her desk. Instead she stood in front of him. "Your mother would be so disappointed in you."

"I'm disappointed in myself, but you know what? I just met Rose and I already have a strong bond with her. I love that girl like I love Sapphira."

"Yeah, but do you know the difference between her and Sapphira?"

"Age, eyes, skin color, hair-" Red was shut up by nana's cane going down on his head again.

"Rhetorical!" She bellowed. "Wedlock. Is the correct answer by the way." Red rolled his eyes.

"I feel like I should tell you the other news before anything else." Red said.

"Oh lord, there's _more_ news?"

"Yes." Red pulled at his shirt sleeve nervously, never meeting his nana's eyes. "I, myself, was impregnated by two other women. All of this happened before I even became an earthen adult." Nana's mouth hung open in surprise. "I killed both smeets off because I was afraid of what mom and you would say." Nana's breath hitched in her throat.

"Red, I . . ." Nana leaned against her desk. "I've never been so disgusted in you." Red bowed his head.

"You have no idea how disgusted I am with myself." Red said. "I don't know how I managed to live with myself after that. I'm a murderer." Red scooted the chair back in fears that nana would lash out at him. He took a bold chance to glance up at her. Nana's face was twisted with fury. Red could tell she was in deep, deep, _deep_, thought. "Please, nana. You don't have to say or do anything. I know what I did was wrong. I heard it from everyone. Leslie, my sisters, Peder, my own smeet brother wouldn't even look at me for a day after I told them the news."

"Red," Nana cleared her throat, sounding serious. "I don't think I trust you anymore."

"You never trusted me in the first place." Red muttered. "I don't care what you do, you can disown me, you can be disgusted, you can do whatever. I know that once I start loosing your trust, it's nearly impossible to regain it. So what's the point."

"I'm not disowning you, you twit!" Nana snapped. "I don't trust you _alone_. Whenever you're alone is when you make your horrible mistakes." Nana sighed. "Like when you attempted suicide numerous times after my daughter died." Red lowered his antenna. "I don't want you to be alone anymore. I know Rose must be a blessing to you, but it doesn't change the fact that you've made a mistake. And Red," Nana pinched his chin, raising it to look him in the eye. "I would've rather had you admit that you were pregnant to us than to just go off and _kill_ your very own children." Red pulled his face away from her, scowling deeply, arms crossed over his chest. "You are the most troublesome child, dju. You scare me so much sometimes and I just don't know what to do with you."

"I'm thirty-three! You shouldn't have to do anything!"

"You're right! I shouldn't _have_ to do anything! But I _have_ to because you still don't learn!"

"That was sixteen years ago!"

"Don't give me this bull shit that you haven't slept with another girl since your mother's death." Nana eyed him accusingly. Red opened his mouth to snap back at her but he was lost for words. "You truly are my most slutty grandchild as well." Red stood, towering over her to look imposing but she was unfazed. There was no way he was gonna intimidate a veteran Irken marine colonel.

"I _was_! I've changed! I fucked up so many times when I was younger! I get that! I understand! I'm a shame to the family! I don't deserve you guys! I'm better off dead! You've made that very clear-" Red was cut off by a hand smacking him brutally across the cheek. Red held the side of his stinging face. Nana pointed at him with a shaky finger.

"Don't you dare go down that path again, Red. Don't you dare." Nana pulled his head down, cuddling him into her body. She petted his antenna lovingly. "You tried to kill yourself before and I've never felt so terrified that I may loose another one of my smeets. So don't you ever mention suicide to me ever again. Otherwise I'll lock you up in a padded room, wearing a restraint jacket." She said, calmly. "I'd rather have you locked up than to loose you." Red sighed.

"Nana, I wasn't going to kill myself. I just," Red pulled away from her embrace. "I just feel as if I can't make you proud."

"Honey, you've made me proud so many times before. Like how you pulled through your depression when your mother died. How well you raised Zeiden. How you settled down, got a wife, had a daughter . . . Two apparently." Nana ran a finger down his antenna. "May I tell you something that you might not like to hear?"

"How bad is it?"

"I don't know. It would be your opinion."

"Fine." Nana placed a finger under his chin and made him look at her.

"Mioka was your mother's middle name." Red raised a brow.

"So what was her first?"

"Guess." Red's eyes went wide.

"Kelly?" Nana nodded. Red gasped. "What? No. No, it couldn't of been."

"Ever since she was a little girl, she always said how her first born was going to be named after her. She loved her name that much. Luckily for her, it is a unisex name. So when she got pregnant, she was ecstatic that she could finally have a smeet that would share her name. And six years after you were born, she was heartbroken when you were so hellbent on changing your name." Red slicked his antenna back at the thought. "She was hoping on her death bed, that as a final wish from you to her, that you'd change it back to Kelly and be happy with your given name. But obviously that never happened." Red's mouth was gaped, his own heart felt like it was breaking.

"I-I . . . I'm a horrible son!" Red cried. "I'm so inconsiderate and awful and . . . just . . . Ugh!" Red stood up, storming out of the office. "Please watch Rose for me until I get back."

"Where are you going?"

"To the Courthouse!"

**Later**

"So these are the kinds of bulls my dad would ride?" Rose asked. Her and ZIM were walking around the ranch. ZIM was giving her a tour. While he was at it, he introduced her to all his cousins, aunts, and uncle. They were currently wandering by a wide, grassy pasture full of bovine.

"Yup! They are mean, territorial, sons of bitches. He got mauled by a bull twice in his career. Both were near death experiences for him."

"Wow . . . He's not the brightest, is he?"

"Absolutely not." ZIM said. "But then again, I ain't either."

"It's okay. I'm not that smart as well."

"Really? You mean common sense-wise, right?"

"No. I mean school-wise."

"How?" ZIM exclaimed. "Red isn't bright but he is wicked smart! He's had a four point O grade point average his entire high school career! He's gotten a thirty-two on the ACT! He graduated early from college!"

"Yes, but that's Red not me."

"Oh don't even challenge me on your grades! What's your lowest grade right now?"

"B minus." ZIM flung his hands up in the air.

"Here we go." ZIM muttered. "I have F's in pretty much every class. Including the two classes my brothers teach. _I'm_ the stupid one here."

"I'm just struggling because I should be averaging A's. I usually do. It's just . . . Junior year is _so_ tough."

"Red told me it was no walk through the park. But hell, if your lowest grade is a B minus, I'd say you're doing pretty damn amazing." Rose shrugged. "Trust me. I'm probably gonna get held back again, but you, you're well on your way to graduating." Rose smiled at ZIM.

"So . . . Is my dad a genius?" ZIM threw his head back, groaning.

"Oh my God! You have no idea! He and both my sisters. They're brilliant. Peder too. He's even smarter than Red! Red's I.Q. is on the very superior side of the scale. On Wechsler's I.Q. range, his is 137. Which means he's legally a near genius. And Leslie, she doesn't like talking about her intelligence, but she has a better I.Q. than _Einstein_. Effing Einstein, dude! Her I.Q. is 165 whereas, Einstein is only 160." ZIM said. "My I.Q. is 72. Which is way below average. Intellectually inadequate. Borderline deficiency. Some would even dare call me mentally retarded."

"ZIM, you have an impressive vocabulary."

"I'm not _all_ dumb. But mostly. I like the English language. The reason why I'm failing most classes is because I never turn in work, I'm a terrible test taker, and I'm severely A.D.D. And I know a lot of people say that they're A.D.D. but they only think that because they show _some_ signs of it. But they lack one thing, a medical diagnosis. I'm A.D.D. by doctor's proclamation and am medicated for it."

"I heard you had a lot of other disorders too." Rose said. "You don't have to talk about them, I'm just wondering if it's true."

"Yeah it's true. I have epilepsy, hypotension, asthma, all that fun stuff."

". . . That doesn't sound fun at all."

"It's quite the opposite, actually."

"I wouldn't doubt that."

"What about you? You have anything noteworthy about yourself?" ZIM wondered. Rose nodded.

"Well, I sort of have low blood sugar too. Maybe that just runs through the family."

"And how would you describe yourself?"

"To be quite honest, I can be a brat. I'm super sarcastic, hot tempered, and quick to jump to conclusions. But overall I'd say I'm rather friendly. I have a pretty basic childhood. Some friends. Your typical average Jane." Rose said.

"How about talents?" ZIM asked.

"I don't mean to brag but, I'm an amazing singer."

"You don't say?" ZIM giggled to himself. "Wanna give me a little demo of what your voice can do?"

"Uhh, I dunno."

"I won't judge."

"I don't really sing in front of people."

"How about this." ZIM faced her. "I'll sing for you, if you sing for me." Rose thought about it not really sure if she felt comfortable with it.

"I-I guess." ZIM smiled.

"_This is it. We are never gonna see each other as friends again. In fact, our relationship never existed. So I'm burning the evidence. It won't feel right but it'll give me a sense of closure. And if you ever do come crawling back to me, don't even try apologizing, I won't even know who you are._" As he sang to her he watched her features go from neutral to awestruck. "_After all these years of self glorifying, you've gotten to be quite overbearing. You have nothing to brag about. You're a talentless jerk who tries to buy friendship. You brag about your possessions, not your qualities. Like you had any in the first place. So it's safe to say your self esteem is questionable. I hope you realize how big of an ass you were to me. Saying that the devil has corrupted me._" ZIM continued to sing the unfamiliar song to her, putting his soul into it. Nothing was soft and sweet about his voice, considering that this was a song of anger and aggression. But his voice amazed Rose all the same. "_I can't help my mind keeps telling me to harm myself. You sound like an idiot. And here you are now hanging out with the whores. You know what that makes you? I'll tell ya, hypocritical bitch. Whose the corrupted soul now?_" ZIM finished before going any more deeper into the song. Rose was lost for words.

"Whoa . . . I never heard that song before."

"It's because it's an Irken song. You don't listen to Irken music."

"I used to. But ever since recently my mom had forbade it. Don't know why."

"You think it may have anything to do with Red?"

"What do you mean?"

"That was Red's song."

". . . What?"

"Yeah! Mine and his actually. I composed the music, he wrote the lyrics and sang it. It was released a month ago. Already got ten million downloads. Apparently he was brooding about a best friend that he lost after our mother died because she was sick of Red always being depressed so she just ditched him. So he wrote it down on paper just recently. Now it's a hit."

"My dad is a singer too?" She gawked.

"Yeah! That's what I've been saying!"

"Jesus! Is there anything he can't do?" ZIM gave her a funny look.

"Fly, speak Italian, eat things with lactose in it, ride a bike, be nice to the elderly-"

"He can't ride a bike?"

"None of us can." ZIM said, embarrassed. "We never tried either way. We don't like how they look. So instead we use dirt bikes, horses, and trucks." ZIM clasped his hands together. "Now you sing!" Rose gazed down at the ground.

"Alright. Ya know, your voice reminds me of a singer who lived in the fifties."

"Frankie Lymon."

"You know him?"

"I've been told that I sound like him . . . And like a young Michael Jackson, but he touches little boys' dicks so I don't want to be associated with him in any way." ZIM sat in the grass by a tree. "Sing. You're related to the Macale family, you _know_ you can sing."

"Alright, _Silhouettes_."

"I love that song!"

"I'm surprised you know it."

"I prefer older music over this shit any day!" ZIM said. "You won't mind if I join in would you?" Rose laughed.

"I guess not. Who knows, maybe we'll sound good together." She said. Rose cleared her throat, preparing herself. "_Took a walk and passed your house, Late last night. All the shades were pulled and drawn, Way down tight. From within, a dim light cast. Two silhouettes on the shade. Oh, what a lovely couple they ma-ade. Put her arms around your waist. Held you tight, Kisses I could almost taste. In the night. Wondered why I'm not the girl. Whose silhouette's on the shade. I couldn't hide the tears in my eye-eyes._"

"Chorus time!" ZIM jumped in.

"_Silhouettes_."

"_Silhouettes_." ZIM echoed as the original song did.

"_Silhouettes_."

"_Silhouettes_."

"_Silhouettes_."

"_Silhouettes_." ZIM finished the chorus then began the next verse. "_Lost control and rang your bell, I was sore. Let me in or else I'll beat, Down your door. When two strangers who had been, Two silhouettes on the shade. Said to my shock, Your on the wrong block. Rushed down to your house with wings, On my feet. Loved you like I never loved, You my sweet. Vowed that you and I would be, Two silhouettes on the shade. All of our days, Two silhouettes on the sha-ade._" Rose listened as he started up the chorus again. "_Silhouettes_."

"_Silhouettes_." This time she was the one that repeated.

"_Silhouettes_."

"_Silhouettes_."

"_Silhouettes_."

"_Silhouettes_." Rose and ZIM finished the song together, harmonizing.

"_Two silhouettes on the shade. Silhouettes._" ZIM nodded.

"Yes. Yes. We do sound quite amazing together, indeed.

"Man! I can't believe my dad is a singer _and_ an actor!" ZIM coughed.

"You're uncle ZIM is both of those two as well."

"I thought I had a pretty pathetic family, but you guys are amazing!"

"I'm glad you think so. The extended family seems to like you a lot already." ZIM said. "And don't mind nana. She was only mad at Red because he doesn't tell her anything. And it annoys her so much."

"He seems like a mysterious character."

"Oh he is. I haven't found out about him being a bull rider until recent! Like, _really_ recent." ZIM said.

"Is there anything I should know about him that he isn't telling me?" ZIM bit his lip, looking up.

"He's lactose intolerant, he's narcoleptic, he's severely underweight, he never wears underwear, he was a player, he's a model, he's a composer, he's a wildlife biologist, he's a genius, he's stupid when it comes to common sense, he suffers from anxiety, he's got slight brain damage from years of concussions, he was a victim of racial degrading, his real name was Kelly, he's an expert surfer, he's a professional cattle wrangler, he won a scholarship for soccer, he's a sharp shooter with any kind of gun, he's fluent in five different languages and two different dialects, he's won Irk's sexiest man of the century, he's allergic to cute things, he used to be a lifeguard, he smokes and drinks-"

"Whoa! Whoa! Back it up! He won _what_?" Rose asked.

"Irk's sexiest man of the century." ZIM repeated. Rose looked flabbergasted. "And I placed third on the list." Rose covered her face with her hands.

"Holy shit, lad. I can't believe it . . . Well I _can_ believe it, he's an extremely handsome man, it's just, I'm so shocked that he's all these things, it's just so overwhelming."

"Yeah. It really is. We Macale's aren't easy people to understand." ZIM said.

"No shit." Rose muttered. "I wonder what kinds of things I'll accomplish in my life."

"You'll go far, I'm positive. Everyone is put on this earth for a reason." ZIM looked off into the horizon, whispering his next words under his breath. "Even worthless people like me."

**That Night**

Rose was jolted awake by a scream of terror in the dead of night. She sat straight up in her bed that she pushed up against Tak and Gaz's. The three girls were getting along fabulously and an obvious friendship between the three was kindling.

"What? What was that?" Gaz and Tak moaned, not being awoken or even phased by the scream.

"It was Red. Go back to sleep, Rose." Tak mumbled. Rose got out of bed and hurried to the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Rose ignored Gaz's question and dashed to her father's room. She didn't bother knocking. Rose barged in, curious to see if her new father was alright. Much to her surprise, Leslie seemed to be very calm, sitting up in their bed with a book on her lap. Red on the other hand, looked petrified. He was pale, sweating, shaking. His eyes were welded shut and his teeth were grinding. His hands were clenched tightly to their bedsheets. Leslie was stroking the man's face that was wet from tears.

"Is he okay? What happened?"

"He's fine, sweetie. He has night terrors." Leslie answered.

"Wake him up!"

"That's never a good idea. We wait till the terror has passed, then we just carry on. He's alright, I promise." Rose frowned.

"Why does he have night terrors? I thought that's something kids only got."

"You'd think." Leslie said. "Red has had night terrors for year and years. Ever since he was four till now. They're usually about his deceased mother, or his missing father, or something else just as traumatic." Soft whimpering was heard coming from the grown Irken. "Lately he's been having nightmares about the death of his siblings. Mostly ZIM."

"That's horrible." Rose sat on the edge of the bed.

"It is." Leslie agreed. "Unfortunately, I have gotten used to it."

"Unfortunately?"

"It would be better if he never had these in the first place." Leslie said. "Rose, earlier this year, Zeiden died for an entire minute. He had an out of body experience. That's what Red dreams about often now. He's so afraid that something might happen to him which is why he's so paranoid and anxious."

"Geez." Rose put her hand over Red's. "Life as a celebrity isn't always as cracked up as it seems to be, huh?" Leslie shook her head.

"It's never easy for any of us. Especially ZIM. He's been going through a lot of depression lately. He's been having suicidal thoughts and he's slowly falling apart. Red is too far in denial to believe that ZIM is suffering. Red wants ZIM to be happy again so badly that he's just blinding himself from ZIM's true issue." Rose pouted.

"I want to help."

"I don't know if you can, honey." Leslie said. "You were so very sudden too. One day Red thought that he was a father of two. The next, he discovers he has another beautiful daughter. And he was quick to cope with the fact too. As soon as he saw you, he wanted to be in your life so badly. He wanted everything to do with you." Leslie shifted, rubbing Red's rising and falling chest as he panted. "He was so narrow minded when he was pregnant with Sapphira. He didn't want her. But a couple months into his pregnancy, he changed his mind and thought that a smeet wouldn't be so bad after all. And after her birth, his parental instinct kicked into gear and now he has one of the most precious daddy/daughter relationships with her I've seen."

"How sweet." Rose stared at Red's cringing face. "I hope to have that same relationship with him. It sucks how he wasn't with me for the beginning of my life. The most important years of a persons life. He missed everything, my first steps, words, sentences, school. But I guess that's just how it was meant to be. Oh well. All what matters now is that we finally found each other. Now I can finally form our relationship that I craved for my entire life." Rose bent down and kissed Red's temple. Leslie smiled warmly at this.

"You should get to bed, sweetie. You and Kelly have a big day tomorrow."

"Kelly? What do you mean?" Leslie winked at her.

"'_Red_' will explain tomorrow."

**September 6, 2001**

"Well shit, what do I call you now?"

"You can still call me Red," Red said to Purple. "It's just, you'll have to use it as a nickname for now on."

"What made you change your name back to Kelly?" ZIM asked. Red scratched his head.

"Nana told me mom's real name was Kelly and Mioka was just a middle name that caught on as her first name after awhile. She said that mom wanted someone to be named after her so she name me, her first born, after her and I was a prick about it."

"You were gone till eleven last night. Did it seriously take you six hours to change it back?" ZIM wondered.

"Yeah." Red rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I had to sign a bunch of documents, do paper work, even had to write a twenty reason why I wanted to change my name petition."

"Sounds like a lot of work."

"Yeah. And it only costed me two hundred." Red pulled out his ID. "I had to get a new drivers license because of it." He handed it to ZIM. The young boy examined the card. He giggled at the sight of Red's photo. It was obvious that he was _trying_ to piss off the photographer in the picture using his trademark seducing grin and posture.

"You're way to sexy in this picture." ZIM said.

"I know. I figured if I looked hot in the picture that every time I get pulled over the cops would just let me off with a warning for now on." Red said. ZIM continued to scan the card.

"170 centimeters. 50 kilos. Sex M. Red eyes. You're an organ donor. Date of birth . . . Hey! What is this? Why is your birthday the one on the south Irken calendar's?" ZIM asked.

"I told them our permenant address was now on Irk and not Australia. They told me that my birthday would have to be the calendar we use on our permanent home on Irk. Because soon our main residence will be on Mårcio and to make it a legitimate license on both earth and Irk, they require us to use the Southern Irk calendar that we will abide by once we move in. So that's why it's saying my birthday is on New Year's Eve."

"We're not gonna change the days we celebrate our birthdays, are we?" ZIM asked.

"No. Not while we're on earth. On Irk we'll celebrate it on the correct calendar dates though." ZIM nodded.

"Aboriginal Aus-Irken Citizen: Kelly Elias MaCale the second, oh! You have a suffix behind your name! Kelly MaCale the II. How very royal sounding. Why didn't you change your middle name back to Eliasetto?" ZIM handed Red's ID back to him.

"I shall forever hate that name. It's a half earthen half Irken name mom made up. Elias and Etto. Not sure what her motive was for that." Red mumbled.

"So this means I'll probably have to go in and renew my license too, huh?"

"Yeah. I figured we could go do that today sometime. You remember what your Southern Irk birthday is?"

"Yeah, it's January 11, right? Or is that my Jewish birthday?"

"I don't remember. We'll figure that out later." Red stretched

"No need! I just remembered! It's November 14." ZIM said. "I remember because it lands on an unimpressive day."

"Eh, it's fine. If you like your Gregorian birthday better, it doesn't matter." Purple said. "Les said you had a busy day today. What are your plans?"

"Well, just some much needed bonding time with Rose. I still have lots to learn about her." Red said. "I can't do much with this damned injury, but I know for a fact that I can ride a horse."

"You're gonna teach her how to ride a horse?" ZIM asked.

"Yup. I figured we would go downtown and watch some campdraft competitions." Red said. "Feel free to come along if ya want, Z."

"Yeah, okay. I think I will." ZIM said.

"Maybe you could participate."

"Yeah! I haven't drafted in almost a whole year." ZIM said. "And I never did it competitively yet either."

"Dju!" Red groaned at the sound of his nana's voice ringing from somewhere on the farm. "Dju! I need you!" Red slid off the wooden fence of the pasture.

"Wonder what she needs me for." He muttered. Purple shrugged, also getting off the fence and following him. ZIM, not wanting to be alone, followed suit.

"She was ranting about a large Chinese tour group coming in today." Purple said.

"Oh great." Red muttered. "That means she wants me to give them a tour." Red found nana by the main office, sure enough, a large fifty-person group of Asian students were standing around, talking and taking pictures of absolutely everything. The cows, pastures, workers, even the _dirt_. "What do ya want?" Red asked, crossing his arms. Nana narrowed her eyes at him.

"What are you wearing? Get into uniform! You look so unprofessional!" Red looked down at himself. Bootcut jeans, a pair of dusty, leather, jackaroo boots, with a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, and ripped down the sides . . . It did indeed look extremely unprofessional.

"What do you want from me?"

"Give them a tour! Get into uniform now." Red grumbled under his breath, making his way to the office to change into the stockman getup. ZIM went after him.

"I wanna help you give them a tour." ZIM said.

"Okay, just don't try to speak Chinese at them this time. Remember how offended the other group got?" ZIM huffed.

"I honestly don't get what is so wrong about saying, 'Ching Chang chong, bang my gong'." ZIM said. Red just snickered. The boys searched through the drawers if the office and began to change into a more appropriate attire for the occasion. Getting the cowboy feel with plaid shirts, belt buckles, akubra hats, even putting on the traditional vest that Red would normally wear for bull riding. Once they were dressed, they left to meet back up with the mass of curious, foreign, teenagers. Nana nodded to Red then went off to do her daily duties taking Purple with her. Red approached the folks, smile on his face.

"G'day, mates! Welcome to the MaCale Irkenirakee Tribe Ranch and Dairy. My name is Red MaCale, I'm usually a wrangler, herder, feeder, and milker, but for today, I'll be you Jackaroo guide." Red put a hand in ZIM's shoulder. "This runt right here is Zeiden MaCale, he'll be my assistant. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please talk to one of us." The students immediately began to snap pictures of Red and ZIM, remaining quiet. "If you'll follow us we'll begin at the milking parlor." The two Irkens started off in the direction of the parlor. Red informing them all the way. "In 1865, Chief Kadee MaCale began to develop this ranch that you see here today. Not only is Kadee our Chief, she's also our grandmother. Most Irken employees that you will see her are related to the Chief some way or another. I myself, am her last daughter's first born son." Red stated. "Now in here," Red led them inside the parlor where a few of his cousins milked. "Is where we milk. At one point, we would have to milk eight hundred cows a day. But now, thanks to modern Irken technology, we use a machine we call, K-ZO 1200, which stands for _Kaonyuckpolias-Zustorkora Oria_, Irkenirakee for Bovine Homogenized Milk Extractor Mechanism." A student raised his hand. "Yes?"

"It hurt cow?"

"Umm, no. It's does not hurt our animals." Red assured him. "Here at M.I.T.R.D. we treat and care for our animals. We would never use any machines that would ever bring harm to our livestock." ZIM stifled his laughter beside him.

"Huh! Yeah right . . ." Red nudged him to get him to be quiet.

"ZIM, you should help Dural milk if you're going to tell these people the truth." Red hissed at him. ZIM nodded.

"Yeah. You're probably right." ZIM went off to do as told, subtly kicking a chicken on his way over. Red gave the now skeptical-looking crowd a sheepish grin.

"Uhm. Moving on then . . ."

**One Hour Later**

"Good news,"

"What?" Red answered to Leslie. He was sitting on the dusty ground, leaning up against the stables.

"They captured the rest of the bastards that vandalized our home."

"So we can go home now?" Red asked, not looking up from his phone. He was texting his friends who were going to meet him soon at the rodeo.

"Unless you have something else you wanna do here yet." Red shook his head.

"We'll stay one more night. I'm taking Rose out to a campdraft. ZIM may compete. Ya game?"

"I think I'll stay here with Sapphira." Leslie said. Red out his phone down.

"Oh come on." He stood and wandered over to her. "Saph can come too."

"She's tired, Hun. She should stay home."

"That little gal of ours can sleep through thunderstorms. I'm sure she could sleep through yelling and gunshots at a rodeo." Red encircled her waist with his arms.

"I'll stay, thank you." Red shrugged.

"Alright. I'll just warn ya ahead of time that I was planning on competing myself."

"What? No you're not! Not with your broken pelvis!" Leslie poked him in the chest. "Don't you dare get on a horse while you're there."

"You can't stop me." Red smirked. "Cuz you won't be there."

"Oh you sly, bastard." Leslie pushed him away. "Fine. I'll go. As long as you don't ride any broncos."

"That's fine!" Red took her hand in his. "If _you_ wanna ride my bronco later, however, that's totally cool with me."

"What do you mean?" Leslie thought for a moment then realized what he was actually hinting at. "No. No, I won't be doing any riding later on your _bronco_, either." Leslie took the felt hat off his head and placed it on her's. Red smiled at this.

"Oh, come now, cowgirl. I've seen you ride my bronc plenty times before. Why not tonight? You frightened of him all of a sudden?" Red hissed in her ear.

"You're so naughty." Leslie laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Red was about to take his hat back from her, but she pulled back. Red cocked a brow and tried again but Leslie just moved away some more. "Feeling playful, suddenly?" Leslie just gave him a sly smile in return. Quicker than she could react, Red lunged at her and caught her in his embrace. She squealed not expecting it. He picked her up and spun her around once. Both laughed. As Red held her in the air, Leslie bent down and kissed his lips. Red moaned, deeply when her tongue invaded his mouth. The man took a step back and lost his footing, tumbling back taking his wife with him. He landed on his back in the dust, cackling loudly. Leslie was concerned. She gasped, looking down at Red, inspecting his hip, scared that she might have broken it further because she landed on it.

"Oh my God! Are you alright?" She asked, worry stricken.

"I'm fine, babe. I'm alright."

"Are you sure? I think I-" She was cut off by his hand snaking behind her head, clutching her hair and pulling her face down to his. He kissed her again to resume their make out session.

"I'm fine." He whispered, alluringly. Leslie relaxed and closed her eyes again to savor their moment. Of course it had to be interrupted once more though.

"What would Jesus do?" It was ZIM's voice. The couple broke off and looked at the boy. "Seriously, Leslie? Were you really going to go down on him right here in the middle of the drive?" Leslie got off her husband. Red sat up, noticing most of his family members off in the near distance making fun of him and Leslie. His wife helped him up.

"Ya know what? I don't even care." Red captured Leslie in for another hug. He pressed his lips against hers, shutting his eyes blissfully, flipping his onlooking family the bird as he did so. The other Irkens only laughed in response to Red.

"Mm, Red," Leslie said through the smooch. "Maybe you don't care who sees but-" Red silenced her by pressing harder into the _osculation_. "You truly have no shame you know that?" Red grunted in reply. The man felt someone jab his side. He parted from his wife to glare at ZIM. Behind him Rose stood there.

"You, uh, kiss all the time with your middle finger out like that often?" She asked.

"Huh . . . Yeah. Sometimes. Only when I have an audience." Red answered. "You liked the show?" Rose looked disgusted.

"Uh . . . I'm not going to say yes for two reasons; one being, you're my father. The other reason being, you're old."

"Old?" Red exclaimed. "What? How dare you! I'm not even middle aged!" Rose snickered.

"You're older than I am, right?"

"Well, yeah, but . . . Shut up."

"So are you taking me to that rodeo now?" Rose wondered.

"Yes, ma'am." Red said. He looked her up and down at her attire. "Mmm, you look like a little city lover. We need to get you less demeaning clothes."

"Excuse me? A city lover? Demeaning clothes?"

"Yes, it's disgusting. We're going shopping before anything else."

"I don't have any money with me."

"Why in hell would I make you pay for your own clothes?" Red motioned for Rose and ZIM to come with him to the truck. "Les, go get Sapphira."

**Later**

"Okay, since you're forcing me to take on your culture, I'm going to force you to take on mine." Rose said.

"Honey, It's not just my culture. Remember that you're half Aboriginal Aussie too." Red said. "Aren't you used to wearing plaid?" Rose glanced down at her pink and white, plaid shirt.

"Well yes. But those are stereotypes, ya know?"

"I don't care." Red turned away from her to get a akubra hat her size off the shelf of a boot and hat store in downtown Kununurra. He found a nice tan felt hat and placed it on her head. "Adorable." Rose looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like a dazzling, rodeo girl.

"Hey! I am!"

"Check. It. Out!" ZIM clomped toward them wearing boots, six times too big for his feet. "Mah feets are huuuge!" ZIM tripped over his feet and fell face first into the linoleum floor. "I'm keeping them for when I grow up."

"Huh! Yeah right!" Red picked ZIM up by the collar of his shirt. "Mate, those boots are way too big even for me! What are they? Size thirteen?"

"Ah unno." ZIM wiggled out of Red's grasp to bring them back.

"Oh . . . Kay." Red shook his head. "Well, I think two pairs of boots and that hat will do for now. Let's go to the check out."

"You're going to compete in this years Highland Games." Rose said.

"What?" Red asked. "What are you talking about?"

"You get to put your masculinity to the test. On September 25, we're going back to Scotland and I'm entering you in the Highland Games." Rose said. "You're making me dress like a cowgirl-"

"Here, they're called Jillaroos."

"Whatever, you're making dress and act like a _Jillaroo_, then I'm going to force you to wear a kilt and act like a proud Scotsman." Red snorted.

"Lyke, _guuurrrl_, git fo realz. They ain't nuh wai imma wear a itchy, wool, skirt in front of hundreds O' peoples."

"It's not a skirt! It's a kilt!"

"Doesn't matter. It looks like a skirt. I'm not Scottish, so there's noway you're going to force me into something like that."

"Kelly, I think your ass would look ah-may-zing in a motha f-ing kilt!" ZIM zoomed past the two. "You look great baby! You look guud!" He said to Rose.

"Thanks, ZIM! Get him to enter the Highland games and I'll start to call you uncle!" Rose said. ZIM gasped.

"Yush! Red," ZIM stood right in front of his brother. "You _have_ to enter the games. It's like, life or death here."

"Zei, all she did was offer to call you uncle."

"Yeah! That's important to me."

"Why?"

". . . I dunno, it's just- We're talking about _you_ here!" Red rolled his eyes.

"Okay, Rosy," Red started. "I'll cut you a deal here. If you can rope a calf at the rodeo, then I'll wear a skirt and throw logs." Rose beamed.

"You're on, old man." The two sealed the deal with a firm handshake.

**At the Rodeo**

"Alright, Rose, I'm _counting_ on you to rope this calf." ZIM whispered to her. "You should do a couple practice roping first."

"How? We don't have a calf here now." She said, casting a wary gaze on her father who was leaning up on the fence, facing away from them watching the campdrafts with some old high school buddies of his.

"I'll be your calf." ZIM said. "Here," He handed her the lasso. "Just do exactly as I instructed you to do. Knowing Red, he'll give you three tries. That's definitely not enough for beginners like you. When I was learning roping, it took me at _least_ twenty tries before I got a loose rope around a calf's neck." Rose frowned in dismay. "But you can practice while he's not looking! So quick," ZIM ran a short distance from her. He stood stationary about ten away from where she was. "Rope me." Rose played with the rope in her hands. She lifted the lasso above her head and swung it around like ZIM had done. After three rotations she threw it. Not even close. The rope landed somewhere to her far, far left. "It's okay! Once you rope me while I'm still, I'll start to move as a calf would." Rose nodded, spinning the rope against and throwing it. The lasso managed to loop around ZIM that time. "Wow! I'm impressed." ZIM gawked. "You're a natural. Like a little mini Red." ZIM praised her. "Now I'm going to start moving around. Okay? I'll go slow for now-"

"Hey! I see you practicing back there!" ZIM cursed under his breath.

"Damn it, Red."

"It's okay, ZIM. If I don't rope the calf then maybe we could have another competition later so you can see him in a kilt."

"He won't agree to it, I'm sure." ZIM muttered. "He's a jerk like that sometimes."

"Oh really?" ZIM spun around to find Red looming over him. "I'm a jerk?"

". . . Yes." ZIM bolted away from him to avoid his wrath.

"You're up, Rosy." Red said.

"Wait, I'm not doing this in front of that crowd, am I?"

"But of course!"

"Noooo. I can't do that." Rose whined.

"Come on. You won't embarrass yourself."

"Yes I will."

"I'm pretty sure missing the loop around a calf's neck is incomparable to what I did when I was sixteen, competing in a break away roping event."

"What happened?"

"Well," Red said, remembering. "As soon as the steer was released I commanded my horse to go full speed to catch up to it. I managed to lasso the beast, then when I ordered my horse to halt, it halted a little bit too suddenly. Long story short, I went flying over the reins and landed square on my ass in front of a crowd of a thousand plus." Rose and ZIM laughed. "Yeah, so I'm sure you'll be fine, Rose. As long as you don't get on a horse and have it flip you off it's back."

"Okay," She agreed. "But if I get hurt, it'll be on you."

"You'd have to be extremely talented to get hurt in this event. It's nearly impossible to even get muscle strain from roping. All you have to do it throw the lasso and he it around the calf's neck."

"Is the calf moving?"

"The calf will be stationary as long as you don't frighten it." Red led her and ZIM to the opening of the show arena. Red's been participating in the Kununurra Rodeo for thirty years. Every hand that worked for that particular rodeo knew Red. And Red himself has gradually became a rodeo official and manager. Red snatched a mic up from one of the announcing booths and flicked it on to speak to the crowd. "At this time if any young Jack or Jillaroos at the age of ten or under want to come down and participate in this next event, please make your way either to the north or south arena entrance." Red was actually shocked at how many tourists Kununurra had that day. Lots of families with the typical tourist style sat on the stands. Mothers coaxed their children to go down and participate, which they eventually did. Soon a hoard of twenty kids of various ages stood before him. Red turned to Rose with a devious smile. "Wanna see something cruel, unusual, and downright mean?"

"What do you mean?" Red didn't answer, instead he began to give the kids instructions. He pulled ZIM with him.

"This next event is what we like to call, _Stampede_." Red had a bright, pink, tape band in his hands. The kind of tape that would be the marker for a finish line. Red nodded to his rodeo hands. "Now the objective here is, whoever snags the tape off the calf's tail first wins a prize of _twenty_ dollars." The kids' faces lit up with excitement, as if twenty dollars was all the money in the world. "There will be ten calfs out here running around. However, only three calfs will have tape on their tail." The kids looked ecstatic at how easy the idea was, all talking amongst themselves. "There's more, so listen up here, okay?" The kids went quiet. Red spoke through the mic again. He put his hand on ZIM's shoulder. "This young man right here is named Lil' Bronc." Red told them using ZIM's rodeo name. Red went behind ZIM and started to tie a string of orange tape to one of his belt loops. "He too will have tape on his 'tail'." Red smirked. "Here's the catch with him though. If you manage to snag his tape, you will receive _one hundred dollars._" Red almost laughed at the sight of the kids faces. Some of them look as if they were about to have a heart attack.

"Wait a minute, Red, I never agreed to this-"

"On my mark, you sheilas and blokes will start." Red turned to the rodeo hands at the gates of where the animals would get released. "Release them on my mark." They nodded. "Alright, here we go."

"Red, not cool, mate. What do you think you're doing?" ZIM asked, terrified. He was already starting to back up nervously.

"On my mark," The kids stood in a line, semi-patiently.

"Red, don't!"

"Get set."

"I'll kill you and everything you love-"

"Go!" ZIM screeched bolting away from the mob of kids. The adults in the crowd were hysterical at the sight of their kids chasing down the poor Irken. Only a handful of slower kids went after the cattle, knowing they had better luck of catching one from the calfs. ZIM was speedier than the calfs making him nearly impossible for the kids to catch. ZIM zig zagged through the mass. He knew all they wanted from him was the tape, but he knew better than to think they'll just simply rip it off him. Oh no. Some of them, mostly the older boys, would tackle him to the dust then the masses would all jump over him like a football player holding the ball with the opposing team dog piling on him.

"_Red, I'll kill you! I'll kill you so hard!_" ZIM screamed at his older brother in Irken so no human would understand what he was saying. Red and Rose cackled. As ZIM was outsmarted by a tactical team of two ten year old boys, one chasing him from behind, the other managing to run around to the front of where ZIM would be turning. The boy in front of ZIM grabbed his legs, sending the boy falling back. Then of course, the rest of the chasers were on him, grabbing him in places they really shouldn't have been touching. Finally, someone got the tape off his belt loop and the chase was over. The other kids already got the three tapes off the calfs' tails. ZIM laid on his back on the dirt ground, looking up at the clear blue sky, panting hard. One kid offered him a hand up. He took it gratefully and stomped back to Red.

Red stifled his laughter at the disgruntled-looking ZIM, marching his way. Red had a line of four kids that got the tape in front of him. He took out his wallet and started to pass out his very own money to the winners. Giving the calf tail winners the twenties, then the one hundred dollar winner, five twenties. Once the satisfied kids were all back up with their parents, Red turned to ZIM. "Fun?"

"I would kick you in the crotch, but I want more nieces and nephews."

"Thanks for being a good sport."

"Shut up." ZIM huffed.

"Alright, sheila, are you ready to rope yourself a calf?" Red asked Rose. She shrugged.

"I dunno. Do you promise not to humiliate me like you did to ZIM?"

"You can only humiliate yourself." He brought her over to where a calf stood still. A couple other girls and boys around Rose's age were standing around with other rodeo workers with lassos in their hands.

"Oh, so this roping thing is like an event too. Are we getting judged?"

"Nope. Only they are. The difference between you and them are that they are actually good." Rose scowled.

"You don't even know how well I am yet." She prepared her rope and swung it over her head.

"Remember, three shots. If you make at least one, I'll be in a skirt throwing logs for you." This seemed to motivate Rose a bit. She released the rope. It went sailing and landed near the calf. It spooked the young steer, but in reaction to it, the thing merely stepped off to the side. Rose puckered her lips in anticipation, winding up to cast another lasso. This time the rope landed no where near the calf. Rose looked dismayed. She really, really, _really_ wanted her father to see what kind if culture she grew up in. "Last try, honey." Rose furrowed her brows in deep concentration. She let out a slow breath. Rose raised the rope, swung it twice and released. The looped rope sailed through the air and landed on the calf's back. The calf bolted at the feel, the rope slid right off it's back. Rose slumped, pouting. Her eyes glossy and close to tears of failure. Red bit his lip. These Highland games must've meant a lot to her. A pang of guilt struck Red at the sight of the bummed young Irken. Red wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Sooo . . . When did you say these games were?"

**September 9, 2001**

"You look stressed."

"I'm not."

"Your tone says otherwise."

"I'm not!"

"You're on edge."

"Zeiden, please just, shut up." Red moaned, rubbing his face with his hands. They were finally back home in L.A. Their house had been restored, but their contract for the rent had been used up. They were about to move into their new home in the Hills. Once school got out then they'd load all of their belongings up and go to their newly built home. The new home was considerably bigger than their rental. Which was saying a lot since their rental was large even to the average upper middle class.

"Are you enrolling Rose in the academy?"

"Yes." Red said. "Don't tell anyone that she's my daughter though. Okay? I'd like for them to just kind of figure it out themselves. I hate explaining things and I fear their judgement."

"Red, they're not gonna judge you. They're kids mostly under the age of thirteen. And as much as I hate to say this. Only twenty-five percent of them are Christians. And as much as I hate to say this even _more_, Christians are very judgmental people. Trust me, I've been one all my life." Purple said, he had his head propped up in his hand. "They're not gonna judge."

"I don't care. I'm not saying a word. I'll let Rose say and do whatever the hell she wants, but I won't be saying a thing about it." Red gazed down into the dark brown liquid in his coffee cup. "What's the lesson plan today?"

"We're teaching English today." Purple informed. "High students have a timed essay and assignment. Middle school students have debate." Red nodded.

"Good, good. Sounds like a fun time." Red mumbled.

"We also have a student body meeting in our soundstage-classroom thing."

"What about?"

"I dunno. Mr. and Mrs. Smith needed to talk about something _important_." Purple answered. Red moaned resting his head on the table.

"I'm tired."

"You shouldn't be drinking coffee, idiot." Leslie walked into the kitchen. "That makes you're narcolepsy worse."

"But I like coffee."

"Fine. Fall asleep in front of your kids again. See if I care."

"You'll care if I re-break my pelvis." Red said, not raising his head. Leslie's lips curled down.

"Okay, smartass," She walked behind him and took the mug out of his hand.

"Hey-"

"No more. Get to school."

"What are you doing today?"

"I'm going to an orientation." Leslie said.

"Which one?"

"U.C.L.A. The school of dentistry."

". . . Cool." Red said.

"You guys need to go now. You've been late so many times already, it's amazing how you didn't get fired within a week." Leslie said, walking to the base of the stairs. "Gazelle, Tak, and Rose, what's keeping ya?"

"My comfy bra broke!" Was Tak's reply.

"Then use another!"

"My others aren't comfy!" Leslie sighed. "You Irkens are ridiculous." Zee came walking down the steps, she was wearing her hospital scrubs. "I thought you were already at work."

"I didn't have to go in till eight." She said. "Tenn is sick."

"Why- Oh wait. Morning sickness?"

"Yeah. Poor girl's been throwing up since six." Zee said.

"Peder! Are you aware Tenn is ill?" Leslie called to him in the room over.

"Yes! It's so annoying! She's so loud, I couldn't sleep." Zee and Leslie rolled their eyes.

"Husband of the year."

"Tell me about it." Leslie grumbled. "Have fun, Zee. Don't kill any patients today."

"I won't try." Zee said, leaving for the garage.

"Honey, where are those horses and cattle you bought?"

"They're still at the farm. I got one more week to pick them up." Red said, standing from the table. "Guess what? I got a phone call from the California Derby."

"Oh?"

"They want me to race."

"What? You? Why?"

"The Derby Reps saw my purchasing of one of their previous winning horses and researched me. One horse trainer on the board of reps saw my stature and thought I was perfect to race."

"You can't do that!"

"And why not?" Leslie nearly face palmed.

"Your. Pel-Vis. Is. Bro-Ken."

"Maybe it'll heal by then."

"Well when is it?"

"September thirty."

"It's not gonna be healed by then! You nuts?"

"Well I already agreed to do it-"

"You didn't sign a contract yet, did you?"

"Yup!"

"Red! Why don't you allow yourself to heal before making dumb decisions like that?"

"Because I know what I want."

"Have you ever jockey'd before?"

"Yeah. Thrice."

"That's not a whole lot of experience." Red waved her off.

"Oh please! Jockeys are wimpy, fruitcakes. To be a jockey, all you have to do is know how to ride a horse and not fall off. I'm a wrangler, bull rider, and barrel racer. Now that takes practice, love. Lots of practice and talent."

"What about getting acquainted with your horse? She's not used to you. And your not used to her." ZIM pointed out.

"I've got time. We'll practice this weekend."

"We should focus on getting settled into our new house."

"Meh, we got plenty of time to do that too."

"You're way too laid back sometimes."

"Yeah . . . I am."

**Later**

"You need to help me figure out where everything is, ZIM."

"It's pretty straight forward, but you can stick around with me. You're not fully enrolled in our school yet. So as of right now, you're kind of like a foreign exchange student."

"Were you a foreign exchange student too? Before you were fully enrolled?"

"No because I enrolled as the school was just starting." ZIM said. "But a lot of students here, particularly the white ones, call me 'the foreign kid' or 'our favorite E.T.' which I told them was demeaning and racist. They didn't believe me so I called them white trash then asked if they got offended and some did. So I rested my case."

"They don't know E.T. is racist?"

"Apparently not. I tried to enlighten them saying that the politically correct term is extraterrestrial." Rose snickered.

"Humans are dumb. I have three close human friends and they're just . . . Ugh. They're so dumb!"

"You should meet mine!" ZIM said. ZIM led her to his first class. "Until you get your proper schedule, you'll be on my schedule. You won't mind being an eighth grader for now, will you?"

"Guess not. I suppose it's easier than eleventh."

"Yeah, sure." ZIM entered the soundstage, very tardy along with Rose. All eyes were on them, or rather Rose. Never seeing the Irken before.

"Dr. Macale turned into a female?" A student asked. ZIM scoffed at the idiocy of the question, not acknowledging it. Mr. Crocker nodded.

"That's right. I forgot about the new student." Crocker said, mostly to himself. "Would you like to come up front and introduce yourself, or would you rather not?"

"I don't mind." Rose said. ZIM leaned over to whisper in her antenna.

"Don't quite mention yourself as Red's daughter yet."

"Why?"

"Just wait for a bit. Or let them figure it out themselves."

"Okay," Rose stood from her seat by ZIM and approached the front of the class. "Good morning to ya. My name is Scarlet Blackwood. You may call me Rose, I do prefer that name."

"Any questions for her?" Crocker asked. A few hands shot up.

"Are you Irish?" Lars asked the question.

"Scottish."

"What's the difference?" Rose looked at the boy who asked the question in disbelief.

"You mean besides the fact that they're two different countries, with two different governments, that are separated by the ocean?" The boy didn't respond.

"You look like ZIM's brother!" Trixie piped up.

"Red?" Rose asked. "Yeah. I do." Was all she said.

"Are you related?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking."

"I've no comment." Rose went back to her desk, getting inquiring stares from the humans.

"Nice." ZIM said to her with a giggle. "Next hour is with Red and Purple. So be prepared."

**...**

ZIM was amused. All the students, every single one of them in awe. Looking back and forth from Rose and Red. ZIM's friends were no exception. Red sat behind his desk, oblivious, grading papers. Purple was teaching. Rose was just sitting politely, listening to the lecture.

"The rules of this debate are obvious. When you counter someone's statement, you begin either with, 'I respect your opinion, but here's what I think...' Or 'I agree with you and...' If you start with, 'Mate, you're stupid, here's what I know is right...' like ZIM," The students chuckled. "Then you'll be excused from the debate. Now, if everyone will form a circle with their desks for a proper debate, we can get started." The students got to it. After two minutes the desks were in a neat circle. Students found desks to sit behind, not necessarily their own, but rather ones by their friends. ZIM was about to take a seat near Rose when a new kid, whose show wasn't going to even come out until 2004, slid in the seat right to her. ZIM furrowed his brow. This new kid wasn't shy, much like ZIM, and he was a flirt! Rose shrugged at ZIM. ZIM sighed and took a seat next to Tak instead, Dib on his left. That's when ZIM noticed five new faces, besides the new kid by Rose. Their show was coming soon in 2002. The show was still in production. What was it called . . . Jerry Proton? Or something similar.

"We have quite a few new students." Red said, standing in the center of the circle with Purple. "So before we debate, we should relearn names. State your name and something cool or obvious about yourself." Red sat on top of ZIM's desk. "Hi, my name is Dr. Red Macale and I'm good-looking . . . Obviously."

"I'm Dr. Peder Kinley. I too, am pleasant to the corneas." He pointed at Tak. "Go!"

"Uh, Takayla Griffon, I'm smart."

"Zeiden Macale, I'm not smart."

"Dillon Baker, I'm somewhere between Tak and ZIM on the smart chart."

"Rose Blackwood and I appreciate Dillon's rhyme."

"Danny Fenton, I don't want to be here."

"Timmy Turner, I'm awesome." The class continued until it made full rotation. ZIM discovered the names of the people he couldn't identify who's shows were releasing next year. Three boys named, Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen. And two girls, Cindy and Libby. ZIM sat back, listening to the topic Purple had given them.

"So here's a topic you may like since we know and are familiar with it. _Should we ban school uniforms_?"

"Oh my gosh! Yes-" Purple raised a hand to cut the excited child off.

"We have no power to ban school uniforms, children. It's just a topic. Don't get your hopes up." The students groaned. "Now, let's start wiiiith . . . Cindy . . . Cortex?"

"_Vortex_." The blonde corrected as she stood up. "I support school uniforms."

"Why?" Purple asked as the officiator of the debate.

"School uniforms allow us to not have to worry about dress code, such as shorts must be fingertip length, no tube tops, no heels higher than six inches. Any violations of the dress code is a hassle for both the student and the faculty."

"Anyone want to back her up or counter?"

"I respect your opinion, Cindy, but students should have freedom of expression. Lots of people here express themselves through their clothing." Tak said, standing. "Take Red for example. He's in a suit now because the teachers must abide by the uniform code too. However, if you were to see him outside the academy, you'd see him wearing cowboy boots, tight blue jeans, and a plaid quarter length sleeve shirt, maybe even a hat. We see him we can make an initial, harmless judgement on him. In our heads we say, 'Hey! He's a cowboy.'."

"Good point." Purple said. "Counter argument or support?" Danny stood, looking cocky and proud.

"I support the ban on school uniforms. I mean, how else am I supposed to look at slutty chick's racks with their granny blouses on?" Danny winked at Rose, sitting back down and putting an arm around her, which appalled Rose. "I'm lookin' at your's baby. You got a nice pair hiding in your shirt somewhere I'm sure." Rose scowled, scooting away from him. ZIM slapped a hand over his mouth, his eyes darting to Red.

"Oh shit, brah. No ya didn't." ZIM said, a small smirk playing on his lips as Red stood up, slowly turning to the teenage boy and stalking toward him with tightly pursed lips, clenched fists, and narrow eyes. Danny seemed to sink back a bit upon seeing this. Red put one hand on Danny's desk.

"You remind me of someone." Red said rather calmly, slipping his hand in his pants pocket. He pulled out a cigarette placing it between his lips and lit it. He took a deep drag, quirking a brow, as he leaned on the desk. "Someone . . . I do not like." Red faced the boy again, flicking the ashes on the desk. "I remember a guy who flirted with anyone he felt like. He was cocky, stupid, and a total jackass. That demeaning jerk got what he deserved many, many, times. But did he learn? No. He didn't. Not until his schooling career was over and he was left friendless and hated by everyone he once thought were his buddies." Red erected his back, standing up tall. He rolled up his white, dress shirt's sleeve and without taking his eyes off Danny, he pressed the burning part of his cigarette against his skin to put it out. A slight sizzling sound was heard as the heat made contact with flesh, never flinching. All the jaws of the people in the room dropped to the ground. All except those who lived with Red, they all wore smirks. Red flicked the used cig off to the side on the ground. He leant over the desk again, his hands clutching both edges. "That bastard was me. And trust me, if I were as wise as I am now back then, I would've had a lot more respect for women." Red got up in Danny's face, snarling. "Don't you _dare_ disrespect my daughter. Ever. Again." Danny's wide eyes, and terrified facial features got even more frightful.

"I-I didn't . . . I didn't know she was your daughter, I swear. I wouldn't have done that if I knew-" Red grabbed the boy's arm, pulling him up. He led the boy over to Tak.

"Flirt with her! Go ahead! Do it!" Danny shook.

"Is . . . Is she his daughter?" He asked referring to Purple.

"Find out." Red hissed. Danny was about to talk to Tak.

"Uh, hi. You look . . . nice." ZIM narrowed his eyes, devilishly, liking how he got to screw with the new kid.

"Don't be flirting with _my_ wife." ZIM growled, playing along with Red. The students all looked confused.

"Just because you didn't know she was my daughter, made it alright to act like that, huh?" Red asked. "Just like you didn't know Tak was ZIM's girl? Did it make it alright to talk that way? 'Hey baby, you have a nice rack'?" Danny shook his head.

"No Sir! Not at all!" Red pushed the boy back to Rose.

"What do you say to her?"

"I-I'm sorry. I won't disrespect you again."

"You better not." She said, crossing her arms. Red smiled and winked at her. "Thanks, daddy."

"No problem, sweetheart." The students looked around in bewilderment, not having a single clue what Red meant by, _my daughter_. And when ZIM said, _my wife_. Red sat back up on ZIM's desk. "My personal opinion on school uniforms, I'm pretty neutral. They have their pros and cons, right Daniel?"

"R-right." ZIM laughed, giving his brother a high five.

"Right."

**Later**

"Dude," Timmy said, as they left the class. "What the _hell_." He and his friends seemed thoroughly shocked. "Did . . . Did you and Tak _actually_ tie the knot?"

"Yup!" ZIM said proudly. "She's my wifey . . . sort of I guess."

"Oh my God." He said.

"And Rose, she's Red's daughter? How come I never seen or heard of her?" Dib asked.

"Rose lives in Scotland. She doesn't get to see us often."

"How long is she here for?"

"A month, but she'll be back."

"She's fully Irken. How is she Red and Leslie's daughter? Unless they adopted. But she looks so much like Red." A.J. wondered

"Uhh," ZIM thought of a good lie for them. "Previous marriage. Red doesn't like to talk about it because his old wife died."

"Then who does she live with in Scotland?" Dib asked.

"Her aunt." ZIM said.

"Red had another wife?"

"Yeah. Her name was Francine. They got married when he was fifteen with the consent of our parents. She died when she turned twenty-six, she died during childbirth."

"Oh. My next question was whether Red birthed her or not."

"Nope! Not that time."

"Red got married when he was _fifteen_?" Timmy asked.

"I got married at thirteen. What's the big rip?" ZIM told the boy.

"Wow . . . That's amazing." A.J. said. "Just how all you Irkens do things and your customs, beliefs, traditions. It's neat. I'm glad you're happy, ZIM."

"Thanks, Austin." The boys spotted Red and Purple leaving the room. "Red!" The elder glanced over his shoulder to his smeet brother. ZIM ran to him and whispered in his antenna. "I told them that Rose's mom is dead and you used to be married to her but she died during childbirth. Oh, and you got married at sixteen and her name was Francine." Red nodded.

"Thanks for covering that for me."

"No problem."

"You should get to your next class." Red was about to walk away from ZIM, when his little brother grabbed his arm and looked at the burn mark on his arm from the cigarette. ZIM snickered, shaking his head.

"You crazy S.O.B." ZIM turned on his heal and walked back with his friends to get to his designated class.

**After Class**

"I'm so tired." Red whined.

"You didn't take your scheduled nap like you should have." Purple said. "And that's your own fault." The three boys stumbled in through the doors of their home. Leslie was back from college and sorting boxes full of their belongings.

"Great! You guys are here! I need help . . . Goddamn it, Red. I told you to take a nap at one when you didn't have to teach!" Red waved her off. "You're not gonna be much help for us if you're sleeping on the job."

"Why didn't we hire people to do this shit?"

"We don't have to be lazy."

"But I want to be _laaazzyyy_." Red flopped belly down on their couch. Their living room was packed with boxes of all sizes.

"Honey, easy! You're way too rough on yourself. Now get up and help." Leslie ordered. When Red didn't move from his spot she began to get irritated. "Red, Get. Up." Still no movement. Leslie check on him on the couch and found he was fast asleep. She groaned. "Of course. This is what happens when . . . What the hell is this?" She grabbed his arm and rolled up his sleeve, revealing the burn mark. Purple and ZIM looked at each other and chuckled.

"Let's fuck around with her." Purple said. ZIM nodded in agreement. "Leslie," Purple made his voice sound remorseful putting on a teary façade. "I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen."

"What are you talking about?"

"Red had an anxiety attack and he burned himself to relieve some of the mental pain." Leslie gasped.

"He did this to himself?"

"Yeah. He had this episode after lunch. He went berserk and just . . ." ZIM trailed off. "I never thought I'd see him do that." Leslie closed her gaping mouth and turned furiously to Red. She bopped him hard on the head to get him to wake. Red shot up with a frightened yelp.

"What the hell, Les?"

"Why the fuck would you do this to yourself?" Leslie pointed at the mark. Red laughed.

"Oh yeah. Oh, you had to be there!"

"Why on earth would I want to watch my husband cause physical harm to himself."

"It was an intimidation method."

"Intimidation? What?" Purple and ZIM giggled and snuck away as the extremely confused couple continued to bicker.

"Classic. You mah buddy!" Purple ruffled ZIM's antenna. The two made their ways up the stairs to check to see if anything else was left in their rooms. And before Leslie aimed her rage towards them for creating a bunch of confusion.

**...**

"This place is _sooo_ much better than the one in Santa Monica." ZIM admired the new architecture of their private mansion on the hill pushed far back from the main roads for exclusive privacy. It was contemporary and was installed with an Irken smart-house program, where you can interact with your home and talk to it as you would a person. These systems of course are two million for the program itself, then an extra thousand installation fee. Not exactly in an average Irken's everyday budget. So not a whole lot of folks had it. "It's bigger, rural . . . Or rather, as rural as L.A. can get. And this!" ZIM squeaked running from the dining room, a wall separated it from the living room. It was probably the best part of the new home. A river. Or river-like feature that flowed in from under the house on one side and out the other side down a small waterfall into the pool in the backyard. The river bottom and walls was made of granite and marble. It was like a divider between the dining room and living room. A glass bridge allowed them to freely cross without jumping or wading across.

The overall color scheme was simple. Black, white, splash of red here and there as an accent color and a touch of silver. The furniture was sleek and sharp. Much like the furniture they previously had. The ceiling was tall. Very tall. The entire house had pretty much all windows for walls. A catwalk overlooked the living room.

Total the new home had two bathrooms with toilets for the humans. Six partial bathrooms, as in, bathrooms with only a shower and/or jet tub. Five bedrooms. Two spares. A garage big enough to fit all of their ten vehicles. A rec room, theatre, music room, a multipurpose court that could accommodate the needs for basketball, indoor soccer, indoor baseball/softball, volleyball, tennis and more. A wine cellar. And a bar with lord knows how many different types of alcohols and drink mixes. The home even had an elevator.

Red hired two people to be constant housekeepers who'd live with them. A maid and butler, by the names of Caprice and Franklin. Two graduated college students trying to pay off student loan debt in the best ways they could. Said humans were already helping haul and unpack things.

"ZIM! ZIM, c'mere!" Red beckoned for his brother to come with him to the kitchen. The kitchen was huge with a decent sized island. ZIM met with Red at the island.

"Where's our rooms?" ZIM asked, sitting by the bar.

"Mine is on the main floor. We did this on purpose so my terrors wouldn't disturb you guys any longer." Red said. "Yours is downstairs actually. By the media room. It's rather large."

"Awesome! But it being downstairs . . . That makes me nervous."

"I can move you."

"I'll be fine."

"Sure?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, I figured you'd like the isolation especially after your visits from Irk." Red held up a finger. "Now watch this." Red hopped up on the counter top to sit. "Jozy?"

"Yes, Red?" ZIM smirked at the feminine voice coming out of seemingly no where. It was gentle and not robotic sounding at all. It truly was like talking to another person.

"Would you like to dim the lights in the living room?"

"Would you like to get your ass off my counter." ZIM started cracking up.

"Yeah. She's got a 'tude." Red muttered. "Alright Jozy. Assist ZIM to his room. He hasn't seen the new home yet."

"Of course." She replied. "To your left Zeiden, by the stair case going up, is the stair case going down, you can make your way over there." ZIM made his way to said area and began to descend. He counted fifteen steps leading down. When he saw the basement he was elated to see just how much room they had for parties and movie nights and intense gaming sessions. "Turn to your right, Zeiden. The hallway approximately two meters away is what will bring you to your room. ZIM nodded making his way over. "First door on your right." ZIM approached the door and was surprised to see it open automatically. "You can go right in."

"Thanks, Joz . . . Can I call you Joz?"

"Can I call you Stupid?"

". . . Yeah."

"Alright then. I'll grant you permission to call me Joz." ZIM smiled.

"You're my new best friend."

"Stupid, if a computer house is your best friend, that could mean one of two things. The first, you have no real friends, or two, you have issues."

"Wha- I . . . I didn't actually-" ZIM sighed. "I have a feeling I'll get outsmarted by you a lot." ZIM walked into his new room and looked around. The perimeter looked to be about 20x25. Which would make it 500 square foot. The size of a large luxury master bedroom. "I got so much space!" ZIM said excitedly. "I can put my grand piano in the corner, I'll have enough room for a king bed. Is that a walk in closet?"

"Yes. The walk in closet is right next to your bathroom." ZIM walked over to peak inside the closet. Plenty of space for his large variety of clothing and shoes. He looked in the bathroom next. Big and luxurious, consisting of a large spa tub with jets that sat in the corner and a fogged glass, rain shower. Everything in the home looked so contemporary and modern and chic, just the way the Macales liked it.

"Can't wait to decorate my room. I can do whatever I want with it." ZIM said proudly.

"That door leads out to the backyard. Right by the patio."

"Nifty." ZIM went to check it out. He exited the room and first saw the pool. Crystal clear and still. "Do you work outside?" He asked Jozy.

"Yes. Anywhere you see one of my speakers, I can talk to you. I also come equipped with a PA system. You can use any phone or microphone to communicate with your siblings who are around the house." ZIM nodded intrigued.

"How wonderful." ZIM said. "Do you work in multiple places at once?"

"Indeed. I'm currently holding a conversation with your brother. He's not very wise, now is he?" ZIM laughed.

"Why? What's he saying?"

"It's not what he's saying, it's what he's doing. He just fell into the river that runs through the living room and he's blaming it on me for not warning him."

"Mm yeah. That's my brother for you." ZIM walked back inside.

"Feel free to roam. Just ask for anything and I'll be here to respond." Jozy said.

"Thank you." ZIM looked around his room again, very content. "Yup. This place will do."

**September 11, 2001**

**7:00 AM**

"Did Zeiden make it safely in New York?" Purple asked.

"Yup. Red called me at three this morning saying they made it to the hotel."

"Which one?"

"Hilton Millennium." Leslie responded. "ZIM should be up right now, though. He has a meeting at nine." Purple nodded.

"When's the game?"

"Tomorrow at ten in the morning." Leslie said. "It'll be on T.V. on ESPN."

"Ya know. I think that kid is well on his way to becoming a successful baseball player . . . Like as a career. He could do it. But it's his decision whether he should stick with media or go to sports."

"What about you and the NHL?" Leslie asked, opening the fridge to get milk for her cereal. Purple sighed, sadly.

"I did not meet the physical requirements. Tendentious in my dominant arm is never a good thing. Then the fact that I'm only five foot seven and one hundred-ten pounds only made it worse. They told me that they'd bump me back up to national league when I grow at least three inches and gain fifty pounds." Leslie wrinkled her nose.

"Damn, that's too bad. Do they know you're incapable of gaining that much weight?"

"They don't. All they said was that they were gonna put me back in amateur until I met those standards." Purple shrugged. "I guess it's for the best. I mean, I got a smeet on the way and I'm busy with the show. I wouldn't have time anyway."

"Well, at least you got your priorities straight." Leslie smiled at him.

**New York**

**~8:40**

ZIM had his arms crossed over his chest. "I hate cities." He muttered under his breath looking out his window at the towering skyscrapers of New York City. "Red! Come on! I'm gonna be late for the meeting!"

"Give me a moment, Zeiden!" Red called back from the bathroom. ZIM was sure Red was ill. Red kept complaining that he felt as if he could vomit.

"Are you gonna puke or what?" ZIM asked annoyed. Red walked out of the bathroom. He did look pale.

"Shut up. I don't plan on puking." Red grabbed the key card for the hotel room and opened the door allowing ZIM out first. The brothers walked out of the hotel together and down the busy New York streets. "Where'd you say this meeting was again?"

"I don't remember. I got the email. Hold on, lemme look it up. I do think it's in the large office building diagonal of the WTC." ZIM trailed off pulling out his Imp to check where it would be. "We have another meeting tomorrow too at the same place before the game."

"That plane is flying really low. Is LaGuardia around here?" Red muttered, his eyes to the sky. He kept his gaze on a passenger plan heading straight towards the World Trade Center that wasn't even an entire block down from where they stood. "What the fuck." Red said in disbelief when the plane did not change directions. "Zei," Red gripped ZIM's shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"Zeiden!" Red pushed his little brother to the pavement. "Get down!" Red covered ZIM's body with his own. The sound of a roaring engine flew right over their heads and ran straight into the proud-looking building. The unnaturally loud noise of windows shattering, metal bending forcefully, shrapnel hitting the ground, and of course the sound of screeches of terror by bystanders.

"What? What happened?" ZIM asked, trying to wiggle his way out from under Red. The man got off and stood on his knees, brushing the shattered glass off his body. "Red? What-" ZIM couldn't get another word in, Red grabbed his hand and pushed ZIM roughly back into the hotel. Red handed ZIM the key card.

"Find a safe place, Zeiden! Do not leave this place! You hear me?" Red asked his brother. He had to yell over the destruction, sirens, and hell around them.

"What are you doing?" ZIM asked, panicking.

"Stay in side!"

"Red! Don't leave me!" Red ignored ZIM. He turned on his heals and bolted towards where the chaos ensued. Many people were fleeing from the wreckage, but Red had intentions to at least try to help. Red groaned at the strain he was putting in his pelvis, but this was something beyond him. There were people dying. Red ran right through the double doors of the World Trade Center, as hundreds of people flocked out.

"Hey! Hey! Don't go in there!" A policeman called after Red. "Come back here! Do not-" Red tuned him out. He needed to do what he thought was right. Red knew better than to use an elevator. He bolted up the stairs against the throng of people going down. He kept running until he figured he ran up at least twenty flights of stairs. Most of the people on the bottom floors have already left the building. Red continued up and up, the air began to get smokier and smokier, making it hard for him to breath. He reached a floor with a collapsed ceiling. He figured the area of impact was one or two more flights up. He knew he couldn't do anything for the people on the upper floor. But there were folks where he was at now, unconscious some trying to find a way out. Red ran out into the office floor and cringed at the sight of a crushed woman under tons and tons of rubble. Half her face was smashed in. He choked back that morning sickness that he felt earlier minutes ago.

"Survivors?" Red called. "Anyone here, speak up now!"

"Here! Here!" Red's acute hearing located the source and bolted in its direction. It was a young lady, no older than twenty. Her lower half was under a large chunk of the ceiling. Red stopped to analyze the situation. There was no way he could lift the ceiling himself.

"People! I need help here!" A choking man emerged from the dense smoke. He was about to run right past Red when the Irken stopped him. "Help me! I know the way out! I can lead you! Help me here first!" The gagging man nodded. He and Red both took positions by the fallen ceiling and with all their might, pulled up. "Crawl out." Red grunted to the woman. She used her hands to pull herself out from under. Red nearly vomited at the sight of her maimed legs. Bones poking out from the flesh, blood pouring out like a fountain. Another unearthly boom sounded again, shaking the ground where they stood. Red covered his antenna as best as he could.

"We gotta get out!" The man said.

"We gotta find more survivors first!" Red said. "You two wait here. I'll be back!" Red's heart felt like it could burst from his chest. Why was he doing this?

"Red?" Red's antenna perked. He whirled around.

"Zeiden! Fuck, child, I told you to stay in the hotel!"

"I wanna help!"

"Fucking listen to me!" Red bellowed. "I don't want you dead!"

"I don't want _you_ dead!" ZIM screamed back over the crackling fire and screams for help. Red ran a hand over his head.

"God, Zeiden, why?" The brothers pressed on to get more folks. A man and woman were huddled in the corner, shaking uncontrollably. ZIM met up with them.

"Come with us!" ZIM said. "Please, come on! We can get you out of here!" The man and woman rocked back in forth in their spots. "You can't stay here!" The woman stood and grabbed ZIM's hand. The man looked hesitant. "Come on!" ZIM begged. Reluctantly the man stood as well and followed ZIM. Red found a whole mass of corpses where the ceiling fell through and a few people who were barely holding on. Red dug out a man from the shrapnel, his leg broke.

"My sister." He sobbed, pointing at one of the corpses. "Get her." Red looked at the man's sister right next to him. Obvious as day that she was dead with a metal rod protruding from her back.

"Mate, she's . . . She's gone. We need to focus on who's definitely making it out of here."

"My sister!" The man screeched. "I'm not leaving without her!" Red tugged on the young man. The guy was trying to limp back to his dead sister. "I can carry her!"

"You have a broken foot! You won't be able to-" Red was cut off when the floor beneath the rubble where the mass of corpses and the man by his sister suddenly gave way and fell through the floor. Red sprang back to avoid collapsing with them. He fell to the ground, his broken pelvis felt like it was in agonizing pain.

"No!" Red cried, hoping back up and running to the edge. "God damn it!" Red squeezed his eyes shut tight. He recovered himself as quick as his mind allowed him. "Zeiden? Where are you?"

"Here! I got five more people!" ZIM was leading the group of adults back to the area with the two first survivors they met.

"I'll scout the rest of the floor for anyone else! Stay with who you've got! Do not go searching for anyone! The floor is weak!" Red sprinted through the office remains, only finding smashed people under the steel and concrete.

"Help! Help me!" Red stopped and found yet another man, trapped behind the desk and the window. A pile of shrapnel made it impossible for him to push himself out. "Help!" Red ran to him and attempted to push the desk away but with no avail. He then hurriedly tried to clear the rubble that pinned the man against the desk on the window.

"I can't do anything, mate!" Red said, after two minutes of digging. "Try squeezing out!" The man sucked in as much as he could and crept an inch over. "Yes! You got it!" A cracking noise was heard. Red looked at the glass and saw the window had streaks of cracks in it, right where the man was pinned. His eyes widened. "Hold on!" The window shattered and the man went falling back. Red jumped onto the desk to grabbed the man. Luckily, his knees prevented himself from plummeting. The man was shrieking. Red reached down a hand. "Grab my hand! Push yourself up and grab my hand!" The man curled himself up, his fingers just nicking Red's. Red leant down further. Soon their hands met and clasped. Red hoisted the man up and back into the building.

"Oh my God! Oh my God, thank you!" He cried.

"Come on! We gotta go!" Red and the survivor bolted to where the rest of the group and ZIM was. "I know the way out, mates! Follow me!"

"Red, something's sticking out of your-"

"Forget it, ZIM! Let's go." Red bent down and scooped up the cripple lady. He ran down the halls, using his antenna to smell the way back to fresh air. ZIM was on his heals. He was holding the hands of the first man and woman he found, positive that they were completely out of it. Tears ran down Red's face from both the smoke and what he's witnessed in such a short period of time. He soon found the stairs and descended. The mob of people behind him. Never once did he stop, they needed to get out, and quick before the whole place came down. Red sighed with relief when they hit the main floor. They ran out of the building to where firefighters, SWAT, medics, and policeman as well as civilians stood. Dust and soot lined Red's face. Medics surrounded him, one took the woman out of his hands, three others grabbed him and forced him on the ground so they could work on him.

"Remain calm and relax-"

"I'm not hurt!" Red yelled. "Don't worry about me! I'm not hurt!" Red sat up just in time to see the body of a female fall from the sky and smash head first right into the pavement. Red gasped, slapping a hand over his mouth. The medic's backs were to that frightening scene.

"He's going into shock! Get him to the hospital!" Red was lost for words. His brain could finally start thinking of everything that he's been seeing. The woman crushed under the ceiling. The dead bodies all over the floor. The man who refused to leave his sister falling through the floor. The screams of agony and angst. The woman who just committed suicide before his very eyes. Red looked down at himself in a daze feeling woozy, and that's when he saw it. The reason why the medics hoarded around him. A large piece of metal sticking out of his side. He never even felt it. It probably happened when the floor above him collapsed and he was taken to the ground. Red's eyes rolled to the back of his head. All color draining from his face. Then, his vision when blank.

**...**

"Red! Red! Answer your God damn phone!" Leslie was hysterical. The news played on the T.V. screen. Purple was back home immediately upon hearing the news of the catastrophe. He was attempting to get a hold of ZIM. Tak, Gaz, and Rose, sat on the couch, nervous tears in their eyes and biting their nails or lips harshly. Zee was on her way home from work and Tenn was letting everything sink in. "Red!" Leslie screamed, her face soaked with tears and sweat. "Zeiden! Please!" Nothing.

"Les, please, try to keep calm!" Purple yelled over her shrieks.

"Their hotel is right next to the World Trade Center! They're dead! They're fucking dead!" She grabbed Purple's arms and shook him. Purple was trying to sooth her but with no real effect on her.

"They're probably not worried about their phones at the moment, Les. They're probably trying to leave right now." Leslie raised her hand and slapped Purple brutally across the cheek.

"Their meeting was across those towers! Literally across the street, Peder! There's no way!" She shoved him. "There's no way they could've survived the impact! They're both dead! I know!" Purple growled and held both of Leslie's arms in a vice grip. He pushed her against the wall.

"We don't know that!" He snarled. "You don't know that for sure! Stop talking like a psychotic bitch, and just wait to hear from them!" He released her, feeling bad for having to be so harsh to her. Leslie pouted and sunk to the floor sobbing.

". . . _A few brave civilians running right into the building not even a minute after the impact. They include four men, three women, and even a couple of Irkens, that ran straight into the danger zone. This footage of the two aliens running out from the Trade Center was taken. They went in the two of them and came out with ten survivors of the impact who were said to be on the floor right below the crash. The other heros and heroins have yet to come out_." The T.V. shown Red holding a seemingly unconscious woman, and ZIM holding the hands of two very distraught adults, with the rest of the survivors following them.

"Les! They're okay! You see? They're fine!" Leslie continued to cry, however these new tears were of relief. Purple smiled at the sight of Red and ZIM leaving the building. "And they're . . . heroes?"

**...**

The first thing he saw was a bright light hovering over him. When he closed his eyes and opened them again, he saw a lovely nurse speaking sweetly in a kind voice to him.

"Hi, sweetie. It looks like you've had quite the morning." She said. He looked about him and saw a IV poking into his arm.

"What's wrong with me?"

"You have a pretty nasty gash on your head. You'll be fine." She replied. "What's your name?"

"Where's my brother?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Where's my brother!"

"Shh, shh, honey, he's in the bed next to you. He's being prepped for surgery though." She said. "What's your name?"

"Zeiden."

"Zeiden? What a handsome name." She said, putting a hand on his head. "Is there anyone we can contact besides your brother?"

"My other brother and sisters." The nurse nodded.

"I'll get a pen and pad so you can write the numbers and I'll call them right away to tell them you and your brother are okay. What's your brothers name?" ZIM looked around him, groaning with a huge headache. "Honey, what's your brother's name?"

"Red. Red Macale." The nurse left the room leaving ZIM alone for two minutes before returning.

"We have no Red Macale's on record. You're from Australia correct?"

"Yes. I forgot he just changed his name back to Kelly. His name is Kelly. You'll find him now."

"Thanks, Zeiden." She handed him the pen and pad. "We're going to bring you home to your family, okay? Both of you."

**Two Days Later**

Red wasn't in his right mind. The nurse said he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. The poor guy was jumping at every noise and would not stop shaking. ZIM hasn't let his brother go from his embrace since the flight began. ZIM too was feeling stressed and distraught over the situation. He could feel himself trembling often and his antenna would constantly ring from the loud noises that occurred on the eleventh.

The plane they were on was descending now in L.A. "Red, we're landing soon." ZIM whispered to his brother, making sure not to spook him. Red didn't say anything. He gaze was kept down. "The fam will be happy to see us, I'm sure." Still no response. ZIM sighed feeling as though he was talking to a scared tot. ZIM pulled Red's shirt up to see the gauze wrapped around his torso. The nurse gave Leslie instructions over the phone on how to change the gauze everyday. The metal sunk in deep but did not hit any major organs. And thank The Lord he did not re-break his pelvis. "Red, I admire you. Most people, they ran away. But the initial thing you thought to do was race into the chaos and help people. You truly are a selfless person."

". . . Maybe a little stupid too." Was all Red muttered.

"We've witnessed a few things that are a bit . . . traumatic, but we saved those people. We saved ten lives. It's worth it."

"Yeah." ZIM frowned. Red only uttered five or six words a day since the attack. It was gonna take awhile till he could recover and be in his right mind again. The tires of the plane touched the asphalt. ZIM prepared himself to leave. His big game was obviously cancelled. The whole world was mourning for the fallen. ZIM and Red exited the plan. Red still with a glossy look on his face, ZIM was searching for his family who would be there to pick them up. The brothers took themselves to the airport terminal. They seemed to be spotted immediately upon arriving because Tak ran up to them. She threw her arms around ZIM and kissed his temple.

"Oh God, I'm so happy you're alright." She squeezed him tight. "What's under the bandage?"

"Got hit by falling debris."

"No concussion?" ZIM shook his head.

"Just a cut. I needed some stitches." Leslie came next. She bent down, kissing the boy's forehead. She moved to her husband next. She embraced the silent man compassionately.

"Why'd you go in?" She asked. "Why?" Red rested his chin on her shoulder as she soothingly rubbed his back.

"Don't even try to coax him to speak." ZIM said. "He's witnessed a lot more than I have when we were in the building." Leslie nodded.

"Alright. Let's get you two home then." Leslie said, leading them out.

**September 14, 2001**

ZIM cringed at the sight of the wound. It was worse than the one on his head for sure. "ZIM, I need you to put pressure on the wound." ZIM nodded pressing a towel over Red's side. Zee prepared the gauze. "What time you have to be at school, Hun?"

"I'm late if I arrive any later than 7:45."

"Okay. Luckily we live closer to the studio now. Otherwise you'd be tardy for sure." Zee cut the bandage and removed the towel from her sleeping brother's side. "You feel alright?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"It's just . . . You seem to be taking things well." Zee said.

"I haven't witnessed someone dying right before my eyes. All I saw was a building going down. He's seen a death happen three times, all while I was looking for non injured survivors." Zee shook her head.

"He bled through his gauze on the bedsheets."

"I'll get Caprice to take care of it." ZIM said.

"Thanks ZIM." Zee said. Red stirred in his sleep. His eyes cracked open. "Well, good morning there, gorgeous." Red didn't make any effort to respond. Zee sighed. "Are you hungry?" Red closed his eyes again and rolled on his side. "Hey! I wasn't done dressing your owie." She flipped him on his back again. "I need you to sit up, though." ZIM took Red's hand and hoisted him up. Red moaned, slightly. Zee quickly wrapped him up. "There you go. You can go back to sleep now." Red laid back. Zee and ZIM were about to leave the room when a voice stopped him.

"What is going on?" Zee and ZIM spun back around.

"What?"

"The first plane . . . I figured it was an accident. But then the second? There's no way. No way that one was an accident too."

"I'm sure the American government is trying to get to the bottom of it." Zee sat on the edge of his bed. "And guess what?"

"What?"

"America _loves_ you."

"Huh?"

"You and ZIM are all over the news and media. All about your bold effort to rescue those stranded in the building. You saved ten people. And for that, you impacted not only the lives of those folks, but their families, friends, and everyone they're associated with. America is receiving you as heroes." A small smile swept across Red's lips. "What did you witness, Red? Why won't you speak much?" Zee thought that he wasn't going to answer after half a minute of silence. As she was about to ask again when he spoke up.

"A man who wouldn't leave his sister. He fell through the floor because he wouldn't leave her. A woman committed suicide when I was being surrounded by medics. And people getting crushed. It . . . I just . . . I don't even know how I should live after seeing that." ZIM jumped on the bed too. He laid himself across his brother.

"Just push it from your head, Red. Don't try to think about it." ZIM said.

"I'm glad you didn't have to see things like that." Red said. "We should go."

"You're not leaving, Red. Mr. Baker is teaching. Just stay home and recoup." Zee said.

"You mean stay home so I can dwell on everything that's happened?" Red asked, annoyed. He had a point.

"Alright. If it'll help you take your mind off it, more power to you." Red got out of bed to dress. "Make sure you take your scheduled naps. Avoid meat. Remember your medications-"

"Zannah, I got this. I know." Red muttered.

"Well you've been getting hurt a lot lately."

"Don't think I don't know that." Red said.

"Okay. Just go on. ZIM, get to school."

"I'll leave with Red. I should drive him, he's still a little . . . Out of it."

"Am not! I can drive myself." Red snapped. ZIM looked at Zee.

"Red, he's right. You're not exactly all there yet. Just take it easy." Red fastened his the fourth from the top button on his shirt. Leaving the rest undone. He grabbed his truck keys and headed out of his room and across the living room. "Red! Don't you dare start that truck!" Zee caught up to him and ripped the keys from his grip. What he did next was the last thing she thought his reaction would be. He jumped with fright and tumbled to the floor, curling up and crying. Zee tilted her head. "What the hell?" She knelt beside him, putting a hand on his arm. "Red?"

"It's not safe." He whimpered. Zee looked back to ZIM who shrugged.

"Yeah. Remember when I said you aren't in your right mind?" Zee stood and picked him up. Red recovered from his episode rather quickly. He wiped his eyes and snatched his keys back from Zee and stomped away. "What if a car honks? Huh? You gonna curl up in fetal position again while driving! ZIM, go get him." Zee huffed. ZIM obeyed, going after his disoriented brother. He found Red in the garage. He didn't even make it to his truck. He was standing very still by his door.

"Red, why don't you just stay home today?"

"I'm not crazy!" Red whirled around to face his little brother. ZIM held up his hands.

"Whoa, there. I never said you were-"

"I'm perfectly stable right now and don't tell me otherwise!"

"Red, I think you may have had some damage to your left hemisphere. That doesn't mean you're crazy. You just can't think rationally at the moment. I don't blame you, I mean, if I were you I'd probably go crazy- I mean . . . I wouldn't . . . Fuck it. You're crazy, Red, that's why you got to stay home."

"I'm not staying home. I can think just fine." Red hissed. "I'm going, okay?" Red stomped furiously back into the home. ZIM raised a brow.

"Uh . . . Why are you going back inside then?" ZIM followed him to see what he was doing. He went to the kitchen and was holding a scissors. "What are you doing?" ZIM yelled. Red looked back at him.

"Nothing." Red said. He put the scissors back in the drawer after cutting the bandages around his waist. "It's too tight. I was going to-" Red's breath suddenly hitched in his throat. At the same time Leslie and Zee walked in. Red fell forward on his hands and knees. His elbows shook and gave out. He crumpled all the way to the ground. He had a sleep attack.

"Did he get a little excited?" Leslie asked, getting down by her husband's side.

"I don't even know anymore." ZIM mumbled. A soft snore emitted trim the sleeping man, who laid on his stomach. The peaceful look on his face changed quickly to a horrified feature. His claws tried to dig into the floor. His shoulders shook as he began to sob again in his sleep. Red got on his knees, thrusting his elbow back right into the abdomen of his sister.

Red cried out as if in pain. He violently kicked Leslie's legs out from underneath her. She went down hard on Zee.

"Red! What are you doing?"

"I think it's a terror!" Leslie said. She grabbed Red's wrists before he could claw his arms to shreds.

"Stop! _Mossa euquas_! Stop, fucking bitch!" Red yelled, his eyes open but not seeing or processing anything. Purple came rushing into the kitchen.

"What is going on?"

"He's getting violent! You need to hold him!" Leslie said, Red's strength overpowering her. Purple grabbed Red from behind and pulled him away from Leslie. Red swung a leg back to kick Purple. The other man pushed Red to the ground, pinning him on his stomach. He sat on Red's lower back, holding the raging man's hands behind his back with one hand, the other hand pinned his head to the floor. Red screamed bloody murder and thrashed as hard as his restraints allowed, as if he were being pursued by an attacker.

"Stop! It's hurts! It's hurts! Stop!" Red shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Hold him still, Peder." Zee knelt by Red's head and pinched a nerve on his neck. Red's screams were cut off. He wasn't knocked unconscious, but he did go calm. He panted and shook. Purple dismounted. Leslie stroked his head. After a minute he seemed to be fully awake.

". . . What am I doing on the floor?"

**September 15, 2001**

"Hi, my name is Pancake Fluff and I'm a raging alcoholic."

"Hi, Pancake."

"Hello, my name is Cheese Stuffer and I'm a chronic masturbater."

"Ew, Chester that was too much." ZIM said.

"My name is Cheese, Pancake."

"Whatever. Hiiii Cheeeese."

"My name is Timmy Turner and I think you're all stupid."

". . . Hiiii Timmyyyy."

"You guys, I'm not quite sure what you're trying to achieve here, but I'm positive there's something else we could do that's more fun than an A.A. meeting." Dib said. "Like ZIM. Why don't you tell us more about what happened at New York." ZIM fidgeted with his fingers.

"Kinda don't want to talk about it. The whole ordeal gave Red and I a traumatizing experience. He saw a lot and done a lot within just twenty minutes."

"My dad can help your brother. He's dealt with people with PTSD."

"I think he'll be fine. He just needs some time to recoup." ZIM took the script off his dresser in his studio room. "We should focus on our shows, guys." The boy stood and walked to the door when someone knocked. Rose stood in the doorway. "'Ello, precious niece of mine."

"Hi." She said, welcoming herself in. "ZIM, I kind of want to talk alone."

"Uh oh. Am I in trouble?"

"No, no. I'm just trying to figure some more things out about my dad." ZIM nodded.

"Gents, leave my sight." The four humans got up to leave.

"Up for a basketball game after?" Timmy asked.

"Nope!" ZIM slammed the door on them. He turned back to Rose. "What sorts of questions do you have?"

"What's wrong with him?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean . . . I love him and all it's just . . . I never met a man his age who acts like him." ZIM rubbed his chin.

"You mean how he can range from acting like a spoiled brat to a genius gentleman, to a sweet, kind hearted guy, to a complete sophisticated asshole?"

"Well . . . Yeah."

"Red's been through a lot in his life. When he was young he was a huge mischief maker. He always got hurt, he has permanent brain damage. He was only nineteen almost twenty when our father was taken as a prisoner of war and when our mother died. For a few years after those events he's struggled through college, raising me, and just dealing with depression. He attempted suicide. He drank almost a whole bottle of bleach when our sister Zee walked in on him. The rellies had to chase him down and incapacitate him. Nana induced vomiting by shoving her fingers down his throat. He was brought to a psychiatric hospital for awhile."

"It seems like Tenn and Zee are so normal."

"It's because they are. They know how to act. The boys in this immediate fam are all the same. We're too bold and risky. We're flat out stupid."

"I thought you said Red and Peder were geniuses."

"They are. Common sense is always lacking. I mean, if Red were smart like that, he wouldn't get on the back of a half ton beast and ride it around like it was a play thing. Truth is, the women in our family are the true geniuses. Zee and Tenn actually beat both Red and Purple's intelligence quotient . . . By like, _a lot_. And of course that's just book smarts. They have the best common sense than anyone else out there. That's why they tend to avoid catastrophe."

"So . . . Red has brain damage."

"He's been mentally unstable for a long while. Not like he's one of those crazies huddled in the corner of a padded room in a straight jacket, rocking back and forth, giggling like mad." ZIM shook his head. "He has mild dementia. Come to think of it . . . so do I."

"You too?"

"Yeah. Remember when I said the boys in the fam? I was talking about Red and I both. I've had issues since the day I was brought into this world." ZIM sat back on the couch, looking off into space. "And I've been an issue for my siblings since the day I got here as well."

"What do you mean?" Rose sat next to him.

"I'm sorry. I'm just kind of talking to myself." ZIM said, picking at his clothes. "Just talking about the problems I have makes me go into a dark place . . ."

_Thought you could push us from your mind?_

"Shit."

_Did you miss us?_

"Uh," ZIM hastily stood up. "You should go Rose. I have something I need to do." Rose looked at ZIM in befuddlement.

"What? But-"

"Sorry! We can talk later." ZIM escorted her out. "I'll see you at home!" ZIM closed the door and went back to the couch. "Okay, listen you guys. I want you gone. You made yourself very clear that I'm a worthless, pathetic, piece of trash. Just leave me."

_But Zeiden, our work is not done until you're done, child. You know that._

"Go! Jesus!"

_Jesus can't save you._

"Stop." ZIM covered his face with his hands.

_Hey! Look at us!_

ZIM uncovered his eyes and looked at those taunting shadow figures on the walls.

_We haven't talked in so long. But that's okay. We didn't have to. We already know everything that's been going on in your life these last few weeks._

"I did nothing to hurt my siblings."

_You disobeyed Red on the eleventh, remember? It's probably because of you that's he's suffering from PTSD._

"Is not! He's seen a lot!"

_He was probably hoping you'd die in that attack._

"He wanted me safe!"

_Zeiden, your brother is insane. You seen him yesterday morning. Screaming and hitting his loved ones. No normal person does that._

"He's temporarily out of it."

_Whatever you say, Zeiden. We tell you this, child, you cannot reform an insane man. Let's cut to the chase here. Have you painted something for us lately?_

"You guys aren't my friends."

_We're the closest friends you got and you know it. Friends aren't liars. We never lie to you._

The people on the walls stretched out long, spindly arms out to ZIM. The boy shuddered.

_Come on, ZIM. It's bad to let those scars heal. Let's fix that shall we?_

One figure seemed to jump off the wall. It moved like a ghost over to ZIM. A clammy hand grabbed ZIM's.

_Come on! It's time for another masterpiece!_

**Later**

"This has gotten out of hand, Zeiden! What will I walk in on you doing next? Cutting your throat?" Tak screamed at her boyfriend. ZIM made himself as small as possible. Embarrassed and ashamed.

"I won't do it again."

"Don't you fucking lie to me! You're full of words that I want to hear but mean nothing! You need help, Zeiden!"

"I need you to love me!"

"I do love you!"

"Now it's you who is lying!" Tak was take back by this.

"How could you even say-"

"They told me, everyone I know and love are all just lying to me when they say they love me! They know everything, Tak!"

"Who is '_they_'?" Tak asked, exasperatedly. ZIM looked down at his lap.

"My friends." ZIM whispered. "They tell me the truth even when it hurts. Even when I don't want to hear it. I know your true feelings. You don't have to put on a façade just for me. Fuck, I'll even give you the honors of killing me." ZIM reached a bleeding, shaky arm out to Tak with a knife in his hand. Tak looked disgusted with ZIM. She slapped the knife out of his grasp and grabbed both of his shoulders, pulling him up to her level.

"What do I have to do? What do I have to do to make you believe me?" Tak forcefully pushed him against the wall with new blood drawings decorating it. She smashed her lips against his, making the kiss as passionate and heart felt as possible. Her vice grip on his upper arms never letting go. ZIM bent his arms at the elbows and put his hands on her sides.

"Mm, Takayla, I don't know anymore." ZIM said between the kiss. "I'm just so confused."

"Shhh." Tak breathed heavily, her face a mere centimeter from his. She looked his in his big, unique ruby eyes. "I love you." ZIM felt a tear slip from his eye. Tak removed him from up against the wall and laid him down on the couch, one leg wedged between his, she was mounted over his left thigh. "I married you. You are mine. We said those vows." She lowered her head to his. Her hands running over his body. They found a comfortable spot, resting on his hips. "If you hurt yourself, you're hurting me too. Remember that we are one."

**The Next Day**

"This prompt wants you to state five different examples of the authors overall theme, all while analyzing the text. Please try to avoid mere plot summary, I'm getting really sick of grading summaries." Red passed out lined paper to his students.

Oddly enough he seemed to be in a chirpy mood considering everything's that's happened that week. First thing he did that morning was bounce out of bed and make everyone coffee, of which he downed three cups of. He even playfully wrestled ZIM as soon as the boy woke up. This came to ZIM as a pleasant surprise. The boy wrestled with his older brother loving the fact that Red was in high spirits. The reason for his unorthodox joy was unknown however. ZIM assumed it was because Red forced himself to forget the events from 9/11. Of course, that could easily change with someone mentioning it to him again.

"You'll have forty minutes to complete this timed essay. Don't forget the introduction and conclusion paragraph." Purple added.

"However, don't rush the body paragraph if you're running out of time. It's better to get the body done and skip the conclusion, than to half ass the body and have an conclusion." Red said. "That kind of shit will get you failing grades so don't fuck it up-"

"Dude." Purple nudged his friend pointing to the door where Mr. and Mrs. Smith stood, jaws dropped to the ground. Red grinned sheepishly at me before continuing.

"When you _fucking! _get done with your _goddamn! _essay! Please staple that _fucking shit! _together and turn it in at the _fucking!_ tray up front. With the _goddam!_essay on the front, the _shit fuck! _pre-write behind that, and the _goddamn! _prompt on the back. You _whores!_ can begin." Red told them twitching every time he cursed. The class was staring, also with jaws dropped and wide eyes. Red turned to the two academy organizers. His cheeks blushed pink.

"Uhh . . . We came by to see how the classes were going." Mrs. Smith said.

"It's _fucking!_ great." Red said.

"Uhh huuhh." Mr. Smith nodded. "Well, we're gonna go elsewhere . . . Make sure you take your medication for . . . whatever you have." Red gave them a thumbs up. The couple left. As soon as the organizers were out of earshot, Purple smacked him hard upside the head.

"Nice save." The silent class let another moment of quiet pass before getting thrown into an uproarious laughter. Red put his hands up.

"Alright, alright. Calm down. I just did what I had to, to keep myself out of trouble."

"I love how you're getting away with all this shit! It's golden!" One older kid in the back hooted. "Auuhh, geez, now you're gonna have to pretend to have Tourette's whenever they're around." Red frowned.

"I didn't think of that. He's right. Damn it. I fuck shit up all the time."

"Just cut back on the swearing _cock munch! _And you should be fine." Purple patted his friend's back. "Alright, timers gooooiiinnnngggg . . . Now!" The students calmed themselves and began their essays. Red and Purple sat behind their desks and graded papers in the mean time. After about fifteen minutes, ZIM came sneaking into the room.

"What are you doing?" Red asked in a hushed whisper, not to disturb the students.

"I came by to _fucking!_ tell you that your wife is _batshit__! _mad at you." ZIM said. Red cocked a brow.

"Mate . . . Should I be scared." ZIM nodded.

"Mate . . . You should run." The corners of Red's mouth curled down. Not a second later, Leslie appeared in the doorway, scowl apparent on her face.

"She was talking to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, wasn't she?" ZIM giggled.

"Heh heh, yup." Red pushed him self away from the desk.

"Dammit." He muttered under his breath. ZIM took his spot on the chair and spun around.

"Doctor Kelly Elias Macale The Second is in T-R-U-B-L-E!" ZIM sang, unaware of his lousy spelling. Red flipped ZIM the bird. Leslie bopped him on the head and pulled him into the hallway. ZIM found a random spot to sit.

"ZIM, you should get back to class."

"Nah." ZIM rested his head on the desk. "I like this, right here." Purple rolled his eyes.

"ZIM," The perked upon hearing his name. Trixie was speaking to him. "What happened in New York?" ZIM sat on the desk facing the students.

"My brothers have a rising suspicion that it was an act of terrorism." Purple nodded.

"I have a feeling America is about to go to war with someone." He said. "The first plane looked like an accident, but the second one kind of sealed the question whether it was truly an accident or not. The Pentagon was attacked too. This isn't coincidence. Some mastermind came up with a plot against you Americans."

"It makes me so mad." Veronica said. "Why would, like, someone do that to so many innocent people?"

"Trust me. It didn't just affect America. The whole world was impacted. People from all over were killed." Purple said. "I don't blame you that it makes you mad. But I promise justice will run it's course. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, or years from now, but the criminals behind this will get what they deserve."

"Isn't the death penalty, great?" ZIM asked, not sounding sarcastic in the least. "Seriously, fuck those bastards. The plane was hijacked. Idiots were kamikazes. Knew how to navigate a plane, but never taught how to land it. And that was intentional." ZIM said. "I bet it was the Illuminati."

"ZIM, shut up about the Illuminati. How do we even know they exist?"

"We can't." Purple rolled his eyes.

"Just don't worry about it now, kids. If Red ever happens to have a huge PTSD moment while teaching, you can't blame him, can you?" The children shook their heads. "Good. He's already had a violent terror yesterday. Don't try to trigger it either by screaming or making loud sudden noises. I have a feeling those episodes may go away in the future because of how resilient he is, but who knows, there could always be a spontaneous recovery." Red came back into class.

"Guess who just got fired." He snickered. Purple gave Red a look of annoyance and disbelief.

"Dude, are you serious?"

"Hah! No. But I did get in trouble for smoking and swearing during class."

". . . Okay, how did you _not_ get fired?" Red shrugged.

"They need me more than I need them." Red smirked. "I have an advantage." Red hopped up on his desk, standing on it to look down at the students. "I bought a monkey." Purple cocked a brow.

"You what?" A stranger man was in the doorway. Red pointed at the desk he was standing on.

"Just set it right here." The man nodded and walked in with a large cage with a blanket draped over it. The man handed Red a clipboard so he could sign as necessary, then left. Red knelt by it and lifted the blanket revealing two animals inside. A baby monkey and...

"What? There's a wallaby joey in there too!" ZIM bounced up and went to the cage.

"Yup!" The wallaby joey couldn't have been any taller than Red's knee. A divider separated the joey from the monkey. Red opened one side of the cage. The baby primate immediately climbed up his arm and perched on Red's shoulder, cuddling it's head into the nook of Red's neck, it's tail coiling around the Irken's neck as well, and sucking it's thumb. His fuzzy, all black fur tickled Red's face. His big, beady, black eyes stared at the students. The girls of the class squealed.

"Oh my God! It's so cute!" Trixie said.

"What kind is it?" Veronica asked.

"This lil' guy is a spider monkey. Orphan from the Amazon." Red told them. "His name is Banzai." Red went to the wallaby. "I got this guy for you, Zeiden." ZIM looked elated.

"Thanks! . . . Wait, why?" Red looked a bit guilty.

"I shot your crocodile in the head." ZIM's face looked horrified.

"Wha- Why would you . . . That was my Handbag!"

"Sorry. I was hungry . . . But look! A wallaby!" ZIM's mood changed drastically after being reminded that he now had a joey. He took the marsupial out of its cage. The little wallaby sniffed the floor. It hopped up to ZIM, sizing the boy up, taking a good look at his new master, then without warning, reared back on its tail and kicked ZIM in the abdomen with both of his long feet. ZIM toppled over.

"Ugh! . . . Oh, I knew it was going to do that!" The class laughed.

"He's trained . . . Sort of. He'll follow you. So you should get back to class now." Red told him. ZIM gave him a thumbs up.

"I'm naming him Walton." ZIM composed himself. "And he'll be my best friend." ZIM left, and sure enough, the wallaby followed right behind.

"What will Leslie think of this?" Purple asked.

"She won't like it. But it's okay cuz I got her a cat."

"Red! We have a Ve'Kur, ten dogs, fifty cows, five horses, a monkey, and a wallaby! Now a cat?" Red smiled mischievously.

"Oooohh yeeeaaahh. Me gots her a kitty-cat." Red bit his bottom lip stifling laughter. Purple had a suspicion that Red probably did something that Leslie will hate him for. "Shall we get back to this essay prompt?" Purple sighed.

"I guess." The little spider monkey crawled on top of Red's head and remained perched there as Red talked to the class. The kids obviously not paying attention to his words, but rather the little, critter playfully tugging on the Irken's antenna. Red preached on oblivious. Purple couldn't help but rub his temples. Already getting a headache from all the yelling that will soon occur. He couldn't wait...

**Later**

"Oh! Can I hold him?" Red looked unsure.

"He doesn't seem to like anyone else but me, that's the problem." Red told Rose. Banzai was on Red's shoulder again, still sucking it's thumb, acting bashful in the presence of the girls.

"My mom is going to murder you." Gaz stated, frankly.

"Yeah, well, she'll love me once she sees what I got her." Red smiled. The front door of their new home opened and in came Leslie holding two shopping bags. "Welcome home, darling."

"Hey." Leslie muttered, not looking up from her phone. She walked briskly past Red with shopping bags in tote, her heals clicking loudly on the marble floor. She was about to cross over the bridge to get to the living room on her way to their room when she stopped dead in her tracks. Leslie's frozen body stiffly turned back around. Her eyes narrowed at the baby monkey on Red's shoulder. She pointed. "What is that?"

"My shoulder."

". . . What's that on your shoulder?"

"A monkey."

"Why?"

"I like monkeys." Leslie opened her mouth to respond but quickly closed it again, not even knowing what to say.

"I . . . you can't just- . . . God dammit, Red." Leslie seethed under her breath. She turned back around and stormed off to their room. Red nudged Gaz.

"Her surprise is in our room." He said, excitedly. They watched as Leslie opened their bedroom door and walked inside. A second later, a loud, blood curdling, shriek of terror sounded. Leslie bolted out of the room.

"There's a fucking lion on our bed!" She dashed back over the river, stumbling a bit in her high heals, taking refuge behind her husband. A massive feline came walking lazily out of the room, yawning. Red scoffed.

"Leslie, you're kind of an idiot. That there is a white Bengal tiger. Duh." Red patted his knees. "C'mere girl! C'mon! Meet mommy!"

"No! Keep that thing away from me!" Leslie gripped Red's shirt tightly. Red shook her off. The white tiger with dark black stripes approached Red. Her bright, vivid, blue eyes twinkled in the sunlight that streamed through the large ceiling to floor windows.

"Who's a beautiful girl? So pretty!" Red petted the tiger. The massive cat purred. It laid itself down on the ground. "Her name is Winter Moonlight. She was given that name by the Zookeeper I bought her from. Fitting, I think. Isn't she gorgeous? Her kind is endangered, ya know?"

"Red Elias MaCale," Leslie hissed. "There's no way, no _fucking_ way, we're keeping that thing with an infant and another on the way, as well as four kids here!"

"She was raised in captivity, Les. She's domesticated." Red crossed his arms looking irritated. "I got you a fucking cat and you don't even appreciate it! You always wanted a cat."

"That's a tiger, Red! Not a cat! A Ti-Ger!" Leslie said it slowly for him as if he couldn't comprehend what she was saying. Red waved her off. ZIM walked into the house with the wallaby following him. ZIM caught a glimpse of the large cat and gasped.

"She's gonna watch every Tigers game with me!"

**That Night**

"There's no way we can do this." Leslie grumbled. "You're getting rid of all these animals you got today! Isn't a Ve'Kur and a dog enough?"

"Uhhhh . . . Les, Avalyn and Tyson are ZIM's. Peder has nine dogs. I got rid of the croc! So why can't I have a pet too?"

"You just purchased a shit ton of cows and horses!"

"Those aren't domestic animals."

"Neither are freaking tigers!"

"She's right, Red." Tenn said. "But I'm not against having one."

"Hah!" Red said, smugly. ZIM was on the floor of their living room, observing how Walton and Tyson interact. Avalyn was on Irk with the Lombax twins for obvious reasons. Too many animals for her at once. Especially the new wallaby that followed her pup around everywhere. "Once the home on Irk is finished, We're keeping the Ve'Kur there with our house staff. They'll take care of her. These cows are going to Irk as well."

"And the tiger is going back. I don't care if the monkey and wallaby stay. At least they're harmless."

"Winter won't hurt you." ZIM said. "Believe me. I tried to provoke her earlier today. It didn't work. She's much too mellow." Said tiger walked around the couch and plopped by their feet.

"Just get to know her, Les. It's a fucking cat! Be happy that you got a cat!"

"You are absurd." Leslie mumbled. ZIM threw himself over the tiger and cuddled the beast.

"What a sweetheart you are!" ZIM cooed.

"See? She's a sweetheart." Red grabbed Banzai by the tail and dangled the monkey upside down and gently tossed him onto a blanket. The monkey bounced up and down. The tiny thing clumsily ran back to the couch and attempted to jump back on Red's lap, but all he'd do is merely slide back down Red's leg. "I got this lil' guy clothes."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah! Banzai, go get your clothes!" Red said, cheerfully. The fuzzy critter used it's long arms and short legs to make his way to his and Leslie's open bedroom door. Moments later the monkey emerged, struggling with a bag of items. Red got up and retrieved the bag so the little thing wouldn't have to drag it all the way back. As he walked back, the monkey jumped back on his leg and climbed up his back. Red chuckled. "You gotta admit, that's adorable." Red sat back down and took out infant clothes. "I got these for him when I was getting Sapphira some more clothes too." Red dressed the monkey in his lap into a giraffe print onesie. Banzai made chirps and squeaks as Red dressed him. "Behold! Banzai! The giraffe, spider, monkey!" Red picked him up and set him on Leslie's legs. The monkey went still, looking petrified at Leslie. The poor thing started to cry and reach it's long arms out to Red.

"I think it wants you, Red." The monkey darted back onto Red, putting his arms around Red's neck and burying his face into Red's chest.

"Stop playin'. You're not shy." Red looked to Leslie. "He's litter box trained."

"What do they eat?"

"Mostly fruits." Red chuckled when the little monkey wrapped it's tail around his torso. "You see that? That's what infant spider monkeys do to their mothers."

"Your not it's mother, Red."

"It doesn't know that." Red pried the primate off him and threw him back to the center of the living room. "Go play." The little guy chirped, bounding back to Red.

"It's clingy. That will get annoying."

"He'll grow more independent after awhile." Red told her. "You can gain his trust if you give him food, though. ZIM, go to the kitchen and get a variety of fruit." The boy groaned, slipping off the back of the tiger and trudged to the kitchen. His wallaby bounced right on his heels. "They all get along. That's good, right?"

"Yeah, but it's only a matter of time before we see monkey and wallaby fur strewn about the floor, and the remains of their corpses hanging from that stupid lion's mouth."

"It's a tiger! And you call me an imbecile."

"I just wanted a house cat, Red! A house cat!"

"This is a house cat. A big one." Red out an arm around his wife. "We're spreading the animals out. So this house won't feel like a zoo all the time. Peder is sending his dogs to Canada to his parents home. His parents will be training them for the Iditarod."

"Well, how is it even legal to have a tiger in L.A. I thought there was a ban on exotic animals such as these in this state."

"Not tigers. I think monkeys are banned but I got a special permit. So they can suck it." Red lifted Banzai in the air. "Yeah! Yeah they can suck monkey dick, right? Totally."

"Red, you are so-"

"Sexy." Red finished before she could say what she really meant. "Yeah. I know." Leslie shook her head.

"I'm going to bed. You too. C'mon."

"I don't wanna go to bed just yet."

"I'll sleep with you Leslie!" ZIM smirked, reentering the living room and handing Banzai a peach. "I'm a great cuddler." Red sprang up on his feet.

"Hell naw. Stay away from my gal, tater tit." ZIM flipped Red the bird which Red ignored. "You should get to bed as well, ZIM. You gotta go to school tomorrow." Red cringed when he felt monkey drool and peach juice drip down his shoulder.

"So do you, genius." ZIM said, smartly. He scratched Walton behind his ear. The little wallaby sniffed the floor by the couch. Can we bring Avalyn home tomorrow?"

"No. Not with all these new animals."

"Rhea and Sira told me she was getting anxiety because she can't see me."

"She can't see you anyway, ZIM. She's completely blind."

"You know what I meant."

"No. Let's keep her on Irk where she belongs until that home in Terica is built." ZIM crossed his arms, annoyed.

"Avalyn will eat you." Red shook his head, making his way to his room on the other side of the family room.

"To bed with you, child!" Red called back to him, closing his bedroom door tightly. Leslie winced.

"He better not set that filthy monkey on our bed."

"He probably will." ZIM said, taking the tiger by her collar and leading her to the lower level where she'd sleep with him. "Have fun sleeping with an annoying pest . . . and his monkey."

**September 17, 2001**

"A tiger? Is your brother dumb? Or is he just out to get his wife?"

"Both." ZIM answered Dib. He and his four human friends were heading to Timmy's dressing room after class. Timmy, A.J., and Chester had a scene to film. Dib and ZIM had off that day. "You guys meet the new kids yet? Danny, Jimmy, and Shawn or whatever?"

"No. But I know that Danny is an asshole. Or he let himself off to be." Dib said.

"I met Cindy and Carl. They were talking about how their show was just an idea now, but will probably get green lighted. They're not employees yet. They're just attending the school cuz they can." A minute of silence passed when they got to the room and closed themselves in.

". . . So Rose." Chester said. "She's pretty cute. Think I got a chance with her?" ZIM glared at the blond.

"Fuck. No. Dude, Red will eat your soul. And Rose wouldn't go for someone six years younger than her."

"I can't believe he has another daughter! Your family is just so full of surprises!" A.J. said. "When did Red find out. About Rose?"

"He didn't find out until-" ZIM cut himself off. "It's probably best I don't get into his personal life, mates."

"He must've been very young when he had her. How come he never said anything?"

"Don't worry about it." ZIM answered. "Seriously, guys. Don't pry. I can tell you about her, but I won't tell you how she came into existence."

"You're so lame, ZIM." Timmy said.

"Fuck you." ZIM sat on the couch. "She can sing and she's very much like Red. With her wits and her sharp tongue, feisty attitude. Something that makes her unlike Red, however, is her shyness. She's shy at first but after getting comfortable, she let's her colors show."

"She has a really cute accent." Chester said. "She has your brother's butt too. It's cute . . . Her butt! Not his. I mean, their butts are similar but I like her's more than Red's. I mean, I don't like Red's even though his and Rose's look alike . . . Because Rose is a chick and Red isn't. So her's is nicer-"

"Chester."

"Huh?"

"Shut the hell up and just admit you have the hots for both Red and Rose."

"No! I didn't mean-"

"We don't care. Shouldn't you guys be getting ready for your shoot?"

"Only Timmy has to go in." A.J. said. "And he's going to be late."

"Whatever." The brown-haired boy said. "Guys leave so I can change then." ZIM hopped off the couch and went for the exit.

"With pleasure. See ya tomorrow or something." ZIM lead the three remaining boys out and down the hall. ZIM perked his antenna, hearing music coming from down the hall of where the auditorium was. A full, upbeat tune. An oddly familiar tune as well. "Guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" ZIM didn't answer. He sped walk down the hall to the auditorium entrance. Beyond the closed doors, a counter-tenor voice sang with angry undertones. The sound of drums, guitar, keyboard, and other various instruments filled the room. ZIM cracked open the door and peaked inside. On the stage he saw Red shredding on his electric guitar and singing into the mic. Purple was on the stage too, standing up while playing the drums. The other instrument positions were filled by Irkens ZIM had never seen. A few toons of Nickelodeon sat in the far back of the house seating. Observing Red. ZIM didn't think Red knew he even had an audience. ZIM wondered why Red was singing and playing. He rarely sung for fun, despite having a magnificent voice. ZIM walked down the aisle to the end of the stage. Red was too busy, being engrossed in his guitar playing and singing to notice his brother jump up on the stage.

"_I never heard you cry so hard. Call me crazy, but I loved to see those tears fall. Finally after all these years, you got what was coming and now you lost me. Don't be so surprised if you go down hill. It was expected. Don't lie. We both saw this coming-_"

"Hi, Red!" The man jumped, whirling around to face ZIM. The other musicians ceased in playing.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Red asked, angrily. Not angry because ZIM interrupted, but rather because he scared the poor man who was suffering from PTSD.

"What are you doing?"

". . . Singing."

"You aware that you have an audience?" ZIM pointed to the back couple rows where ten toons watched.

"No. I wasn't aware."

"What were you doing, really?"

"Just practicing a new song for our band."

"Umm. Like, why wasn't I invited, brah?" ZIM asked.

"You were busy hanging out with your friends." Red tuned his guitar as he and ZIM talked. "Beaux and Aero. That's the band name. Jalo came up with it."

"What's the significance of the name?"

"Beaux like the plural version of beau. Ya know, with a silent 'X' at the end? Beaux are pretty much gentleman or rich, fashionable men."

"Is that why you were wearing suits all of a sudden?" Red nodded.

"Jalo wanted me to start promoting the band right away, even before the band was announced. So I started wearing suits and ties. But I must say, I miss my jackaroo getup." Red sighed. "Whatever. The Aero part of the name, spelled A-E-R-O, which is derived from the Greek word for air. It's suppose to represent what air symbolizes. Freedom, independence, spirit, and vitality. Which are words Jalo figured represented us well. So there you go. A fitting name for the band."

"Are we really gentleman though?" ZIM asked. Purple let out a loud belch from behind the two brothers.

"Yeah." He agreed. "Are we really?" Red casted a stink eye in Purple's direction then turned back to ZIM.

"Short answer, no. But are we rich?"

"Yes."

"And are we fashionable?"

"Yes."

"There you go." Red looked at his Imp. "Guess who I'm meeting today with Leslie."

"I couldn't tell you. I don't know your schedule."

"Which is why I told you to guess." ZIM shrugged. "Almighty Tallest Miyuki wants to meet with me, but she said that Leslie's presences was required as well."

"Augh! Mate! I haven't talked to her in forever! Let me come with!"

"I would, mate. I really would. But she said that it was a confidential meeting." Red looked to Purple. "Will you watch him while we're gone?" Purple stared at Red for a long time, for some reason he had a shocked and horrified expression.

". . . No."

"Good. I got to get going." Red handed ZIM the guitar. "Practice whatever you need help with. I'll be back by seven tonight, hopefully."

"Oh, okay. Have fun!" ZIM called after Red. ZIM watched as he left, putting the strap for the guitar over his shoulder and strumming a couple cords. He called his friends over. "Hey guys! Wanna sing like you're rockstar?"

**Later**

Red waited patiently, twiddling his thumbs bored and somewhat nervously as he sat on a chair pushed up against the wall of the Tallest's extravagant palace. To his left was the door to Miyuki's office, where her and Leslie disappeared behind an hour ago. It confused Red as to why Miyuki wanted to speak with Leslie first in private before him. Red sighed, standing up. Two guards were perched on either side of the doorframe at attention.

"Do ya know what's up, mate?" Red asked one. "What does the Tallest want?"

"Classified, Doctor." The soldier answered. His eyes never looked at Red. They remained straight forward and serious. Red furrowed a brow.

"Why?"

"Classified." He repeated. Red groaned.

"Did I break the law or something? Tell me it's not bad, at least."

"Her Highness will let you know in time, Doctor." The soldier replied. "Please sit."

"I've been sitting for an hour. I'd like to stand, thank you." Red shoved his hands in his pocket and wandered around in the vicinity, looking at the portraits of previous Tallests and Prime Ministers. Miyuki was rare. She was the very first Tallest to be both Almighty Tallest and Prime Minister. It helped that she was without a doubt the smartest Irken in existence. She truly was an all knowing, all powerful leader. A few more minutes passed when finally the door to the office opened. A seven foot ten inch tall figure emerged from the room.

"Doctor Macale." She started. Red went to her and bowed. She rested both her hands on his head over his antenna to bless him. "Please, come in." Her soft voice said. He erected himself and allowed her to lead him into the big office. The whole back wall was made completely of windows, overlooking the courtyard of the palace. Red admired the interior decorating, it took him a moment to realize Leslie was sitting before a desk, hunched over sobbing silently. This threw Red off. "Please, sit and we'll begin." Red looked from his wife to Miyuki then back to Leslie.

"This doesn't seem good."

**Later**

ZIM and Tak were snuggled up on the couch of the basement den, watching the Tiger's game. Tak was only half interested, ZIM was totally absorbed by the action. Tak had one hand on ZIM's thigh, stroking it lovingly, wishing her boyfriend would pay mind to her instead of the slow game.

"Zei?"

"Uh?"

"How have you been lately?"

"Good. Fine. You're welcome." ZIM muttered, his eyes glued to the screen.

"Are those . . . Ehem, voices still talking to you."

"That's nice."

"ZIM."

"Mm?"

"Pay attention."

"I am."

"To me."

"Shh." Tak rolled her eyes at him. She felt ZIM tense when one perfect pitch sailed into a Tiger's batting zone. He smacked the ball, the bat nearly splintering. The ball ripped through the air and went back, back, back, into deep outfield. Unfortunately the ball just fell short of the fence and landed right into the glove of an Indian outfielder's glove. "Ugh! Damn it!" That was the inning. A commercial began to play. "What were you saying?" Tak held his hand and pulled up his sleeve to check for any new scars.

"When's the last you cut?"

"Uhh-"

"And tell the truth."

". . . You won't get mad?" Tak shook her head. "Last night." Tak scoffed.

"Zeiden! You said you-"

"You said you weren't gonna get mad." ZIM scowled. Tak held her tongue.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you cut last night?"

"They were telling me to."

"Zeiden, I told you, if they ever start to bother you again, come to me. Don't give into what they say. They're not even there!"

"They are there! I see them!"

"You're hallucinating, Zeiden." Tak shook her head. "Honey, I don't like to think that you're crazy, but you are showing signs of psychosis."

"The games back on." Tak frowned.

"Shut the T.V. off, Jozy."

"Of course, Tak." The computer said, immediately shutting the television off.

"What gives, Takayla? Can we talk later?"

"No. I want to talk now."

"What about?"

"About those stupid _friends_ of yours that keep telling you to hurt yourself! I'm sick of seeing you like this and I want to help but you're making it so hard for me-"

"Tak and ZIM," Jozy butted in. "Leslie and Red have returned and wish to speak with the whole family." Tak sighed heavily.

"We'll talk later then, Zeiden." She took his hand and the two made their way across the den to the stair way up. The stairs led to the edge of the great room where a distraught-looking Leslie and Red stood, embracing tightly and whispering to one another. "Something is definitely wrong here." Tak and ZIM found a spot on a love seat. Tenn and Peder soon joined along with Zee, Gaz, and Rose.

"I think two family meetings in one month is a new record." ZIM broke the silence.

"That's nothing good." Red muttered.

"You guys, we just got back from a meeting with Tallest Miyuki and she . . . I don't know how to say this. She pretty much told us that she was in search for a suitor to marry so he could bare her smeets since Tallests are forbidden to become pregnant and she needs heirs." Leslie explained. "And even if Tallests could bare smeets her body is too tall and lanky to be fertile in that way. She'd end up dying with her smeet if she ever became pregnant."

"Where are you going with this?" ZIM asked. Leslie sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, tiredly. Closing her puffy bloodshot eyes, sorrowfully.

"She wants to take Red as her husband to bare her smeets."

* * *

><p><strong>Whoa! Miyuki! That came out of left field! You can't just up and steal people's husbands! <strong>

**Well, damn, guys. A whole hella lot happened in this chapter. Let's review, shall we?**

**Long lost daughter, Rose, shows up. 9/11 occurs. Red gets multiple exotic animals to spite Leslie. ZIM's mental illness gets worse. Kelly returns for good this time! Beaux and Aero are the Macales new band. Miyuki wants Red as her husband. Macales move to a new home. And more that I can't even remember right now! Hokey totes! **

**Anyway, question. Go ahead and be brutally honest with this one guys. I'm not one to go and get offended by what you say.**

**Does it bug you that I don't update more than I can? Like I'm already writing chapter 33 and haven't bothered to upload any of the chapters that already exist. Let me know.  
><strong>

**One last thing, sorry that there was a lot of swearing in this chapter. Like more than normal. A lot of times when I write, I write out an excerpt then take a long break then come back to it and completely forget what I have previously wrote, causing me to write in more swears than usual. **

**Here's another just curious question. If you could date any character in this story, who would it be? Idk about y'all, I'd date them all, girls, guys, and house computers alike. I love these guys!**


	29. Author's Note

My Dearest Readers,

I have received a review from a Guest politely asking me to let you guys know what I'm doing and not to leave you guys hanging. And he/she is completely right!

I apologize from the deepest, most gelatinous parts of my squeedily spooch for not updating or even telling you guys what is going on in my life right now.

Here's an update of what I've been doing and why my updates are not frequent.

I am now a full time, graveyard shift, employee. A security officer to be exact. So I work at night, sleep during the day, and the time I am awake for free time, I spend as much time as possible with my boyfriend, friends, and family because I don't get to see them much anymore. Oh, and my other job as a lifeguard. Two jobs. Double to lack of time.

Does this mean Before You Know It and Their Pride is dead?

No! I could never do that to my readers and I could never do that to myself. I've come much too far into the story to leave us both hanging.

For now on, folks, I'll try (repeat) TRY to update at least one of the stories each month. You guys don't deserve the longer than necessary wait and here's a little confession, I'm actually in the middle of writing chapter 34 of BYKI. But the reason I'm not updating is because the editing process takes much, much too long. But I need to focus on what NEEDS to be done rather than what I WANT to do.

So as for the next update, I'll try as hard as possible to bring it to you before or on ZIM's birthday. (Jan. 31)

As for now, hang tight and keep me in mind. If I don't update by then, you may flame me at will. :)

Happy Reading!

Love, Mikki Warner


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